I think the adage was originally coined to express the degree to which pro photographers were discriminating in editing out the losers but it morphed into an excuse for being hasty and maybe even sloppy. But, there IS an awful lot to remember and even if you do remember everything, other natural elements come into play that can rob you of the results you expect, especially when we do those things infrequently as non-pros. That's no secret but hopefully it doesn't hurt us to say it now and then just as a reminder for we amateurs to not swell up too much when it all comes together.

When you don't have the good sense to start with non-moving objects but think you should jump right in there doing football games or flying birds, especially those that flit, when the action heats up, memory often goes out the window and most of us aren't equipped to do anything but fire away with no time to keep notes, at least I wasn't. I bought tape recorders as they kept getting smaller and smaller eventually winding up with them in my shirt pocket talking to them as I would shoot so I could later analyze what I had done. It didn't work too well. Too tedious for a non-pro who thought his camera was designed by Richard Gatling of gun fame.

By the next time I'd go out to shoot, I'd have forgotten about everything I thought I knew, money being a factor. Actually, it has never been a battle between me and the camera. It's been a battle between my tenacity and my weak conscious recall facility. I suppose I just couldn't walk from the challenge of overcoming the downside of all those licks on my head I took when I was a kid, being one of three boys.

Well said, gessman, and I'm glad to know that I wasn't the only one that struggled with it. I guess I wasn't tenacious enough, or gave up too soon, but once I got my first digital SLR, things finally clicked. I know we have an advantage over those who learned in the days of film, but those that learned it back then really learned it. Sometimes the new cameras make it too easy. With forums like this, and the Internet with all the options for learning, someone getting in now has a much easier time than even a few years ago. I didn't interact with anybody about photography for the first three years, and didn't have an Internet connection at home until a year ago. I did occationally take my laptop to the library or McDonalds to use the WiFi connection, but that was very limited. How things change.

I guess I'm a rebel of sorts because I usually "buck" the totally accepted and offered as the only way to do something. Having said that, your quote.."I do not the stats on the settings except I know that I had the lens wide open and somewhere around 60mm with that Vivitar" makes me have to say.... in MY world, the finished product is what is most important. Knowing how you got there, to me, only serves as a duplicate path for the future. I rarely know how I arrived at a photo but boy I sure am happy when they turn out better than expected. I guess that way I'm not so disappointed if they don't. Rules are good, but you already know my weird philosophy hehehe love the photos