Beautiful shots and kudos to you for your years of public service in a demanding job.
Pixelstan77, I wish I had said "Light is our Language." But I didn't and you did. Unless that is a quote from someone else, I think you should trademark it. Light indeed is our language. However, I am not saying that exposure is THE most important factor in crafting a fine image. It is one of several, as others have ably pointed out here.
So what's the morel to this story?
Tops! I feel serenity washing over me as I drink in this image.
Your shots demonstrate your point well.
As I write this, there is an ad for becoming an addiction counselor hovering above this text box. Any guesses as to why the advertisers thought hoggers would be particularly receptive to their message? Hmmm....
I believe you may have a menu setting where you choose between allowing the shutter to fire, or blocking it, when the camera is not in focus. Check that out.
That's really an outstanding picture. The details in the bee including its coloring make my eye want to look at it longer than most. Much better than my best bee shots. Good work.
For some years now I have been wondering when the old retail model might evolve from local purchase sites to local demonstration sites, where manufacturers would simply have their, say cameras, available all in one place to enable customer browsing and hands - on experience with no purchases even possible on the site. Multiple (all) manufacturers would rent/buy space in the same location, the same "store". Very much like a continuous, local CES show, these sites would not have to be limited to cameras, but might serve any products where customers need to have that hands - on experience before making buying decision.
I was going to chime in on the topic of shot lists, but the Smokies shot has left me without words. That is one incredible image. Beautiful.
These are cloud catchers. Note how they've worked in the first photo. Cloud husbandry is based on artificial insemination, which can only be performed on female clouds that have been captured. Once the cloud is captured and calmed down, it only takes a few minutes with a garden hose to complete the task. The tricky part comes when specially trained workers have to free the clouds from the cloud catcher trees without harming them. But depending on the size of the cloud and it's temperament, a well trained and compassionate worker can usually complete the task in under two minutes. As you can image, it's a job for folks who don't mind being wet all day.