Gorgeous photo, very professionally done. Congrats.

I, too, felt that the dancer was dangerously thin. I felt concerned for her future and health. But, I loved her passion for her profession and dedication.

I loved this Goat - the year I graduated High School. Fast forward almost 2 decades. My mother-in-law calls us from VA and tells us she got a new car. It had no name... just GTO as letters! I was filled with envy, excitement and a bit of fear. My elderly mother-in-law was a terrible driver!

Over the next months, she drove it into the cement bases of parking lot night lights and her garage, among others. She proudly bragged about the fast acceleration of the car, never admitting it was too much for her. She had gotten it from a couple of guys in their late teens, who could no longer afford the high insurance for this car at their age.

And, by the time we next visited her in VA, she had many fender bender accidents with the car before trading it in toward a Honda Civic. (I would have so loved to "rescue" that GTO from my MOL. - But, not to happen!)

Great picture. Thanks for sharing.

I, too, am sorry for your loss. Thanks for sharing these memories with all of us.

I went through the loss of my wife in 2003. We fought MS for 28 years. But my memories are of the good times spent together. Recovery is slow and will happen at your pace, not someone else's. I was helped by a local area church that offered a meeting group for "Grief Share". It helped in the healing.

Best,
Paul

Fascinating how we can shoot the same subject and get dramatically different results. Thanks for sharing yours.
Paul

Interesting to see something that I replied to in Dec. 2020 and it is still here! I am a bit more respectful of more expensive camera equipment when potentially exposing it to the realities of the harsh world.

One change is that I am now 'retired' and can't afford to dip into the checking or bank account as freely to replace something as I once did. But, I am careful of my more expensive equipment and do my best to avoid falls, water, etc. I still want the best that I can afford. And, I ask the best that I can expect from the gear that I own.

But, I never thought less of someone that had a goal of the son's football game or daughter's volleyball game, a birthday party, etc. The issue of photography is using it to get what is important for you to get from it. If your needs are simple, the camera/lens should be suitable for that need. (Maybe my thinking is influenced by selling to camera buyers while in college. My goal was to help them satisfy their needs in a camera/lens, not mine.)

I have many pics from Yosemite dating back to the late 1800's in my records. I became a bit obsessed with Yosemite by seeing Ansel's photos while in college (RIT) in Rochester, NY.

My first trip to Yosemite was 1974, I believe. 35 mm film and a wife that had a health condition restricting her ability to get outside of a wheelchair to explore Yosemite much beyond the parking lot of each roadside stop. Much of the park, I could not see. Much, much later, I went there to take photos replicating my earlier pictures as well as my first photos of Mirror Lake, etc. that could not be seen in earlier visits to the park. And, I sought higher resolutions to see images of places I saw in photos of Ansel and others dating back to about 1880 made on formats as large as 8"x10" film of many "classic" views of Yosemite.

So, I will post a photo of Yosemite Valley, seen from the 'Tunnel Overlook'. My photo is 2019 with a D850 (45.6MP) and a Tokina 24-70 zoom at 70 mm. I researched many things about Yosemite before planning and booking this trip. I researched the weather - number of cloudy days/rainy days, etc. I'd been there 6 times before, but never had the chance to get out of the car and walk one of the trails or take photos other than roadside stops.

My photo was one of 50 or so images, 70 mm. El Capitan on the right, complete with early May waterfalls pouring out of the walls of the sheer cliffs and trees on the mountain top. To the far right, Bridalveil Falls and the mountains above with their trees clearly visible. Plus, more waterfalls and Half Dome wearing a cloud Sombrero. This image is clear and crisp. I waited for the best position for the sun and the passing cloud cover for about 1 1/2 hours to get my image. And I didn't mention the bird circling Yosemite Valley, far above the Valley floor.

I will show a size/resolution specific image plus small "highlights" of the trees on the right/left mountain tops, the waterfalls, flying predator, etc. that people can not see at the UHH image resolution.

Again, this is a Nikon D850, 45.6 MP image, Tokina 24-70 zoom at 70 mm.

So, I bought a 'Classic Camera' that I felt demanded that I live up to the capability of the camera's images. I was responsible for buying lenses that matched the resolution of the D850 camera's sensor and could produce an image equal to the lens and sensor. (No, I do not believe that anyone else should put themselves to the same yardstick of measure for their images.)

Many people are happy with their pictures that are not this resolution or require this quality/price of lens. And, I do not fault them - especially compared to you. If they are happy with what they have done, I am happy for them, also. Time to grow up???

As a boy, I caught Maryland "blues" with a string tied around a chunk of pork fat and a crab net. I "fished" at the Maryland Yacht Club while my Grandfather and Great Uncle worked on a 46' Wheeler Mahogany Yacht. Those days, I brought home the "meat" for the day's meal that we all enjoyed.

Thanks for bringing back a memory from my childhood. And thanks for the opportunity to share it.

Only in my "old age" did I learn that one of my ancestors landed in what would later be called "Baltimore" in 1600, long before Lord Baltimore was given a land grant by a King that negated my ancestor's earlier claim to the same Chesapeake Bay 'real estate'. - But, my other relatives landed in the Chesapeake Bay in 1632 in MD. and VA. - And we continued on until we got fed up with the "politics" locally and migrated to Indian Territory - largely unexplored in KY, Ohio, Indiana.

