The debate is officially over! Tomorrow night I will become the proud owner of a Nikon D40.  I thought I was dead set on the D80 but after reading the reviews, the D40 is lighter and got better reviews despite the fact that it has 4 less mega pixels. Best Buy also helped in my decision making…see I got an email from my friend Steph asking me if I was interested in the D40. I hadn’t really considered the D40 because I thought that I was set on the D80.  Steph had gotten an email from Best Buy announcing an “exclusive 2-hour sale” and smack in the middle of the page was the best deal I’ve ever seen! For $799.99 I will become the proud owner of:

• Nikon D40
• 18-55mm Nikkor Zoom Lens
• 55-200mm Nikkor Zoom Lens
• SB600 Speedlight Flash
• Accessory kit with bag & photography guide

On top of that awesome price, I received a 12% off coupon from Best Buy to help celebrate my birthday! So tomorrow between 7:30pm and 9:30pm I will be standing in line at Best Buy waiting to get my hot little hands on that camera. I bet you can guess what I’ll be doing all next week! I already have a whole list of places, people, events and things that I want to shoot:

• Spoon & Cherry
• Minneapolis Farmer’s Market
• Howard Place
• Susan G. Komen Twin Cities Race for a Cure on Mother’s Day (Click here if you would like to help support my team at the race!)
• Long Lake (my happy place)
• My brother’s graduation & party
• Bergfest
• The fat mallards that have been driving my lab crazy in our front yard for the last few weeks
• Anne & Brian’s Wedding (I’m going to have a ton of practice by the time this rolls around!)
• Anne’s nieces & nephews
• All the babies that are going to be making an appearance in the next few months
• The mamas that are going to bring these babies into the world that are absolutely glowing 

I love to wander around downtown Minneapolis and take pictures. Some of my best shots came from old St. Anthony Main on a cloudy Wednesday afternoon. I took a long lunch and just walked around shooting whatever struck me at the moment. I look for the simple things when I’m walking around. Sometimes the simplest things make the best photos.

-E