Trying Out Manual Mode

When I take pictures, I usually use the shutter priority, or aperture priority.  You choose one or the other and the camera decides what the other settings will be.  Yesterday, I was trying out manual mode...selecting everything on my own.  I ended up with a few great shots of Maddie that I just love!

50 mm lens, 1/125s, f/2.5, 400 ISO

I also introduced a new Montessori activity to Maddie.  She really liked it.  It held her attention for probably 15 minutes.  

She was really concentrating hard!  To set the activity up, I bought the tray at Lakeshore Learning.  The dog bowl and the sponge is from Dollar General.  I cut the sponge to fit the bowl and put enough water on the left side for two full squeezes of the sponge.  The idea is to transfer the water from one side of the bowl to the next, always working left to right to prepare them for reading.  

Right now she's less concerned about which side to squeeze and would rather just SQUEEZE!  It's a fun thing to do on a hot day!