A few years ago I bought myself a bridge camera. It wasn’t / isn’t a super-fancy DLSR job but just a step up from a standard point-and-click. The one I went for after consulting ‘What Camera’ magazine was a Panasonic Lumix G2.

It’s served me well over the years because it’s not too heavy and whilst a little bulky, it is easy enough to sling over my shoulder. But since 2014-ish, and especially since H was born, I haven’t really made use of it. Phones cameras are pretty good these days (certainly on my phone the camera clarity is really quite impressive) and they are always on hand. However, there are things you can do with an camera with an optical zoom and the ability to configure things such as aperture that you can’t do on a smart phone. The only problem in my case is I don’t really understand how to do any of the clever stuff!

Whilst I like my bridge camera and it does more than enough for what I need / am able to use, I have always really wanted a full DLSR. I love taking macro shots, especially of plants and flowers and would love a macro lense. These days I would also like to take some slightly more ‘arty’ or well framed shots of H. My Father-in-Law took some a few weeks ago and captured her wonderfully in the morning sun. I’d love to know how to do that.

So, in what free time I find, I think I shall try and educate myself on how to use my camera better. As my lovely daughter demonstrates every day, you can learn a lot through play so that’s what I will do (plus I can’t find the manual!), with perhaps a little help from the world wide web!