Keeping on

So last Monday, I took my camera out to some other coastal areas. They were so ravaged by recent storms, I didn't come up with much. I more just played around with the settings. It seems in the beginning I can't quite figure out what the settings should be, but once I take that first picture, I can figure out how to get them a little better. So my first of the day was this :

I let in too much light!! After some adjusting, I was able to get these:

It's hard to see on the LCD screen where perfect is though. I have to come back and look at them on the computer and compare the settings. I know the aperture setting is how much is in focus, so for scenery pictures it should be high, but I'm not sure how high is too high yet. Because it also affects how much light comes into your photo. I also am not sure if the lens I have is the best for scenery pictures.
As far as composition, I think this one is nice with the rule of thirds and getting a pretty even horizon! But I don't have a zoom lens, and this was as close as I could get, so I'm not sure if it's too small or far away:

I also went to a bridal store this week to see my friend try on weddings dresses. Unfortunately I don't want to post those pictures in case anyone who knows her sees them! But it was good to play around with the camera in a new setting. I was able to get her and her dress in focus and the background blurry which was nice.

This past weekend, I went on a walk in the woods with my camera. I had gloves on and realized that I was changing the mode every time I turned the camera on and off! So I don't really know which pictures were taken how I wanted them and which weren't. I started out yet again completely wrong:

And tried to fix it to this:

But I think my focus did not fall on the sap which is where I wanted it. I also decided I didn't like the composition so got this:

I played around with the aperture on these pine cones:

Two other favorites of the day:

So atleast I'm still getting out there and using the camera! Next up: my attempt to photograph a 2 year old!