Nikita

So I finally took the DSLR plunge and ordered a Nikon D3000 from Amazon.com recently. The free shipping and 6-month-no-interest financing offer convinced me further. Three major reasons prompted me to this photographic purchase:

1. Any moment now, my sister will give birth to a baby girl--I'm an aunt-to-be! And I will be that shutterbug type of aunt who will keep snapping away. I already have a Baby Memory Book ready to be filled with photos each month until the baby turns a year old.
2. This camera is my early birthday gift to myself. 
3. I want to take my love for photography to the next digital level. I want to challenge myself to take better pictures. The price tag alone should keep motivating me. Haha. Seriously, though, I would like to consider it an investment.

I named the camera "Nikita," partly derived from the Nikon name brand, but more greatly influenced by this billboard I saw in New York City while test-shooting the camera for the first time. It was a convenient christening coincidence. Plus it rhymes with Chiquita, the banana whose stickers I'm obsessed with. Nikita's a keeper.

I smiled when I saw that I was like the other tourists in NYC toting huge cameras around their necks. I didn't mind the weight at all.

Rush hour inside Grand Central.

I know the resized photos don't do justice to the actual resolution, but you get the picture. Literally. I'm going to have to explore the features and settings that Nikita has to offer.