Beautiful shot! I have a real love of frogs so really smiled at this one. Nice that it sat so still for you to get your shot. I'm curious what camera and lens you were using, if it's okay that I ask.

I want to thank all of you friendly folks who extended a warm welcome. I wasn't able to respond to each one but appreciated them all. :-D

<3 If a person has the time, it's relaxing to walk around with a camera and try to find something interesting or from a different perspective. I find myself taking outdoor shots in the garden from the same places but it really changes the perspective to wander off into a flowerbed or shoot from another angle. I think that's true of anything. I imagine for a lot of us, looking at nature through a lens makes us feel connected. If I think about it, it's not unlike being a small child when everything was new and we spent considerable time examining our world at close range... or stood in awe when a vista opened up in front of us.

It's been fun to browse the forum and see the work of people who have a passion for photo-taking.

Thank you for the encouragement! I will post something eventually... either from current snapping or from some trips I've taken. Right now peaches are waiting to be bottled. ;-)

Sequim is a pretty area and it appears it's beginning to draw retirees and become THE place to settle. So... I expect it will change over time due to that interest and influx of people.

I'll get brave and post a few eventually. ;-) Thank you!

Thank you! I've been inspired already while lurking. There are some professional people on here or those with top quality cameras and skills to go with them. Still... content and composition go a long way in enjoying a photo. It's not all about the best camera or highest resolution. I love seeing what grabs people's attention and how they manage to frame it. I suspect much of what draws people here is the companionship of others who "get it" ... the need to take pictures in the first place!

Hello, former Bremertonian! Thank you for your encouraging words. :-)

There are a lot of people who have spent part of their lives in our area due to the military. The other place people might mention having spent time at is Fort Lewis. :-) I don't know how long ago you lived here, but the downtown Bremerton area near the ferry terminal has had a bit of a facelift. There's a nice water park nearby and new entrances and exits to the ferry. We don't typically use that ferry but it was a nice upgrade to downtown.

I finally took the time to set up a profile on the forum just so I could help save your marriage! :-D (I've been meaning to do it for awhile, actually.)

While I was doing that and being sidetracked by a request from a son to scan old grade school pictures... a ton of people have weighed in. So ... here's my two cents' worth (likely redundant).

I love the color over the black and white. The blues and golds together are so rich and a beautiful foil for the white statues. I also thought it would be nicer to just bring up the shadow in the reflection enough to enhance detail, without making it distract from the top portion of the photo. Also... I liked what you showed in the original. The curves in the ceiling lines and reflection are interesting. Lastly... bumping up the vibrancy or saturation just a tiny bit might be attractive ... but I'm a big believer in striving to make photos look as much as possible like what we remember seeing ... so not too much if that's how it actually looked. Only you know that.

I'm just an amateur who loves to take pictures... but that's my feedback. Also... while getting comments from others can be helpful and what we're doing here... it might be fun if your wife took photos of her own on the same trips and did it the way her eye directs her. Then you can have the fun of comparing at the end. I recall a gal in my travel group making a comment after we exchanged some photos ... "It's like we were on different trips!" That's the beauty of photography. <3

Thank you both! :-D We ARE surrounded by a lot of beauty but don't get out there nearly enough as we should. Seems to be human nature to sightsee when one is AWAY from their home stomping grounds. :-P

I thought I should officially enter an introduction as a start to joining the forum. I've been lurking for awhile and somewhat frustrated I could never post a response or feedback to people's beautiful photos they post! <3 I think I'll eventually get up my nerve to post something. ;-)

My husband and I have lived on a five acre place in Western Washington for over 40 years, where we raised six children. I chose to be a stay-at-home mother and goodness knows, I needed some hobbies along the way as an outlet. ;-) I've always enjoyed photography but am not a professional. I have displayed some on a web page in the past and had requests for a couple of images to be used by companies who printed plant catalogs. That was flattering. One was in Japan and the other back east. I love to garden and many of the pictures are taken in and around the garden ... or of local wildlife. When traveling, I'm more drawn to landscapes and nature than street photography or people. Most of my distant travel is with a group, so I'm always the one lagging behind so as not to have a herd of backsides in the frame. ;-) It can be frustrating and one has to sometimes field comments or looks from those who don't understand the need. I'm sure many of you have been there.

As we've moved into the retirement years, there was more income to be had and I've gotten myself nicer cameras. I still need to practice more to improve skills... I'm somewhat lazy and hate the hassle of a tripod ... so all are hand-held. The camera I'm "going to" most of late is a micro-four-thirds type... for the lighter weight and size (Lumix G85). I have a couple of larger Canon cameras also ... have never tried Nikon but sure like their color balance from what I've seen on this forum (for outdoor shots).

Well... enough rambling. I look forward to being able to respond now that I finally registered. It has been inspiring to see people's posts and observe the differences in how they like to process their images, etc.

And just in case anyone wondered ... the "stinkbug" handle is a nod to my maternal grandfather who used to call me that to elicit a giggle. <3