Thank you, Janice.

One more try at showing the kids playing in the snow.

Harley & Rocky

I've now tried four times to post a photo I took this morning of two of my kids playing in the snow. Each time I hit "send," I get a connection lost error message. Guess I'll have to try later on and see. Maybe it's the photo gods' way of telling me that my shot taken in a driving snow storm just isn't good enough to submit.

That's quite the pet! I've been reading about the Griz up in K'spel. Didn't realize some people were keeping them as house pets. ;-)

Three of mine: Rocky, Major and Harley in Daddy's Lap

How about a close up of the lap robe I'm weaving in my studio?

I've been posting a picture a day on my deviantArt gallery, but thought it would be fun to post it here as well. This self-portrait was my Jan 16th shot on deviantArt http://quintmckown.deviantart.com/

As I noted in another post, I just returned from the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas where I spoke with a rep at the Nikon booth. I asked about updating, and mentioned that the video capabilities really turned me off. His answer was, and I quote, "turn the page." In other words, we're stuck with video whether we want it or not. I'll be upgrading from a D80 and his suggestion to me was the D7000.

I shoot with a D80 that I've had for five years now (over 34,000 images recorded in that time). Just was at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas and visited the Nikon booth. The question I asked was just which way should I go when replacing the D80. After discussing the kinds of things I shoot (mostly landscapes) and my interest level in photography (high), the fellow at the Nikon booth suggested a D7000 for me. Of course your mileage may vary. What I've decided to do is to rent a D7000 for a week or so and just see for myself how that pans out. You might want to consider renting a D3s and/or a D300s before shelling out the big bucks.

I would agree that there is no way a person new to Photoshop could know within 30 days if it was the right program for that user. That said, my first photo processing software purchase was Elements 4 which I picked up at Costco for less than $50, as I recall. There was a steep learning curve, but I fell in love with the program. After using it for three years, I took a job that allowed me a site licence for Adobe CS4, including Photoshop. I switched over and never looked back. That was two years ago. Just recently purchased CS5 and am getting to know it.

My advice to anyone using any of the Photoshop programs, or wanting to get to know them better, is to pick up a copy of one of the English photography magazines, e.g. Photoshop Creative, and work through some of their exercises. I find I learn something new with each issue. The magazines come with a CD to help make the learning curve less intimidating, and can be found at any major bookseller. I bought mine at Costco until I finally decided to subscribe.