Happy Early Birthday To Me!

So my Birthday is in 4 days!!!! Woohoo!!!  And well I decided it was time for a little early birthday present this weekend.  And while my Dad is suppose to think it is still wrapped up and unopened, we all know there is no way that was every going to happen (sorry Dad)!
Even though I have had basically no time to play with it due to my extreme amount of homework...my parents got me a new camera!!! A Canon Rebel T3!

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I am so stinking excited about all of the amazing pictures I am going to be taking!  I did get a chance to play with it a little after doing Ashlee's hair on Saturday.

Now I am no photographer (or hairstylist) but I did have a pretty dang awesome model to work with! I have come up with several awesome ideas and I cannot wait to make them happen! We have our trip to Napa coming up soon and I know this is going to make that trip even more awesome!
Anyone have any tips or tricks for using one of these? I am very new to this but I am VERY excited to learn as much as I can!!