Hollie

Unfortunately the bright start to the day did not last long and I was to be denied my opportunity to get out and about with the new camera. Instead, I had to settle for reading some of the 300 odd pages of the manual, which was probably no bad thing as I tend to be a "if all else fails read the instructions" kind of person!

I was struggling to think of an indoor blip when Mrs farmer friend arrived with Hollie, her one year old and a bit cairn terrier. With the aid of a biscuit I managed to lure her near the camera for a few experimental shots. Full manual, aperture priority and auto were all tried but without the soft background I was after. Then I remembered reading about a portrait setting and decided to give it a go. I quite liked the result and later changed it the mono as it seemed to suit a wee hairy dog.

With over 24 little buttons and knobs, as well as the usual maze of drop down menus, the new toy is going to take a bit of getting used to!