Well, they have to lower the size every time they up the price to pay for changing the labels... Cynical Sunday...

Nice shots bring back nice but melancholy feelings. My grandparents are buried there--a nice place for great people.

Very nice post and, BTW, if I needed an engineer I would hire you. Too often engineers seem to just fix the immediate problem without asking if it is necessary or useful or how the whole operation fits into the big picture. (Long arguments with my sister--chemical engineer--and father of my spiritual daughter--mechanical engineer--just for the record.)

Applying to cameras I believe the first step is to consider what you want to photograph, the conditions under which you take pictures how you hope to use them and what your present pictures are lacking (that's the bigger picture for me.)

When I changed to DSLR I picked the Nikon d7100. This worked very well for me and I resisted the urge to "upgrade" to any of the newer Nikon models because even though they were better I was doing well with what I had. After many years I realized that I was missing shots in low light and that I was not as pleased with the images (IQ) as I would like. Also, I use my pictures to inject into travel stories I write for friends and I wanted to up my photography a bit. I also found that while my earlier travel had been on motorcycles and sail boats I was now traveling more around the world to different countries and cultures.

So eventually I went to full frame mirrorless (Sony a7iii). This was a big change for me and drove me crazy with the learning curve which is something I like and it inspired me again. I am happy with the change. I think my reasoning would be compatible with yours although maybe expressed slightly differently. Good conversation.

Thanks - I've been considering a trip up there now that we're almost past Labor Day.

I got a laugh out of that. I also like that it's just a good natured joke about regional food differences and no one was put down by it.

It was so dumb that it gave me my morning chuckle for sure...

Good question. I've used and continue to use iPhoto but Apple is determined to get rid of it and has limited it more and more with each release. It allowed you to put in captions and then order your event any number of different ways. Sadly it's getting more difficult to use and is freezing pretty often.

I use Lightroom for my photos but for pictures I capture or scan I have been using iPhoto. I appreciate the answers here and think it's time to take another look at Picasa. Hope one of these works for you.

Yep, that's my wife's motto--I think she must have been a boy scout (or at least scouted boys...).

This is one of the amusing male/female things/differences a lot of us live with (and for). My wife starts packing--for a weekend or several weeks--about two to three weeks before we leave. She lays out all her clothes and miscellaneous and tries on all the clothes in different combinations (more than once). Then she frets over them all. Finally, during the last week she panics and wonders if she's got everything and whether it will fit or whether she needs a new (bigger) suitcase/duffel bag. Finally she gets them all in and the bag closed with moments to spare. I must say that she's a good sport and almost always carries her own bag (the few times she needs help I don't mind) and she always looks good.

Me, I wait until the day before (for a weekend or several weeks) and toss my stuff into a small bag and daypack and am good to go in less than half an hour. I've never missed anything but I doubt if I look that good. But I love that she really gets mad at me if I dare mention the time differences...

I agree. I changed to the Sony a7iii to get some of the advantages it has over the Nikon d7100. I have been very satisfied. Like everything today, I fully expected that shortly after I got the a7iii there would be an upgrade that had more bells and whistles. Great--but I won't need those until or unless my concept of my photography changes. So it's best not to worry about newer products until the really fill a need for you (or unless a GAS attack and coincidental more money come along).

It seems to me this is a situation where a camera may make a difference. (When I was shooting a Nikon d7100 an ISO of 2500 was pretty hard to fix in Lightroom but having switched to a Sony a7iii I can get very clear shots at much higher ISOs.) My point is not to worry as much about ISO as the results and use those to help you get a fix on how high to set you ISO when using auto-ISO.

Same as you--when I know what I'm shooting and have time I will use manual ISO. However, the reality is that much of my photography involves situations where I don't have time to set the camera and may have very different light situations. So leaving it on manual f-stop and shutter speed and using auto-ISO to compensate gives me the best results. Just think about how you are shooting and make your settings accordingly once you know the limits of your camera.

Good answer--that's sort of the test I use a lot.

Also, consider exactly what you like taking pictures of and figure out what you need to do it properly. Then get rid of the rest--specially using the above standard. I have come to believe less is more and stick to a body and two lenses and a travel tripod. Most of my stuff fits into a very small pack with the extra lens going into my travel backpack. But that suits my needs--I'm just using it for an example--you should think about your needs and then act accordingly.

I second the Tamron 18-400. I used that on my Nikon d7100 for years and it was a great walk-around lens. That combination was a little weak in very low light so I kept a 50mm 1.4 lens with me for those occasions. But I got lots of usable shots both long and short and was able to carry it everywhere. I highly recommend that lens for what you described.

42 yeas for me and she and still having fun every day. My thought is that for many of us the best situation is being in a good relationship. The next best thing is being single. The worst thing is being in a bad relationship.

Same answer here with my niece's wedding. After discussion with the professional photographer she had no problem with me taking pictures under the terms I proposed (me staying completely out of her way). She was also happy to talk to me during breaks which seemed fun for both of us. It worked great and I also got different pictures that everyone appreciated in a different way. In no way did it keep me from having a wonderful time and being able to talk to everyone I hadn't seen in a long time. I used my Nikon d7100 and a Nikkor 50mm 1.4 lens and a Tamron 18-400. I didn't need to get everything I was just looking for those special and personal shots. I recommend going with what you have and getting the shots that come your way.