July 5, 2006 I bought my Canon Rebel XT and set off on this marvelous adventure into the land of SLR photography. At that time I didn't know an ISO from an aperture, even though I'd spent the last six years taking hundreds of thousands of photos for my blogs with my Fugi Finepix point-and-shoot digital camera. In fact, I didn't start setting my own aperture/ISO/white balance on my Rebel until I took classes in Basic Photography three months later. But my obsession was already in full flower and has only increased with each passing month. When I took a Photoshop for Photographers series of classes this spring, I was a total and complete goner!

This composite was created using the eighth photo that came out of my camera one year ago today. I was using my first lens, a Tamron AF18-200mm F/3.5-6.3. The insert of me and my Canon Rebel XT--or "nonaC" as it shows up in this mirror image--was taken in late November 2006. And yes, for this composite, I "photoshopped" the flower. I can't help myself!