This topic comes up a lot. The CORRECT answer varies by camera brand and model! Stabilization systems are NOT standard. Is yours in the lens? In the body? In both? How many axes of movement are involved? Three? Five?

Some cameras automatically turn on stabilization when there is camera movement and turn it off when there is none. Others can't discern that, so they require the user to turn it off when the camera is on a tripod. Consult your full operations manual for the details. Older cameras are more likely to require your intervention to avoid movement CAUSED by the stabilizer(s).

A high key image is often going to mean some degree of overexposure. A low key image is often going to mean some degree of underexposure. Neither is an error when the intent yields the desired result. A moonlit silhouette of a couple on a beach at night is going to appear many stops underexposed, except for the overexposed moon. Is that incorrect or bad? No, it's just what can be done, given the contrast range of the scene. The couple will like it for what it is, not for what it is not.

I was once asked, "Would you rather be right or be nice?" My answer was, "What are the circumstances?"

If being right determines whether someone lives or dies, I want to be right, and if that requires being an SOB momentarily, I'll be one, and ask for forgiveness later.

If being nice determines whether I "get to tomorrow" in an important relationship, I'll be nice, so long as an error doesn't cause a harm worse than indignity.

If there's time to nicely and politely guide others to the correct conclusion and away from their errant stupidity, I'll try to forge that path.

But I'll tell you this, I hate being wrong. It isn't in my DNA to promote falsehoods. It's not good for humanity.

As a Mac user, I'd use iMovie. I've made many slide shows over the last two decades using iMovie or Final Cut Pro. But if you just want a simple, silent show to run in the background on a timer, Apple Photos and Lemkesoft's Graphic Converter are good choices.

Bear in mind that video is almost never very simple. If you want pans and zooms, titles, music, special effects, etc., it can get out of hand very quickly.

You beat me to it. I was thinking the same thing.

Composition is enhancement... a selective editing of nature's visual feast... or some such horse hockey. Much like plastic surgery.

Oh, this is going nowhere, quickly!

You have my deepest sympathies.

Best advice I got on that was, "Just go do it. No one can tell you how. You have to figure it out by making it up as you go along. OR, you can storyboard it ahead of time..."

There is a famous photo of a Vietnamese soldier assassinating a prisoner on the street at point blank range in the late 1960s.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42864421

I'm sure it told the story pretty well. Of course, some prose accompanied it. But the scene was so bizarre that a reading alone would have sounded fictional.

They are subjectively unimportant to people who don't care about that sort of structure.

I do, deeply, and I pay attention to stuff like that. But my point is, someone else's definition of quality may be, "Look, Ma, I got a picture of Bigfoot!" Never mind it's blurry, tilted 12° off-level, overexposed, out of focus, and sun-flared!

Of course, I'd argue that all those errors could have been deliberate, to mask the fact that it's just the photographer's friend, Bubba Bigboy, wearing a Wookie Halloween costume and running through the woods...

Good, Fast, Cheap. Pick any two...

The likely candidate is the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless High-speed Photo Scanning System. It's pricey, but good and fast. However, it only handles prints and documents. A bonus is, it scans double-sided documents. It is probably a reasonable compromise capable of plowing through stacks of prints. It handles 8.5" wide by 11.7" (and longer, depending on resolution).

https://epson.com/For-Home/Scanners/Photo-Scanners/FastFoto-FF-680W-Wireless-High-speed-Photo-Scanning-System/p/B11B237201

Personally, I built a copy stand I use with my mirrorless camera and macro lens to copy prints, flat art, stamps, coins, slides, and negatives with my digital camera. I find raw files give me the quality I need. It's pretty quick, but requires post-production.

I'll certainly agree with you that there are lots of technical imperfections in images posted on UHH — in many of the various sections. However, I agree with others here who point to the purposes of the different sections.

Sharing images isn't necessarily an invitation to constructive criticism. The photo gallery isn't a competitive space or a learning atmosphere. It's meant for SHARING. People put their images there because they find the subject matter interesting, or moving, or funny, or... for a whole myriad of reasons.

As Linda pointed out, there are other places on UHH where you can get and give advice regarding the nuts and bolts of how to put together a better photograph.

It is fairly safe to say that most images can be improved upon in some way. As the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, once said (I'm paraphrasing for context), the concept of perfection is just that — a concept. There is no perfect physical realization of a chair… just the idea of it. And for each of us, that concept of perfection is different. Sitting comfort is different for each of us. And that's okay.

Growing up as a teen photographer, I was lucky enough to have a great journalism advisor pluck me out of the hall one day at school, when she saw the Canon around my neck. She smiled and quite literally guided me by the shirt collar into the yearbook/newspaper office.

"You're Bill, right?"

"Yes, Ma'am?" (As if I weren't sure why she was asking).

"You're going to make pictures for the yearbook for us, aren't you?" She gave me an almost devious, "Don't deny me the honor of your help," look. "I'll pay you for your prints. Please say yes."

I let that sink in for about two seconds. "I would really like that! I smiled."

That lady took me under her wing and guided me from a casual snapper to a half-decent photojournalist in a matter of weeks. She was merciless. I would hand her a contact sheet. She would grab her ubiquitous Agfa 8X Loupe magnifier and start looking... and talking. AND criticizing — constructively. By the time I graduated, I'd gone through over 300 rolls of Tri-X.

She picked my work apart and told me how she would make it better. I never took any of it as insulting. She was full of great ideas and commentary on photography, and had a shelf full of books on photojournalism I devoured. She had several All-American Yearbook awards to her credit, and knew great images when she saw them.

That sort of mentorship worked for me. It doesn't work for everyone. Nor are most people receptive to that process. Lots of folks see photography as just a recording process, and not as a visual communications language or an art form. They're just in it for the fun of showing others what they saw. For me, photography is an essential part of life, a duty, an obsession, or more cynically, an addiction. I can't help but try to shape each image I share with a reasonable amount of care and finesse. So I don't share much. It's time consuming.

Most folks aren't like that. So if you want creative expression or value constructive criticism, skip the Gallery. If you want to see what people find interesting enough to share, and can get past their technical potholes, The Photo Gallery can be a pleasant surprise.

There are several services who will post your images privately for you, then allow your clients to purchase downloads, prints, and other products you sell. Then they will do fulfillment, ship direct to customer, and send you your price, less their cost for the service.

Fine Art America is one. But there are many.

Understood. I saw those earlier! They're clever. I especially like the cat and the goose.

Nice! It reminds me of fooling around with re-spooled Double-X Eastman movie film years ago. I like the grain.

The window reflection makes the scene look like a double exposure. I immediately think of photo-illustrated scene settings for chapters in novels.