I think I know where I stand, until someone comes along and proves me absolutely wrong. While I have some pretty strong opinions, I am always open to seeing things from another persons point of view. St3v3M just laid out some new thoughts for me on the response I posted. I have the deepest respect for him, and I am going to consider every word he said. Especially the part about smelling the roses. I am so completely on task all the time, I very much forget to do just that.

That being said, how others react to my images is a very important thing to me. It's the way I convey my message, my




emotions about a time and place, and if nobody gets it, then I


have more work to do.

I have to be honest. I completely disagree Larry.

I think you have to be careful who you listen to. Follow threads, and watch what someone posts before listening to advice. Make sure the person has the technical chops, and can produce a great photograph before eating up every word he/she says.

I am never completely happy with anything I shoot. Even the few shots I have in my archives that are pretty good, I know what their flaws are.

If you are happy with everything you do, how do you improve? Without self critique how do you gain new skills?

"I wonder if doctors have a forum like this, where they ask questions and get wrong answers. I hope not."

Of course they do. Grand Rounds in teaching hospitals deal with how to treat patients and correct mistakes in a treatment path or regimen.

A patient once bounced off the roof of the library. Jumped from the psychiatric unit on the ninth floor. Someone gave a wrong answer whether screens or bars should be provided on those windows.

In a hospital I worked in, "Please send the Green Gurtney to five west "stat!" Generally meant something went wrong. The patient died. Various departments meet regularly to discuss how a death or course of could have been modified. Correcting the wrong answers.

The programs "House:" and "Grey's Anatomy", though dramatizations, sometimes portray the treatment/medical learning process quite accurately.

I have been on this wonderful forum for nearly a year and have benefited immensely from the information and knowledge presented here. I have been taking pictures for over fifty years but MAKING pictures for only the last few.

I would like to offer my insight on what I have learned.

You, and only you, need be happy with your image - unless you are selling it.

Advice will run the gamut of Work The Shot to analyze and take only the shot you need.

We have Rules - but you need not necessarily follow them.

Everything should be done in camera. What photo Editing Program do you use?

Use the Histogram for exposure - the Histogram is useless.

Be sure to make thirty backups of your images, you never know when a hard drive may fail.

That question has already been asked! I only joined this morning.

And, God forbid, Never, Never, Never ever post an image with a crooked horizon!

Folks, I say this with tongue in cheek, so please don't get upset. I am making fun of myself as well.

There is so much contradictory information out there that some photographers proclaim as gospel while others insist the opposite is true, we often confuse the Newbie with our replies to the original query.

Now I am not saying either group is right or wrong, I am suggesting to our neophyte photographer that there is only one correct way to do it...your way!

Try all these different methods. Give them an honest try and then use what works for you. Each image we post is a statement of how we view something. It is your image and often it is "not quite" what we are trying to say but over time our skill level will rise enough to more closely resemble what we wish to convey.

Meanwhile have fun!

Larry Wilkerson

I have to be honest. I completely disagree Larry.

I think you have to be careful who you listen to. Follow threads, and watch what someone posts before listening to advice. Make sure the person has the technical chops, and can produce a great photograph before eating up every word he/she says.

I am never completely happy with anything I shoot. Even the few shots I have in my archives that are pretty good, I know what their flaws are.



If you are happy with everything you do, how do you improve? Without self critique how do you gain new skills?

I have been on this wonderful forum for nearly a year and have benefited immensely from the information and knowledge presented here. I have been taking pictures for over fifty years but MAKING pictures for only the last few.

I would like to offer my insight on what I have learned.

You, and only you, need be happy with your image - unless you are selling it.

Advice will run the gamut of Work The Shot to analyze and take only the shot you need.

We have Rules - but you need not necessarily follow them.

Everything should be done in camera. What photo Editing Program do you use?

Use the Histogram for exposure - the Histogram is useless.

Be sure to make thirty backups of your images, you never know when a hard drive may fail.

That question has already been asked! I only joined this morning.

And, God forbid, Never, Never, Never ever post an image with a crooked horizon!

Folks, I say this with tongue in cheek, so please don't get upset. I am making fun of myself as well.

There is so much contradictory information out there that some photographers proclaim as gospel while others insist the opposite is true, we often confuse the Newbie with our replies to the original query.

Now I am not saying either group is right or wrong, I am suggesting to our neophyte photographer that there is only one correct way to do it...your way!

Try all these different methods. Give them an honest try and then use what works for you. Each image we post is a statement of how we view something. It is your image and often it is "not quite" what we are trying to say but over time our skill level will rise enough to more closely resemble what we wish to convey.

Meanwhile have fun!

Larry Wilkerson

I think I know where I stand, until someone comes along and proves me absolutely wrong. While I have some pretty strong opinions, I am always open to seeing things from another persons point of view. St3v3M just laid out some new thoughts for me on the response I posted. I have the deepest respect for him, and I am going to consider every word he said. Especially the part about smelling the roses. I am so completely on task all the time, I very much forget to do just that.

That being said, how others react to my images is a very important thing to me. It's the way I convey my message, my emotions about a time and place, and if nobody gets it, then I have more work to do.

I have been on this wonderful forum for nearly a year and have benefited immensely from the information and knowledge presented here. I have been taking pictures for over fifty years but MAKING pictures for only the last few.

I would like to offer my insight on what I have learned.

You, and only you, need be happy with your image - unless you are selling it.

Advice will run the gamut of Work The Shot to analyze and take only the shot you need.

We have Rules - but you need not necessarily follow them.

Everything should be done in camera. What photo Editing Program do you use?

Use the Histogram for exposure - the Histogram is useless.

Be sure to make thirty backups of your images, you never know when a hard drive may fail.

That question has already been asked! I only joined this morning.

And, God forbid, Never, Never, Never ever post an image with a crooked horizon!

Folks, I say this with tongue in cheek, so please don't get upset. I am making fun of myself as well.

There is so much contradictory information out there that some photographers proclaim as gospel while others insist the opposite is true, we often confuse the Newbie with our replies to the original query.

Now I am not saying either group is right or wrong, I am suggesting to our neophyte photographer that there is only one correct way to do it...your way!

Try all these different methods. Give them an honest try and then use what works for you. Each image we post is a statement of how we view something. It is your image and often it is "not quite" what we are trying to say but over time our skill level will rise enough to more closely resemble what we wish to convey.

Meanwhile have fun!

Larry Wilkerson

I have to be honest. I completely disagree Larry.

I think you have to be careful who you listen to. Follow threads, and watch what someone posts before listening to advice. Make sure the person has the technical chops, and can produce a great photograph before eating up every word he/she says.

I am never completely happy with anything I shoot. Even the few shots I have in my archives that are pretty good, I know what their flaws are.

If you are happy with everything you do, how do you improve? Without self critique how do you gain new skills?