I have the D500 and have taken it everywhere with me - granted I'm not a rock climber, but I have done things you're not 'supposed to do' with a camera: changed lenses while in sand dunes, brought it out in the rain, set it up on a tripod in the direct line of fire below waterfalls, quite a bit of scrambling over boulders, amidst the strong smell of pepper spray at the Hong Kong protests... still shoots like a charm and never had a problem with it. It's not as light as a point-and-shoot, and it's not gonna fit in your pocket, but it's a solid workhorse.

You can also buy a silicone body wrap for added protection (reminder to myself to get one).

Ok, so get a more rugged point and shoot like this one:

Olympus - Tough TG-6 12.0-Megapixel Water-Resistant Digital Camera

Or perhaps the Nikon D500... "Rex Edition"

https://www.diyphotography.net/german-shepherd-chewed-nikon-d500-still-working/

Hmm... so you used a 'canned' solution because maintaining your own custom code was too much work?

Sounds like you've pretty much made my point for me.

Certainly one of the key benefits of open-source platforms is that there is a community of developers who supports and maintains them, and you do have the freedom to customize the appearance and functionality of the code.

For example, you could build your own custom photo gallery plugin for WordPress - given that there are over 900 plugins listed in the WordPress plugins section for "photo gallery", why re-invent the wheel? There are even WP plugins that can display images from a Coppermine gallery :-)

As for 'canned builders' - if you want to call them that - yes, I think most CMS platforms have a 'publish' button so you can, for example, create a blog post and keep it hidden until ready to publish. You can even set a date in the future for when it should be automatically 'published'.

Look, I don't LOVE WordPress; it has some drawbacks, and certainly wouldn't recommend it for all projects. But for a non-technical person on a limited budget, it makes a lot of sense. And when it comes to SEO, marketing, and integration with other 3rd party systems (such as social networks), the number of plugins that are already developed by the WP developer community make it a highly scalable platform.

Think of it like a mobile phone. Your mobile phone without apps is pretty basic. Apps make it the powerful tool that 'does everything'. Plugins are just like apps for your website. As a programmer, you could build each app yourself: but this doesn't make much sense if there are already multiple apps that already provide the desired functionality.

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Per Bluehost, it's pretty well known as a crappy hosting platform: the same way Abesofmaine.com is known as a crappy online retailer for camera. Sites that promote BlueHost are almost alway part of their commission-referral program (which is pretty generous). My own experience having built thousands of websites over the past 25 years confirms this. Poor security, lame control tools, lazy unhelpful support, slow over-loaded shared hosting accounts, out-of-date support for current versions of PHP/MySQL, and so on.
With so many other better hosting options, I simply would never recommend them.

Ok. Good for you. But assuming your clients are not coders, how do they then make updates to their sites?

The benefits of a CMS for the client is that it provides a convenient administrative area by which non-coders can easily update their content without having to rely on you to handle basic tasks like adding new photos to their galleries or posts to their blog.

Even for complex custom projects, you would be pretty foolish not to use existing libraries (Laravel, CodeIgniter, etc) to build out your platform. Perhaps these are not 'canned site builders' but they do provide a defined framework that allows their respective communities to develop pre-built solutions that can be integrated to provide commonly needed features, with the benefit of a large community of developers capable of supporting the code base.

I respect that you are able to build sites from scratch, and can do so myself as well, but do not feel this is in the best interests of my clients, nor is it the most effective or cost-effective way to produce sites on a reasonable budget.

hmm.. looks like there are some dents in the lens cover contraption that would interfere with it closing properly, and clearly some scuff marks around the batter closure...

... you sure you didn't take a fall with this thing in your pocket?

Clearly it's not rugged enough for whatever you put it through: doesn't look like the device simply failed on its own. Maybe get something that can handle a bit more abuse next time.

As a professional website designer/developer - I really hate using Bluehost, and would never recommend it to a client (I've had to use it when clients come to me with a site they already built on Bluehost).

There are many service providers like Bluehost with better support and better Control Panel settings
CrocWeb and even GoDaddy hosting are much easier to work with if you decide to host your own website.

If you want to build a website where YOU OWN THE CODE, then use an open source CMS (Content Management System) such as WordPress or Joomla. These provide an intuitive Administration login area where you can easily manage your content, and there are plugins for these CMS platforms that allow you to drag-and-drop your photos into albums quite easily.

