Like many people here, I'm not a professional photographer. I've had some training, and I love it, but it's not my main job. I do it when I can in my spare time or when I'm going places that might turn out some good shots for myself or for DT. This means that I'm usually shooting when I'm going on a trip or someplace with other people, which also means I have a limited amount of time to stand around shooting pictures of...say...an interesting rock formation or something before the rest of my party gets bored and insists we move along.

So last weekend, I found myself with a few days totally to myself. My boyfriend was out-of-town, my good friend was gone for the weekend and no one else was interested in doing much of anything. I decided to take the opportunity to head to a big aquarium nearby,...