All Things African

My parents recently returned from a 3 week trip to South Africa to visit my mom's family.  Yay! for a safe and amazing trip!  I am soooooo jealous, my mom kept posting pictures of them on the beach and in front of Table Mountain and looking at those made me want to be there with them!  It would sure beat sitting in front of a computer in a cubicle where I was spending my days!  But I am so grateful for the time they were able to share there.  My parents are two of the most amazing, giving, and loving people I know and to see them so happy fills me with joy...even though I missed them tremendously when they were gone!

When they arrived home, they not only brought themselves (which is plenty for me), but they also brought home lots of treats and trinkets for the whole family!  Of course, seeing these amazing items they returned with provided me with a wonderful excuse to whip out my camera and practice shooting manually...indoors at night...under fluorescent lighting...eeeek!  I won't lie, I had to play around with my settings for awhile before I started to get decent pictures.  First there was not enought light, then my images kept being blurry, obviously I need A LOT more practice!  But after a little while I started to get some decent pictures, and was beyond excited and proud of myself.  Enjoy these African creations!

 

These were amazing!  Paintings on pieces of wood with tin cans used for the buildings!  So creative!

 

Have to have some sweets...of course!

 

Gorgeous jewelry for my sister and I!

 

And, a drum for my nephew.

And if there is anyone interested...these were taken with WB set to tungsten light, shutter speed 1/5, and aperture f5.6.  Took me awhile to get there but I think these pictures came out decent!