The main difference between these open-source platforms and hosted services like Wix, SquareSpace, 500px, Adobe websites, etc. - is that with open-source platforms, you can download all the files and database that makes up your website at any time, and retain physical possession of your entire site. With hosted services, you pay a monthly fee to use their software, and if you stop paying, you lose your site (and data, photographs, etc.).

I would be happy to put together a basic package for building a photography websites for the Hogger community, but need to review the Rules of this thread before doing so (I don't see anyone else promoting professional service here, and have probably already overstepped that line with this sentence, my apologies).

Why not work her compensation into the per-unit cost of puzzle's sold?

Idea 1: Give her $X for each puzzle SOLD and calculate that into your costs

Idea 2: Give her X% of the PROFIT for each puzzle sold

Idea 3: Give her X% of the total PROFIT of the product development - she would get a profit contingent on selling enough puzzles to make the entire print run profitable.

--> Perhaps ask her to put in some additional capital to share the risk of the investment?

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It would be helpful if you could post the picture here so we could better understand why the subject feels they have added unique value to the product.

Seems there are a number of ways to pay her 'something' based on the success of the project without adding to the capital expense of the project. Get creative, and work something out.

1) Oman - still one of the most surprisingly enjoyable photographic journeys I've every been on. Felt very safe, uncrowded, and not one of those places where everyone else has been. Key piece of advice: rent a car and get out of Muscat - though it has some interesting sites, the real gems are outside of the capital: Sur was amazing.

2) Westfjords, Iceland. Tourists who go to Iceland for 5 days or less stay in the Golden Circle, those with 10 days or less, usually do the full island circuit and skip the Westfjords. I'm so glad we decided to ditch the Golden Circle after two days of dealing with the crowds and hauled ourselves up to the Westfjords. Puffins two arms lengths away, Sea Lions a stones-throw away, and amazing vistas and sunsets.

3) Taj Mahal (Agra, India). There are so many historical sites that don't live up to the hype, or are unpleasant due to the large crowds. Even with the crowds, the Taj Mahal is stunning under just about any circumstances.

I had separated from my wife, having been together for 11 years, and living by myself in a former judo dojo that I had converted into a bit of a man-cave, located on the mouth of the Kaifu River in Tokushima, Japan. 300 meters from my bedroom window, one of the most spectacular waves I've ever surfed peeled across a pebble beach sandbar from right-to-left with a plethora of egrets, herons, and black kites fishing in the river-bed. Giant huntsman spiders, preying mantis, and cicadas were everywhere.

I had made a few friends, but as anyone who's ever lived in Japan can tell you, Japanese culture can feel very closed and isolated. I had an old Nikon D70 that had been given to me by a friend years earlier, with a kit lens that maxed out at about 70mm. I wanted to take pictures of the birds and surfers, and realized I'd need something with a lot more zoom, and found a 'like new' Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary. It gave me the reach I wanted, but the auto-focus was relatively slow, and the resolution seemed pretty poor (it was, after all, a 6.1 mpxl camera).

On a day when the surf was firing, I talked with one of the pro photographers who was shooting from the shore, and asked him what I could do to improve my photography. He looked at my D70 and said I should start with a new body. He gave me his FB Messenger account, and over the next week or so, helped me identify a camera that would better fit my interests, according to my budget. I settled on the Nikon D500, and I've been very happy with it since then.

It was so satisfying to get the pictures of birds and surfers that I had envisioned in my mind: whereas I was getting a keeper rate of about 1/10 with the D70, nearly all of my pictures with the D500 were in-focus and I was really excited to share my pictures with the surfers in the community.

From there, I learned to couple my interests with specific lenses:
- for insects: a macro-lens
- for landscapes: a 10-20mm
- for street photography: a 35mm prime

And as I took more pictures and learned more about what my camera could do, I started having visions in my head of images that went beyond what my steadily growing arsenal of equipment could do.

- Time for a tripod.

I admit that I experienced some extreme GAS attacks, but for the most part, am really happy with the collection of gear I accumulated. I'm a bit of a tech-head, and had quite a bit of disposable income with which to travel and buy gear. Photography meshed well with my travel interests, and I found that I could easily spend days on end doing nothing but roaming the streets of a new city taking pictures, or embarking on wandering missions up mountains and river valleys completely engrossed in the process of capturing images.

