Pretty soon, the comments started trickling in and I’ve enjoyed meeting so many of you who are interested in Photography and cameras.  So a big hearty thank you to WordPress.com for putting my story on the front page and for all of you who’ve stopped by to say hi and give me encouragement.  I will definitely be updating about Big Girl and our walk together.

Until then, I will post some of my recent photos I’ve uploaded for the November photo a day challenge over at EPNet:

Challenge word – Blur

Challenge word – Legs

Challenge word – Texture

Today’s word is “Behavior” and I’m hoping that I’ll be back before dark with my new card in hand to see if I can’t get Big Girl to perform on that one.

I can hear you, you’re asking, “Why, why on earth is her new best friend a user’s manual for the Nikon D300?  Hasn’t she been shooting a D50 for about four years?”  Yes, yes my friends, I have been shooting with a D50 for about that long.  But things are starting to change around here since the arrival of my new toy — one I hope will grow to like me with time.

That’s right, I’ve just got myself a Big Girl Camera.  I’m super excited… I’ve been wanting to upgrade for quite some time but I’ve been patient, waiting for the right opportunity to come along.  I’ve done my research on it (I always do a ton of research on things that I am interested in… it runs in my blood.  Hi mom!)

The only problem is, she’s got buttons where my Little Girl Camera does not and I’m finding Miss D300 and I do not speak the same language.  I thought a Nikon would be a Nikon would be a Nikon… apparently I wasn’t as “Big Girl” as I thought I was.  I’ve even been shooting in manual lately!

Along with the camera came this absolutely gi-gungo lens.  It is completely made of metal, is fairly old, but I hear it takes great photos and they’re tack sharp.  I’m excited to try it out.

So where did I find my new beauty?  She was a back-up camera for a professional equine photographer out of San Diego.  I’ve been checking on the forums at the Equine Photographer’s Network for a used D300 but no one wants to sell them and they’re selling the D200′s and the D2′s.  Finally I found the D300, hardly ever used and been sitting on the shelf.  Her previous owner has a D700 and shoots FX or “Full Frame” compared to this one which is DX.  DX is what I have for lenses and since I wouldn’t be able to talk Hubby into replacing all my lenses to FX, I decided the D300 was the camera for me. 

Do you think that per-chance some of Melanie Snowhite’s talent will rub off of her camera and on to me?  I mean, we are like family now right?  To check out her amazing photography, visit her website at www.melaniesnowhite.com.  Meanwhile, I’ll be getting to know my new best friend.

As you prepare your leg of lamb this season, keep in mind the results of Legacy of Lamb, the first heritage-breed lamb tasting, which was held last fall at Ayrshire Farm in Upperville, VA.  Approximately 90 food fans participated in the blind taste test, which compared nine endangered-breed meats — Gulf Coast, Hog Island, Jacob, Katahdin, Leicester Longwool, Navajo-Churro, Santa Cruz, St. Croix, Tunis — and commercially available Australian lamb, making this the largest-ever comparison of lamb breeds in North America.

“When we eat them, we are giving farmers an economic reason to conserve rare breeds and the important genetic diversity they represent,” says Sandy Lerner, the event’s host.

The meat was scored on flavor, texture, tenderness, smell and appearance.  The winner was the Santa Cruz; second place was Tunis; and third place was Jacob  The top two breeds each received nearly twice as many  votes for first choice compared to the other breeds, although organizers said each breed collected a number of second and third placements on individual tally cards, making it difficult to say there was one obvious winner.

Legacy of Lamb was produced through a partnership of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Humane Farm Animal Care, Slow Food USA and Ayrshire Farm.

On that note, no wonder we have so many return customers and more people calling us up wondering when we’re going to have more locker lamb available!  I used to never like lamb meat, I raised them for 4H but always hated the taste, then when I tried our Jacob a few years ago my mind changed.  I now prefer it over most beef (I’m still a sucker for a really good filet mignon ).

Jacob sheep are such a neat breed; cool color, excellent fleece for spinning, tasty meat, neat horns!  You never know what you’re going to get each lambing season and I really like that diversity… Signing off now to go clean some pens.  Lambs are coming soon!