E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

What with the pandemic and all the chaos, I forgot to make my usual New Years' resolutions. Not that I keep all of them. Today I thought I would catch up.

Why today. Well, yesterday my wife and I got our second Covid vaccine shot. I'm kinda under the weather and she really feels poorly, so we both played hooky and stayed home from work. I was poking around online and she is listening to some calm "easy listening" music. No heavy classics, rock 'n' roll, marshall music or acid rock allowed today so, this song came over the stereo:

"Among My Souvenirs"

The first line is the lyrics were "There's nothing left for me..." just as I was reading the forum and participating in a SOOTC vs. Post-Processing usual thing. I became inspired by the music to make some belated resolutions pertaining to the forum. I am gonna try to avoid chiming in on the following kinda threads in the interest of avoiding headaches:

SOOTC vs. PP. Filter vs. Never Filters, Anti-Flash usage, I was asked to shoot a wedding- what lens? etc, DSLR vs Mirrorless that go over 9 responses, Perfectly fine threads that turn into semantics wars and /or becomes a litany of obscure philosophies and, threads containing name-calling, personal attacks and ugly arguments and obvious attempts at trolling.

Then, I pondered over my aforementioned list and realized, WHAT'S LEFT? Thus the song!

I was always a Conne Francis fan- she sang in multiple languages. This song includes the word PHOTOGRAPHS!

Sorry folks- I promise to go back to work in the morning. Idle hands do the devil's work!

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

E.L., I find your contributions to be rather insightful, knowledgeable, and make good points.
--Bob

L-Fox

My parents loved Connie.

Quixdraw Loc: x

Earlier, Peggy Lee "Is that all there is?" For me, "vs." generates an immediate barf bag reaction. Dad, R.I.P., used to grill us about our New Years Resolutions. I miss him still, but spare my grown children repetition of the tradition.

tcthome Loc: NJ

Me too! Besides, Everyone deserves a good rant once in a while(except me of coarse)!

BushDog Loc: San Antonio, TX

I agree too.

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

Not unusual to feel a little under the weather from your second covid shot. All will be back to normal when you wake up tomorrow. In fact you will feel doubly energized knowing you are that much safer!

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Thank you!

juan_uy Loc: Uruguay

It looks like a good list of threads to avoid.
I really really really hope you continue chiming in each time you can/want. Your replies not only come from a incredible experienced photographer, but you also take the time to elaborate detailed answers to help the rest of us.

As said in another message, quite normal to feel down after a dose (especially second one). Hope you are back at 100% soon :)

Fredrick Loc: Former NYC, now San Francisco Bay Area

I don’t remember the needle being that long!

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Actually, it is not! One of my commercial customers is the B & D distributer in my area. Beckton and Dickenson are the world's largest producers of hypodermic syringes and needles. So, I was just shooting a bunch of catalogue shots on a plain white background, to break the monotony, I messed around with that one. The background is the controversial sky replacement function on one of my software programs.

You should see the veterinary syringe and needle intend for bovine animals- too scary!

Fredrick Loc: Former NYC, now San Francisco Bay Area

I use Luminar 4 and Luminar AI (in addition to PSE and Capture One). Their sky replacement is getting better and better.
I learn a lot from your posts. Thanks!

Siena Loc: Rocky Hill, CT

Mr. Shapiro,
Please don’t stick to tightly to your resolution. I value your experience, insight and most of all, the gentility of your answers. That is often sorely lacking when threads go sideways here.
Congrats on both shots... I hope you and your wife are feeling fine by now.
Sandi