Ghosts, Birthdays, and Wii-ing it up.

My camera came out of its case several times over the weekend, but I have no pictures of note to post - let me tell you why...

Outing 1 - Friday Night - Ghost tour in Picton.
We went on one of these several months ago, and I took along my P&S...  Took loads of photos that night in the hope of seeing something inexplicable in one of them, but though there were plenty of 'orbs' according to our tour guide, I personally think they were just out of focus insects, raindrops, and dust being caught in the flash.  On Friday, I thought I'd take the D3000 and get 'better' pictures - how wrong I was.  The first problem, was that in auto-focus, it was too dark for the camera to focus, and so the shutter wouldn't release.  Score 1 to the P&S.  When I changed it to manual-focus, I couldn't see enough to focus it either, so although it took pictures, everything was pretty much out of focus - not just the 'orbs'.  Score another 1 to the P&S. 
Lesson learned?  Ghost-hunting is better with a fully auto P&S that will try to take a picture no matter what the conditions, but ghosts don't like their photos being taken anyway.

Outing 2 - Saturday - My wife's birthday party.
We opened Karen's pressies very early in the morning, due to my son's need to leave for work at 7.30am.  Having all just rolled out of bed, it didn't seem politically correct to take photos of everyone's "morning glory", so I waited until her birthday tea in the evening.  The lights went down, cake candles were lit, and 'happy birthday' was being sung while I was powering up the camera, etc., and then before I know it, she's blowing out the candles (or rather our enthusiastic niece and nephew were) - so I aimed the camera, pressed the button, and the shutter opens... and then 3 seconds later, closes again :-o  Shot missed - D'oh!
Lesson learned?  Reset all the camera settings after each shoot (especially after a night-shoot) so that it is ready to just grab and click in a jiffy.

Outing 3 - Saturday night - Wii-ing hard
After getting home again, we decided to give Karen's new Wii a try-out.  We'd had a few drinks (except me as nominated driver/photographer who has to stay sober) and already loosened up a bit with some Wii-karaoke, so the Wii dance game was booted up, and there we were - girls vs. boys, strutting our stuff in front of the TV (with all the curtains closed!).  I got some great pictures of everyone having a thoroughly good time, but I know they'd never speak to me again if the photos went public - so I'm not going to do a 'facebook' on them...
Lesson learned?  Put the camera down, have a drink or two, and party with everyone else.