Thanks for the hints and compliment. Actually I darkened my screen and adjusted the image to what I was seeing and the resulting prints are much brighter, although it seems more difficult reading the script etc with the dimmer screen. I have an old "Spyder" device I may try on the monitor - which is an Apple big screen.

Thanks for that. While I'm familiar with a lot of insects, these two are new to me, especially the moth.

I took the attached images today and ashamed to admit I can't identify either of these insects. Can anyone help identify them?
I took them using a 150 - 600 mm Tamron lens - while sitting on a plastic cat litter container in the bathtub. I rested the lens support on the window sill. It's a bloody heavy lens but I'm relatively pleased with the results so far. If you're wondering - this is the only window that overlooks the butterfly bush at the side of the house, so I make do with what I've got.

Also, while they look pretty good on the screen the 4x6 prints I've made are too dark.

Bee moth 1


Gold Butterfly 1

I appreciate all the input! Now I'll have to experiment with what I have before looking into additional programs. I didn't realize iphoto offered this as I'm used to just jumping into Photoshop to work on my images.

It's a Mac Pro 3.7 quad core. Manufactured late 2013.

I did a solo exhibition about 10 years ago in Australia. All images were either printed on canvas and stretched on wood frames or matted with foam backing. Nothing was under glass.
While I did all my own printing I paid to have everything stretched or matted. Besides that huge added cost of framing under glass there is also the potential of accidents like glass breakage and injuries. This was held for 10 days in a local art club and while I was not charged for the use, the group took 10% of the profits of any sales.
I might add, my local framer probably made more than I did overall but it was a rewarding experience - got interviewed twice on radio and had a wonderful time meeting lots of people who dropped in to see my work. I might have grossed about $3000.

I'm looking for software to create slide shows on a Mac computer. I used to use ProShow Gold on PC but not familiar with Mac programs.
Also, I'm using an OS X Yosemite which I bought refurbished and doesn't have a CD/DVD so guessing I'll have to buy a CD/DVD burner to use with it??? One thing I hate about Macs is lack of information/details about the computer. For example there is a switch at the top of the cylinder indicating lock/unlock which I have NO idea what it is for???
Any help would be much appreciated.

There are some, involved in professional photographic organizations who suggest that in addition to traditional contest categories like nature, landscape, experimental, etc there should be added "photographic art" which might address this issue. Granted, one would have to depend in part on the honesty of participants, as it continually becomes more difficult to distinguish altered images from actual photographs.

I got fired up last year to print out some of my own calendars for friends & family. Bought RR double sided paper, one of those plastic ring binder machines, etc. Came the day of reckoning - I used my laser printer to print number sides and Canon IJ printer for the pictures, and shortly realized my expenses were going to be way more than I'd imagined - using 13 pages of 8.5 x 11 paper. I could have cut them in half, and worked out a different layout but by then I'd just lost interest.
If I opt to try again this year I'll use a commercial service and let them do the work for a known cost. Good luck with your project.

The first appears a bit flat or soft while the 2nd is just too much, especially with the ripples & falling water. If you've added a layer to make your changes you can try using a soft eraser tool set to maybe 10 - 20% and go over these areas to reduce the effect gradually until you come to a more attractive but realistic image. I frequently use this with animal and bird pics - having a sharp main subject but using the eraser to soften over sharpened parts of the picture.
The soft brush can be used in many instances to gradually remove overdone effects like sharpening, darkening, saturation, etc. Just remember to add a new layer before applying effects to your image.

Shame on you for letting an idiot unsettle you! He obviously has his own problems that he's dealing with in a poor manner. Regarding tripods, I've a number of them from the cheap to 3 Manfrottos and I generally prefer the light, cheap models I have, with half the weight, and I've shot dozens of multi-image panoramas over the years with nary a problem.

I'm embarrassed to realize the program wouldn't work on my Mac!! DUH!

Thanks for that! I'll give it a try. I'm desperate for a program to make up a few posters to print and sell next month. While I'm expecting to have some printed in larger numbers by an outside source, I'd like to be able to set up and print a few myself.

OK - I've got Picassa installed and trying to create a poster. I got the pictures from a folder but can only view individual pictures. There is no setting under 200% and I want to see the entire poster as well as put a title on it. Any help???

I am trying to assemble groups of pictures into collages. Does anyone have any recommendations as to software that arranges your images with auto sizing and placement, with a title and various color backgrounds? The images I am using have a black border on which I have names of birds, animals, etc. Also, there needs to be compensation for using both landscape and portrait formats.
I've done a bit of this in PS 5 but it's a tedious project and once you've "fixed" a picture, you can still move it around but can no longer change the size. This used to be so much easier in PS 3 or PS 4.