Nobody ever mentions Corel PaintShop Pro. I find it a lot easier to use than PhotoShop, it has an extensive set of tools and is cheaper. Right now it is on sale for around $30 and the Ultimate version is not much more. I would suggest the Ultimate version. It works on .jpeg, RAW and many other photo file formats. It comes with access to a lot of training videos. I think they even have a trial version. Buy it. Due to inflation, it's less than the cost of a Happy Meal. 😁

This issue reminds me of the first time I used Windows 11. Copy and paste functionality is under a sub menu instead of a top layer menu. Why would Microsoft hide a primary function in a sub menu? Someone there thought that this was a good idea. Ridiculous! Since I don't have Windows 11, myself, there could be a way to move menu items around. Right now, I don't care to find out, since I don't own Windows 11.

Great photo! Love the well lit model against the black background.

Not specific locations, but when taking photos of forests, waterfalls and many other hard to photograph images, correctly, make sure you take a tripod and bracket all your photos. Forest photos are tricky because of their dark nature. When daylight filters through the trees, the contrast wrecks many light meters and camera sensors. HDR post processing can help, if bracketing your images. Flowing water can be captured with a quick or slow shutter speed, depending on what you are trying to present. Same with waterfalls. Don't forget to take close up images of flowers, leaves, insects, etc. Experiment and have fun.

Rongnongno:

I used to photograph weddings -- dozens, if not a hundred. Your experiences bring back memories because I went through the same things.

I could write a book on the weird stuff that happens at weddings. I experienced fights, had to drive the Bride and Groom to the reception when the wedding party left without them. One Groom did not want his photo taken. One Bride started to change from her street clothes into her wedding dress, with the help of her mom. I excused myself before she got too far undressed.

There were so many more memories, both good and bad. I could never photograph weddings, again (too old) but I don't regret that I did.

I have been using Corel Video Studio's cousin, Pinnacle Studio, for many years. I used Avid Media Composer and Avid Liquid Studio before that. Those two were great but Liquid was replaced with Media Composer and Media Composer got too expensive to upgrade.

Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 25 does most things Media Composer does and is on sale right now. I have heard Davinci is pretty good, but haven't tried it. The free version is limited. However, I think the full version is reasonably priced. I do like my Pinnacle Studio Ultimate and it is integrated with Smartsound music, that I love.

I purchased a Prosumer Sony video camera specifically for an Alaskan train/cruise trip. I took about eight hours of "footage." The camera captured a lot of great images. I had not edited video, before, and when I edited out all the mediocre footage, I still had enough to create a four hour video. I thought that nobody would sit for a four hour vacation DVD so I made a three hour DVD. It occurred to me that even that was too much. I made a two hour version and after coming to my senses, I made a final one hour DVD of our trip. This was when I realized how difficult it must be for movie producers, directors and editors to get rid of great "B-Roll" film, when making a full-length movie. I often feel the same about my digital photos. But I try my best to let go, anyway.

Taking wide-view snapshots instead of close up details, especially for landscape photos. I do compose photo details, just not enough, in my opinion.

I canceled my Scientific American Magazine after decades of subscribing because they boasted in one of my last issues that they were proud of getting Biden elected. They are supposed to be a scientific magazine and not a political magazine. It sounded like they wanted to be part of the woke people who trashes anything that other people might think. Also, the magazine only published articles about how bad global warming or climate change was and no articles questioning that theory or having opposing views, which the scientific method requires. In other words, they publish articles they agree with and suppress views that they don't agree with. That's politics, not science.

Many of my magazines slowly started to diminish in the number of pages and then went from monthly to bimonthly. Some even ceased to exist, with no warning or refunds. Sad.

Thanks for the information.

It's interesting that when photographers mention cameras, especially those that (are/were) innovative, they never mention Pentax. Pentaprism, TTL metering, etc.

Beaufort is a cute little town with a lot of history. I always enjoyed seeing the old Antebellum houses. Some have gas outdoor lights that make great photos. By the way, Beaufort is close to Savannah, GA. You might want to visit there for even more great photo opportunities. Enjoy!

Beautiful eyes. Great exposure, too. The left-hand side is slightly distracting, but still a great photo!

When I got my first real 35 mm film camera, I first learned how to use the built-in light meter. Then I learned how to compose my subjects so I didn't cut off the top of heads or have trees sticking our of someone's head. After that I read many books on lighting techniques, color control, depth of field, focusing, aperture vs. shutter speed, etc. Now, you can find all kinds of videos online, to supplement books. Practice a lot and have fun!