True. That's why I use a leather strap type hand grip to carry it when I'm out shooting. Kind of like a Quick Draw McGraw kind of set up. When I'm done I put it in a simple shoulder bag.

Can't figure this out. It's got to be simple, I'm sure:
i use a MacBook which I always back up using Time Machine. But I use a separate external drive (Ext. A) to upload my photos from my memory card so that the photos don't use up my internal hard drive. Question: how do I back up Ext A to a separate External B?
Thnx BJ.

From a legal point of view, furnishing photographic services can be akin to what we lawyers call a "personal service contract". In other words, the key element is providing a specific individual with his or her experience and talent for the job. The consumer would be hiring that special person to provide the service contracted for. Thus, there is value to the individual's name as opposed to an arbitrary corporate name. We see such contracts in the hiring of specific artists, for examples. So you need to decide whether you want to market your unique talent that another photographer might not be able to provide as your substitute on any given job. If your serious about going into a photo business (or any other business of your own) do the research, get some good professional guidance, become your own harshest critic and then your grandmother's inheritance will flourish for you. Go for it and good luck!

I use the D500 with a variety of lenses too. When I don't want to "shlep" them all with me I use the Panasonic FZ1000 which gives me 25-200mm at f2.8 and 200-400 at f4.0. Its a very good bridge camera with excellent IQ/sharp images with crisp focal depth front to back. About $800 new. I think it may be worth a try for your ship photos. You could probably rent one for a week or so.

That's why I bought it. It's a great bridge camera. 25-200 at 2.8; 200-400 at 4.0 with 4K video. Sharp images. Can't replace my D500 though. Still, it all boils down to the guy or gal behind the camera. I'm still trying to get there.

Great shots with the FZ1000. Are these taken from a 4K video or are they stills taken at a high burst rate? What were your settings?
Your shots restore my faith in that camera and that it's the photographer that's more important than the camera. Kudos to you on beautiful creative technique.

For however much it might add to this discussion, I noticed that in his famous latest edition of "Understanding Exposure" famed photographer/teacher Bryan Peterson uses the 24-120mm for many of the photos in the book. I felt reassured by that after I plunked down about a grand for the lense. I'm not disappointed that I did. But I'd love to check out that 200-500.

To Rong...
A really valuable critique, both substantively and graphically.

Thanks
BJ

My understanding of negative space is this. If we were to consider the subject as a plus and the background (or area in the frame not occupied by the subject) to be a minus, the minus in this photo outweighs the plus. Negative space can surely enhance the subject but here the ratio seems too heavily weighted in favor of the minus such that it minimizes the impact of an attractive positive subject. I view negative space as a guide to help in composition when framing the subject
I would suggest 2 steps:
1) appropriate cropping and/or
2) shooting closer to the subject.

Best,
BJ

Too much negatve space-- which diminishes the beauty of her musculature.

Hey guys:
Wrong forum. Try twitter instead. This is a photography forum. Please don't mess it up with this crap,
Thanks.

That's why cloud is so good. It syncs automatically. Use 2 of them and it makes 2 backups automatically. Use 3 it makes 3, etc.
You can as be obsessive/compulsive to your heart's content.

As to back up in the cloud, I've used DropBox, Google Drive and iCloud. Others here at UHH have used Carbonite.
Cloud technology is that good today that I feel pretty safe with them.
Does anyone have anything negative to report on the cloud?

Ron:
LOL. Re lensse cap. No limits to creativity. Not even one's imagination. Next stop x-ray vision with a crop sensor. Way to go.
BJ

Got the D500 2 months ago and havent touched my Canon or Panasonic mirrorless since. Great for low light action shots. And as to creativity, get a copy of Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" for more on "creative exposure" vs. "correct exposure". Ron is right on!