Hi to all , I'm Pete aka dooragdragon ( yes i wear doorags to keep my ol bald head from burning or gettin to cold and i collect dragon figures).
Found the site by accident and am glad i did , 58 yr old male , disabled but supports my photography habit by helping neighbor on his farm driving tractors etc as needed.
gives me oppurtunitys to get some fun pictures ( had a bald eagle land not 35 ft from me while plowing 1 day, but he took off before i could grab camera n get a shot off ).
enjoy the peace and quiet of taking photos and challangeing myself to see how creative i can get, am not 1 to use the photo correction programs available what i shoot is what i get , i use a nikon D 3100 and choose from the 6 lens to get the results i am seeking .

yep thats me

harbor freight tools has a 2 pack of rubber strap wrenchs, 1 small n 1 larger, handy to keep around the house for minor plumbing repairs, tight jar lids.
excelent to have if you have arthritis in hands and things you just can't get a grip on

09-18-2010 motorcycle cannon ball run , yes these actually ran and were driven cross country, pictures taken with a cannon power shot A570IS in Ft. Smith ,Ar @ Old Fort Harley Davidson where lunch was served and the shop was open for any repairs needed. just 3 of 52 pictures taken

Have been following this thread with great intrest, your story reminds me of a news article years back in OKC ,Ok they were building a new county jail, construction worker on ground wearing a hard hat was killed by a 4x8 sheet of plywood that had blown off the 8th floor and struck him on the head, the hard hat protected his head from injury but killed him by breaking his neck, also consider the people involved in auto accidents with no visable injuries but die of internal injuries.
as i am not a professional nor independently wealthy i will continue to use cheap pieces of glass in front of my expensive lens as the wind still blows and stirs up dirt and trash ( btw how many of us wear eyeglasses that we have to replace due to common exposure to the elements of nature )

yes i have a lensbaby composer lens, its not a everyday use lens but 1 thats unique to have for those moments when you want to be a bit diff with the pictures.

i really haven't used it a lot yet but am sure i will get to it sooner or later

Sometimes you can use a butter knife as a screwdriver to loosen or remove a screw , but that still doesn't make it the right tool for the right job .

if only the photographer took as much time taking the photo as they do spending time to edit , color correct etc is my opinion we would see more realistic photos, i strive for the perfect photo not absolute perfection every time ( hopefully i learn from my mistakes ) at least with digital pictures we are not out the cost of film or processing costs .

pair of red tail hawks taken with nikon D3100 set to sports mode using tamron SP 70-300 F / 4-5.6, taken from the cab of a moving tractor ( auto steer engaged on tractor) appox 4.8 mph while discing field

Does your camera body have a diopter adjustment dial by the eyepiece? if so you may need to adjust it + /- to compensate for your vision