Thank you for your very thoughtful response. I could not have said it better.
Being a newby I am feeling my way. The lexicon is new for me. And so are many of the basic concepts. At least I somewhat understand layers.
I too was a long-time developer and IT person. And your take on old and new platforms is right on. I may look into a couple of the packages you mentioned.
Welp, I finally figured out that the SBH-100 Ball Head on my tripod is actually pretty darned good once I figured out how to tight the plate. Duh! The amount of sag I get on a close up is VERY minimal.
A few naysayers about this tripod, but I find it to be heavy (in a good way), and very stable for my purposes, which are mainly indoor jewelry in a light box, short music videos at my house concerts and at the open mic I co-host.
I suppose it's possible that, at some point, I may find that this setup doesn't meet my needs, but for now it does.
I used the wrong tripod model in my original message.
The correct tripod is the Vanguard Alta Pro 264AB 100.
Sorry for the confusion. Apparently there is no way to delete or edit the original post. A bit frustrating.
I am not just new to UHH, I am new to serious photography and to my DSLR too.
My significant other, She Who Must Not Be Ignored, has me photographing her handmade items for Etsy. In addition I do a LOT of low-light photography at music events. (I co-host an open mic every week and also host a weekly house jam.
I am currently using a Canon 70D DSLR and mostly use the 18 - 135mm stock lens with a decent add-on flash.
I have a canon 100mm macro lens that I use a fair amount and a 50mm 1.8 Canon.
Oh, I should also mention that I will be a very arthritic 70 years old this year and won't be photographing from duck blinds, etc.
Will most pan tilt heads work with the Ravelli APLT4?
I an doing jewelry photography, some of it macro, and I need a way to stabilize the camera so that, once I set it in place, it won't move when I let go of it.
Am I looking at the wrong solution? Maybe I just have bad technique.
I have the stock ball and pan head that came with the tripod and am having a heck of a time.
You can tell I am a newby and probably will be for quite some time.
I am a newby at post-production photo editing and am attempting to use Affinity Photo. I find that the videos and the few other materials that Serif has made available to be woefully lacking in breadth.
Is there in-depth support and/or a user guide available? I haven't been able to find anything useful.
(No need to hear about other software applications; just looking specifically for newby help with Affinity Photo.)
You obviously don't live with chronic pain from arthritis, bunions, etc., etc. Ah to be 67 again!
I have used Photo since beta for Windows and have purchased the product. I find it very nice for basic editing. The lack of a manual and poor technical support weaken the product for me.
I am new to photo editing and find the lack of a manual and detailed instructions to be quite frustrating. Yes the videos are nice but for VERY limited applications.