I did not know this when I was a child enjoying a summer traveling from Ohio to Md. But it felt like home. And, as a young adult, I didn't know it as a young adult, when I enjoyed sailing a boat on the Chesapeake Bay. It felt like 'home'. It felt comfortable and somehow like something that I had always done! Only in my old age did I learn that my great grandfather was a boat builder from Finland. And, my English ancestors dating to 624 AD in England and 256 AD in Germany as well as my 26 generations of ancestors from Finland were a genetic influence on my actual life.

Recommend CRI Genetics to you (an advertiser on UHH). I paid for the info on my maternal hapologue and extra for my paternal hapologue. From my maternal, I learned that the mother's genes show a direct link to the "ancient Eve" of every woman. And my payment for the exploration of the paternal hapologue shows every father to son link leading back to 26 generation of Finns (why no one looks like me), and more peoples than you can imagine. Suffice to say, father to son, I have genetic links to many countries (dated within 25 years) including ones I could not even guess - Spain and Central/South America, France/Germany/Rome/etc., India, SE Asia, China, etc. - I truly am an "American Mongrel". And proud of all my ancestry, every bit of it. So, even for blonde hair and blue eyes for 26 generations, if asked, I must choose my national origin as "other". I, and you, are a man of the world - even if we left Africa 150,000 years ago.

Check your own genetics. A cotton swab on each inner cheek. Mail it off. In 2 weeks you will be able to see where your fathers came from and where they helped birth a son - throughout your ancestry the passing along of genetic info from father to son for a hundred to hundreds of generations. And you can learn about your genetic health prospects plus much more. The "upside" is that CRI does not sell or trade your private genetic info with anyone else. I like my privacy. And, I want to be paid at the very least for any company seeing it without my explicit permission.

You did a great job! Congrats.

I had a whole year of retouching with pencils and brushes on film prints and negs. I opted out of 'pro photography' at RIT for a BFA in photo illustration to, in part, not have to go through the torture of a year of hand retouching (pencil or brush, not pixels on a computer screen). I thought it would be torture! - Actually, I do brush stroke retouching with CS6 for as needed most images. (Most sw apps with 'sliders' can give an overall correction, but not selective, as it is needed!).

The 'ultimate' might be taking a b/w photo and converting it to the delicate tones needed to appear as a full color original. Great work. Thanks for sharing.

Image #1 is my fav. For #2, I'm looking for the second face that is invisible.

Appreciate your work.

What manufacturer shall we pick on? Ford, GM, Chrysler? etc.? They have all make good, memorable cars and some real forgettable clunkers. Saying anything less is being dishonest.

I worked in the photo industry for 14 years. I traveled to Japan and met with camera and lens manufacturers. I viewed their factories, quality control standards/staff, etc. Different than now, no third party lens vendor could afford to pay for the computer design of a new lens, especially a zoom lens, at a reasonable price. The Japanese Gov't. paid for the design of each third party lens and decided (how I don't know) which lens manufacturer would be allowed to manufacture and assemble it.

There were 'winners' and 'losers'. Among the prime camera companies that were doing their own lens designs, there were 'winners' and 'losers' also. Seems to be the current condition. Some modern lenses aren't acceptable for the price asked. Some lenses, especially long zoom range, might amaze you. (Unless you are a demanding photographer who needs the very best that is possible from lens/camera/image sensor possible from today's technology.

In the world of 'now', I need the best to meet the requirements of my 45MP sensor. Lower performing lenses might be good for 24MP sensors. But, they might not 'measure up' to the quality of "state of the art" today.

And, a smaller manufacturer could have a lens or lenses today that are far superior to prior lenses of years past. Or superior to other lenses currently offered to the marketplace.

My recommendation remains the same. Look at each lens available based upon it's own features/benefits/advantages. A car company can make a very good car and a clunker. Not every car is a clunker, or a state of the art competitor. But some can be that great, and worthy of being something you own and use. - Unless you need the brand name to enhance your public presence.

Nice pics. Wish I had been able to take some of my 'backyard fawn,' now thankfully gone.

Suggestion, please - There are many software apps that can be used to eliminate the wires of the fencing in most of your pics. You can 'retouch' them out. And it will greatly improve your photos. Try one image. I think you will agree.

Ferrari red is my color! I'll take all of them except for pic #3. (I don't do ugly.) Will you take a 'bad' check?

Really, thanks for sharing some great photos of the car company's products I consider to be the source of ultimate auto design styling and technology. Love them all. But, red IS my color.

Your cropping works.... Maybe not for the butterfly or birds..... Use your thumb and forefinger on both hands. Look at each picture, one at a time. Ask yourself the question "what works and what does not add to/reinforce the image or mood that I am trying to create. - Move the two cropping hand/fingers to selectively crop out part or parts of the image. If it does not complement the image or create an emotion/feeling, crop it out! First with your fingers, next with your software. (Then you see if the cropped picture does a better job than the full frame picture you started with.)

Show the world what you wanted them to see when they saw your images.
Best

Your cropping works.... Maybe not for the butterfly or birds..... Use your thumb and forefinger on both hands. Look at each picture, one at a time. Ask yourself the question "what works and what does not add to/reinforce the image or mood that I am trying to create. - Move the two cropping hand/fingers to selectively crop out part or parts of the image. If it does not complement the image or create an emotion/feeling, crop it out! First with your fingers, next with your software. (Then you see if the cropped picture does a better job than the full frame picture you started with.)

Show the world what you wanted them to see when they saw your images.
Best