You know, I can't tell you how many times I have had people come up to me and say any of the following:

"Boy, that's a nice camera, I bet it takes good pictures"

"Is that all you do all day, going around shooting photos?"

"Man, you get to travel all around, huh?"

And my favorite... "What TV station do you work for?"

The reality though is that photojournalism is hard work with long hours and now very low pay. I have lived in my car for weeks, been shot at, cussed at, threatened, praised and ignored. It is a true mixed bag of experiences, but the great part is that you get to see and do cool stuff, too. I have met Presidents, pro sports figures, politicians and people who were both famous and infamous. I have slept with homeless people under bridges and been to world-wide sporting events. SO, is it worth the long hours, hard work, enormous amounts of crap you have to put up with? Absolutely. This photo is a good example of some of the places you have to stay in. This was shot in Ulysses, Kansas in the ONLY hotel in town, which was at a truck stop. Sometimes, ya gotta stay where you gotta stay! :-)

after months of researching i finally purchased a refurbished canon T7i. having not had a slr for a long time, i am shooting in automatic. my problem is, sitting on my patio taking the exact same picture with the new camera and my sony bridge camera, i find the quality of the bridge camera to be much better. it's not that i'm screwing up the settings because its in auto. i am frustrated!! also while shooting with the flash, when holding shutter half way down there is a crackling hissing sound. i dont think i heard it the first day i was using it. it worries me because the sound is kind of like something shorting out. any thoughts???? try not to be overly sardonic,sarcastic, demeaning etc.

This issue, like many others, like Win10, are a complete dogs breakfast. Why, when they have a popular programme, do they have to stuff it up. They show their arrogance in thinking they update, when in practice, they completely wreck what was a popular programme.
Is it a commercial ploy to encourage sales?? Not in my case, & I dare say, many others, it drives me to give it away.
Picasa is great for the less technically minded, it does things other programmes don't do, unless you're a rocket scientist.
If they don't want to update their programmes, then make it still available to those who love it.
It makes me mad!!!

Lots of good suggestions here including Blue Ridge and waterfalls in the area should be fabulous with all of the rain. You should know, however, there is no photography allowed inside the Biltmore Estate Building-exterior & grounds are fine. Another location often overlooked is the Grove Park Inn, a 1920's era hotel with fabulous vistas of the area and magnificent architecture including probably the nations' largest collection of Craftsman furniture from it's heyday. Lunch on their veranda is a wonderful experience albeit pricey.

Pat