wpromine

By way of introduction, my name is Benjamin, 75yrs. old, married 53 years w/ 3 grown children and 4 grand children. I practiced Medicine for 37 years retiring in 2000. Have a number of hobbys and interest, among which are travel, hunting, golf, collecting coins from Imperial Rome and on-again- off-again interest in photography. I enjoy trying new things even though I don't plan to make it a serious hobby.
Within the past week I found this site and look forward each morning to reading the excellent posts by all of you. I have a "speaking acquaintance" w/ things photographic, however, there is SO much I don't know. In the past I have owned Canon cameras and several additional lens--mostly intermediate range zoom lens--but they were film camers and I am now interested in digital. I basically have two digital cameras--a pocket Canon Elf and another functional up-grade, CanonG10. Compared to the photography done by many of you, I am very limited by the lack of additional lens, but I know I will not become really"serious"about this at the present time. So, I am interested in learning about composition, lighing and the use of the features my G10 has. As you well know, fun can be had with rather simple equipment!

One area I would like to explore is editing. Will some of you suggest a "simple" program I can download-- Like 'Photo Editing for Dummies'. Simple and user friendly. Mainly interested in cropping and color adjustment type things for now.

Hope I haven't broken a 'Forum Rule' against long, boring posts! Thank you and I look forward to continue learning from your posts.

EricLPT Loc: Jonesborough TN

Wpromine,

No rules broken in your post. It would be nice to see some of your photos so we could critique them.

Freeware like Picasa, GIMP, and others will do the basics, but more advanced programs like Photoshop Elements (v10 just came out) will also do just the basics but has room to grow as your skills improve. Also, since Elements is a very popular program you can find classes fairly easily and people on this site will be able to offer tips as well.

Everybody has a favorite editing software program, Elements is mine, but I do not believe it is the only one for you. People can get passionate about their programs and I don't want to start a flame war here. I like Elements, it works for me and I think you should at least check it out, I think there is a 30 day free trial from Adobe.com.

Post some photos soon,

Eric

kriddiough Loc: Wisconsin

Welcome!
I too am new to this forum. I just joined yesterday. So far so good.
Looking forward to seeing some of your photos.

wpromine

Thank you for your response. Special thanks to you,Eric, for your suggestions. I will certainly take a look at "Elements'.

Ben
P.S.--I will have to 'master' the process of posting photos. Not much more adept at computers than photography!!

sinatraman Loc: Vero Beach Florida, Earth,alpha quaudrant

welcome you will find most people here are freindly and willing to help. not to mention some amazingly talented photographers. do not think you are limited because you shoot with a point and shoot, it is not the camera its thhe photographer. besides many of my shots i post are from a pocket sized nikon l22 12 mp P+s the quality is quite good for a camera that small. I would love to see photos of your imperial rome coin collection. I love all things roman. If its a movie and has centerions in it, im there. The Eagle was very good should be out on dvd now. when you get ready to post send me a message and i will walk you through it. it isn't hard. in fact this site has the easiest photo loading capability of any site i know.

where in georgia are you? I was a floyd county (rome) cop for a while and then worked for acworth(cobb county) also lived in woodstock and worked in thee roswell alpharetta area. loved Helen also.

wpromine

Hi, Sinatraman,
I will definitely let you 'walk' me thru the posting process. Need to get into my files and select 2or3 photos to put on the site.

Thanks for your welcome. You are absolute right --- there are some amazing photographers/artist on this site. I have been on the site less than a week and I already have several who don't seem capable of posting anything except outstanding photos!

I live in Quitman-- about 17 miles west of Valdosta. Our 2 daughters and their families live in the Roswell area, and our 41 yr. old son was in graduate school in Atlanta until he had a disabling stroke 3 years ago. He now lives with my wife and me.We are blessed and priviledged to have and to care for him. Actually, taking another look at photography is due to the need to be closer around. My travel, golf and hunting interests are very limited now.

Ben

LJHenry

Ben, I agree that fancy equipment is not needed for great pictures, so do your thing and enjoy! Bless you for putting your sons needs ahead of your desires. What was your specialty in medicine? (I'm an RN.) I recently spent a good deal of time in Stone Mtn with my daughter & her family -- due to a family tragedy, unfortunately. (I have family ties to Rome as well, Sinatraman.)

wpromine

Hello, LJHenry, and thank you for the kind thoughts you expressed. I am sorry for your family heartache. We all have our times when bad things happen, but it's how we respond that matters. From your few expressed feelings, I suspect that you know that and are stronger for it.

I practiced Family Medicine and loved it.Regulations took more and more of my time away from the Doctor/Patient relationship, plus there were other interests I wanted to persue.

There is nothing more comforting than a good and caring nurse. God bless you as you continue to serve.

Ben

photogrl57 Loc: Tennessee

Picasa is probably the most user friendly program. My husband is technologically challenged also and even he can use it lol. :)

kateyface Loc: Washington state

Also on Picasa you can spend just a tiny bit more for a lot more gadgets that are fun and user friendly.

Elle Loc: Long Island, NY

I use a combination of Adobe Elements and Paint Shop Pro. Between them I'm able to do just about anything I have a mind to at a cost between them of a third of Photoshop and I think more user friendly. Photoshop is of course the industry standard but it is expensive and has a lot of features only a professional might call on. Both of the aforementioned programs take Adobe filters (special effects). The key is to learn what the tools can do. Once learned, the knowledge can be applied to just about any program since the use usually remains the same. One program may offer a feature or the tool might to do an action more preferably for me than the other which is the reason for switching. Knowing how to do postwork is the difference between a good photo and a great one.

wpromine

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. I am curently becoming acquainted with Picasa but have also heard good reports on Adobe Elements.