Food, Cameras and Hummingbirds

So, spending my weekend with cooking and the new camera.  Cooking comes naturally to me, and I know when to glean ideas from my friends and family, and then put my own spin on them.  Thus, tonight I ate the best pasta salad I have ever had.  I am including the recipe, a form of bragging.
I think the key to the flavoring was in the marinated chicken and the use of the tuscan italian dressing.  Awesome.

1/2 package of pasta shells
three chicken breasts, cubed and marinated, then saute'd with mesquite and  cilantro and olive oil.
Sliced radishes
Cut up roma tomatoes
Blanched broccoli, cut very small
1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese
Can of  olives
Beau monde, salt for seasoning


Used David's recipe for dressing, chose Tuscan Italian Dressing, Cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of sour cream, mixed, blended, mixed again and blended until creamy.  Use as much as you want.  I like a lot of dressing.  That's why I am so hip, or hippy.....or a hippy.  Don't know which.

Then, to the camera.  I have always been intimidated by cameras that were more than point and click.  Give me a dial with choices and the freeze is in me, not in the shot I have taken.  So, Dawn dumbed it down for me and the first efforts were using just the basics.  People have no idea how difficult it is to stay still and try to operate a camera which is virtually a right handed piece of equipment using my left hand as my dominent side.  Thus the use of the tripod was an advance into the 21st century for me.  Who knew?

(And for those of you who don't understand the difference, try borrowing my left-handed scissors to cut out a pattern.  You will know what the meaning of a cramped hand and frustration.)

So, I am attempting to include examples of the pictures I was taking today with this wonderful canon camera.  Feeling goals come on for some of the painting ideas I have.