My next round of purchases would lead to more significant investments:
- An 8-15mm Fisheye, which opened up a whole new world of perspectives
- Two high-end primes (58mm and 105mm)

I'm mostly passed the extreme GAS phase, though I admit, I have my sights set on the D850 and the Nikkor 28mm f1.4 - I think I'll be set at that point, since my next wish-list item would be the Nikkor 200mm f2 : and my wife would never approve that purchase.

For my next phase?
Continued travel with my wife,
and honing my skills on baby photography: yes, we have a daughter on the way, due in June.

Guess it's time to learn more about portrait photography.

In summary: I love the learning process, the tech (gear), the feeling of 'flow state' when taking pictures and post-processing, and most of all: sharing the results with people who appreciate my work.

Before photography, there was painting. Once Realism was mastered, it became sort of common, and new styles emerged that no longer aimed at simply reproducing reality as seen through our eyes. Impressionism, abstraction, and other styles emerged that broke free from the pursuit of replicating what we see: instead attempting to evoke feelings and pasions through interpretations of life through more extreme styles.

Photography is not just a method of documenting the world, it is a form of expression. It also involves a process of experimentation, and post-processing techniques allow an artist to transform an image into a wide range of expressive variations.

America has a long history of leading innovation in art and technology. Taking risks and shrugging off failures as part of a learning process is embraced in the States in a way I have not seen anywhere else in the world.

Perhaps this is part of the reason we see more flamboyant use of post-processing techniques in American photography (though this is not a general trend I was aware or nor necessarily agree to be true).

Dunno about the lenses, but have always cringed at the Brand Name itself:
"Lens Baby" ?

Maybe I've been conditioned to expect all lens company brands to sound like Japanese or European names, but "Lens Baby" just doesn't sound very serious at all. I thought they were a Chinese manufacturer, as I lived there for 10 years and came across many brand names clearly made up by companies who either directly translated their Chinese names to English or otherwise came up with names that sounded ill-fitting or were clearly selected by someone with limited knowledge of what their names meant in English.

Almost any of those shots that everyone takes for Instagram where you have to wait in line to take a picture:

- Bali, Indonesia: Pura Lempuyang Luhur
- Santorini, Greece: the picture above the three domed church
- Iceland: Sólheimasandur plane crash

They are crowded with tourists all taking the same selfies, and waiting in line for absurd amounts of time just to get your turn is mind-numbing. Then when it's your turn, you have about 1-2 minutes to setup and take your shots.

That being said, I've enjoyed the challenge of creating unique photos at each of these locations (except for Santorini, where there are plenty of other places you can take epic shots).

In Bali, avoid the crowds by going later in the day, when the sun is setting behind the gate with the sun setting just behind the gate. The tourist busses will have already left, so the line is shorter.

In Iceland, if you go during the summer months, you'll still have light even at midnight. We had the plane crash site all to ourselves, and were even able to setup a mini photo shoot.

Sorry, but this is also inaccurate.

My friend had a Paypal account and accepted a payment for copywriting services, which cleared, and several months later he decided to shut down his Paypal account entirely.

A month later, the client decided to dispute the charges, claiming the work was incomplete (it was, but that's not the point). Paypal decided in the customer's favor, and even though the payment had been made and cleared months before that, and the account was already closed, Paypal refunded the customer's money.

They then threatened to file a credit claim against my friend if he didn't pay the balance due on the closed account.

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As for the cashier's check scam - this is a well-known scam throughout the Internet. NEVER accept a cashier's check. Anyone who can legitimately draw a cashier's check could just as easily arrange a wire transfer, which would be far more secure.

People claiming that Paypal is safe "once you have the money in your account", are misled (despite whatever Paypal states as their official policies).

And it's not just 30 days to dispute an order - I had a buyer try to scam a claim nearly 5 months after sending payment.

If the buyer attempts to file a claim, this could hold up your money for weeks or even months, even if Paypal decides in your favor (I've been through this once before, and never again).

I've sold several iPhones on Craigslist when I upgraded to new models (for my wife). I only accept payment in cash, in person, at a branch of my bank (money goes straight into my account so I'm not walking around with cash in my pocket).

Sure, this buyer may be legit: but for that kind of money, why risk it?

Also, I had better luck selling my phones on Facebook Marketplace.
You might want to give that a try as well.

I've considered this form of censorship before, and feel it begs an app to be developed that automatically ports pictures from the camera to a mobile device, and stores them in the cloud. Nikon's SnapBridge is pretty close to this.

Not sure what the authorities would resort to from there - probably would still destroy your gear, but at least the photos you already snapped would be preserved.