BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Although there are always those who make a way of life out of reminding others how pathetic inane responses appear. Aren't there?!

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

oh, i don't know - you are able to take the picture(s) and isn't that the point? besides using film makes for more efficient photography as you are, ahem, "limited" by the exposures in the roll.

one of the reasons i love winter with medium and large format cameras are the possibilities inherent in nature and people. so, please, don't feel film is passe' or archaic.

dalematt Loc: Goderich, Ontario, Canada

Actually, we're on Lake Huron, pretty much straight across from Saginaw Bay.
Yes, our forecast is for drastic change in temperature tonight, but not a lot of snow.

planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

Not only have I've left a spare battery, I've also left THE battery and/or the SD card. Kind of hard to take pics with a digital camera without them...I should try to finish up the film in my film camera one of these days....

dragon64 Loc: Stewartstown PA

Been there, done that. Even had two spares with me, both with less than a quarter of the charge I needed. Still SOL. Oh well only compensation was that there was nothing worthwhile to shoot anyway. :(

fantom Loc: Colorado

So true, but do you have a woodland trail behind your house that winds thru uninhabited terrain that is free from noise (except occassional isolated cursing), pollution and throngs of weird people? Can you skate in the peace and solitude on a frozen lake or stream or CC ski thru fresh unbroken snow in search of priceless photo opportunities? I guess it all depends on one's viewpoint, like Nikon or Canon, Camels or Lucky Strikes etc.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

If you knocked down a tree and it was falling at the same time.

tusketwedge Loc: Nova Scotia Canada

I'm with you.Can't imagine living in an area that what they call a change of season is maybe a swing of 10 degrees F.As far as snow shoveling ,I took care of that with a tractor mounted snowblower. Had a change a few years ago to go south to work for a developer which I kindly refused,for as I stated to him was,they had snakes and alligators and no seasons.

Bugfan Loc: Toronto, Canada

Back in the seventies I used to have a cottage. Whenever I was there I'd stroll down to the west facing beach every evening to watch the sunset. Naturally I'd bring my camera. Most of those trips were more for exercise than pictures, the sunsets were usually boring and normal.

Then one evening that changed. Suddenly I was confronted by the most amazing sunset I've ever seen in my life or since. It was colourful and powerful, it was a dream. And it was also that evening when I didn't bring down an extra roll of film. I only managed to get three exposures that day. Sob! Sniff!

I still tell that story anytime I do a photography seminar with the point being to always have a spare battery and memory card along since you can never know what to expect. And every time I tell the story again I still cringe and kick myself.

It was a useful lesson though, I've never again gone first without an extra roll of film and now without an extra battery and card. But I have to say it was a hell of a price to pay for a lesson.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Yeah, it's a tough one sitting here at 79 degrees in the afternoon On Christmas Day watching MI and OH (where I came from) getting plastered with snowstorms, sleet, and low teen (that's Fahrenheit) degree weather. Then I'm forced to go out to my car and roll the window down to drive into town. These 60 - 65 degree nights are pretty horrible to endure too! :D

tusketwedge Loc: Nova Scotia Canada

I'm happy for you.If you like to look at the same color 12 months of the year and have to pullout the mower out every week a,and the trimming of the hedges,bugs year long ,and let's not forget the awesome snakes that sometimes show up around your yard and having to run from one air conditioned place to another for at least half of the year. :lol: :lol: :lol: Really just joking. A person has to live where they feel comfy and for me Florida is not it.

tradio Loc: Oxford, Ohio

I have never done that.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Actually, your generalization isn't quite true. We have summer versus winter here, for example. Right now our grass is somewhat brown like everybody else and around April grass and trees will turn rich and dark green again. It's terribly hot and humid during July and August but it also was in Michigan before I moved here. Hedges and other greenery won't be trimmed much between September and April. Bugs almost vanish for that period of time too other than little black or reddish ants. Our lawn mowing service drops from every 7 to 9 days for April to September down to once every three to four weeks for September to April.

You may be surprised to know that there actually some trees down here which change colors but not a lot. Much of Florida, at least down to Orlando and a bit south of there, is mostly pine trees and hardly anything resembling a palm tree unless they were imported for visual effect. Up there it's also a lot orange groves, lemons, grapefruit, and fruit including huge strawberries and dark sweet cherries. Plus there are many cattle and horse farms.

If someone blindfolded you and suddenly took it off in northern Florida, let's say near Gainesville, and you didn't see any road signs, you'd swear you were in mid-Georgia or southern Tennessee. Down here in SWFL palm trees are expected by tourists and snowbirds so are plentiful because there are lots of palm tree farms and nurseries working day and night to keep up with visitor and home buyer expectations.

One advantage here is that I was spending an average of $250 a month for heat up north from October until April and $150 a month for AC from May to September. Concrete block and stucco constructed homes here are more efficient and mostly one story. My duplex which is 50% more space than the apartment I had up north costs me $125 a month for AC all year long. That's $1000 a year I don't have to spend even with 50% more space to be conditioned.

A second advantage is that I ride motorcycles. In Michigan it was comfortable for 5 months max so seven months a year I paid insurance and stored it. Down here it's comfortable 12 months and you can jump on with just a T-shirt any time any day.

Of course there are a few minor disadvantages. A 17-foot Anaconda keeps carrying off neighborhood kids and they're never seen again. When they catch it I'm sure it will be replaced by a 15-footer that isn't fully grown yet. My son stays indoors! An 8" diameter brown Woodsman spider stunned and ate my 12 pound cat but had trouble running away afterward. Gators normally don't bother you unless you fall into one of the storm/hurricane drainage canals that criss-cross the whole region but you shouldn't walk your Poodle or Pekinese near the canals anyway. In town it's a bit easier to save your Miniature Rat Terrier because the gators just go straight into your pool where specialists can easily extract them. The snakes here are too big in diameter to get under my garage door or screened lanai door so you can leave your .45ACP holstered if you watch in front of your feet while going to the car and be sure to use your bright outdoor houselights at night to stay on the white concrete sidewalk or driveway. Even paradise has to have some irritations! ;-)

tusketwedge Loc: Nova Scotia Canada

Actually ,I have two brothers-in-law and there family living in Florida.One works at Miami Airport as a shift supervisor for Immigration,and the other is a retired exec.from Turner Corp. and living in Tallahassee.(beautiful area) .But again them damn snakes just keep me away.Petrified of them. I've got a stone wall about 1400 feet long from the road to the shore and we have little garter snakes living in it and if I'm working on the wall and one of them little suckers comes slithering out of there it scares the bejesus out of me.Can just imagine what one of those anacondas would do.One thing for sure ,I'd beat my wife home back to N.S.
Funny,have never had any thoughts about jumping aboard my son's boat,windy and cold,blowing snow and sail out 20 to 40 miles out in 20 ,25 ft. waves and go lobster fishing for a day with him. Weird huh.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Until a snake happens to get caught up in a lobster trap somehow and you find him in there!