The NEW lens...

So, I got a new lens on Tuesday. I purchased a 50 mm 1.8 II lens. My plan was to go to the botanical gardens today to try it out. I was ultimately disappointed in the results...
Some pictures look OK - but I realized that have the aperture set at 1.8 was a bad idea. I tried the macro setting and I was pleased with the results but I can not use RAW file format and I can't change the settings. The camera essentially becomes a point-and-shoot at this point. The top picture was shot with the macro setting and the rest were shot in Manual mode. I think that I will probably use the macro setting while I am in Grand Rapids next week.
I am really glad that I went to practice a little bit today!!