There is a site near my home town in South Carolina named Whig Hill. The cemetery dates to the Revolution. Some years ago a bunch of young punks went in there in a drunken, hell raising spree and did a lot of damage to the cemetery. They made the mistake of driving into town and scattering items and driving around in drunken circles so they got caught. As a result land owners placed a bar across the entrance of the access road and there are about 10 or 12 locks on the chain. I wanted to photograph the cemetery and for several years during my annual trips home I attempted to locate a key to get into the area. Finally on one visit a professional photographer friend and I ducked under the bar and hiked the two miles in to the cemetery. We took our photos and then hiked back to the highway. I wrote an article for the local newspaper with photos. I'm glad we made the effort because my friend is now dead and I have made my last visit home. Had we not done it at that time it would have never been possible.

Kinda thought this one might spark a good discussion. For myself, I have a high respect for other folks property, land or whatever. But I have seen where the tourist bureau of a county or state, in an effort to promote visitation and bring more money into the area, will print/distribute brochures and the like telling visitors about Points of Interest (and how to find them) in the area. Often this printed material will show a photo of the subject (that is on public land) that has obviously been photographed from on the "Private Property."

I know this is a touchy subject, but in my original question, I asked "If we tread lightly taking only photos and leaving only footprints", and make it a "quick shot", where exactly is the harm?

After several comments about my photos being over saturated (which by the way is a misnomer) I unhooked one of my external hard drives that had my photos on it and took it into my wife's office and hooked it up to her desktop HP. Low and behold, on her monitor my photos looked highly saturated with color. So I think it comes down to the monitor. At any rate I am dialing back a few photos and posting them to see if you feel they are still highly saturated. The shot in Washington D.C. of the monument at sunset was shot with a sunset filter over my lens. I do use filters for added interest. Let me know, thanks.

Since I continue to get the same highly saturated comments, my previous pictures must have been really over the top! If I continue to dial back saturation, I may end up with just black and white shots! LOL

What determines over saturation? Isn't it okay for a photographer to choose his/her own style? For the life of me I am perplexed at the comments I get of my shots being over saturated. On my monitor I see normal color gradients in my photos. It seems no matter what I post on UHH, I get an overdose of comments that my shots are being over saturated. I would hope that people viewing my shots would comment more on my composition than my choice of color. I have asked for that before. I wonder if my critics will say this shot is over saturated also?

This is one reason I wanted to stay away from the political aspects of this. I will however, respond to your points, and then I'll sign off.
1) Assembling an expert team from scratch is not as effortless as some have claimed. At the very least, there is time lost organizing when the team could be responding. Having teams working in places where new diseases might emerge can slow or prevent those new diseases from arriving in the US, so helping those countries helps us as well.
2) Medical experts are remarkably consistent in their advice about COVID. To say that experts are all over the map may be true, but medical experts are not.
3) If South Korea can test a hundred thousand people within a few weeks of a novel disease outbreak, why cannot the US? I have heard a great many explanations for this, none of them edifying.
4) Will the damage to our economy be less if we contain COVID sooner rather than later? Concern about the economy should not prevent us from addressing the hazard that threatens our economy.

I'm a hobbyist photographer. My friends ask me from time to time to shoot for pay. I always decline. Instead I offer to do the shoot for free and if they like the photos they can keep them. That's worked out well so far. Somebody wanted photos for their website. Somebody else wanted photos for their horse. All turned out fine. Takes the pressure off me and I stretch myself.

But wait! A young friend recently asked me to photograph her wedding. When my heart rate went back to normal I gave the best response I could. I was honored and would do it if she didn't have alternatives, but this was not a job for a friend. I went through every reason why. Told her about my specific objections and my limitations and that this was not false modesty but real reasons why I wasn't the right choice.
Fast forward. Well it seems that she doesn't have too many options because I just found out her entire wedding budget today and it won't stretch to a pro photographer.

She's getting married on a hilltop with a view for miles at noon in high summer in California. Reception and food outdoors and cake and dancing inside. About 65 people.

I'm going to do my best to accommodate her and I have a couple of months to prepare myself. I have two camera bodies, neither of which are full frame. I have some basic indoor lightboxes and a couple of deflectors. I've never been fond of zoom lenses and prefer prime. I have a Tamron 90 mm, a Tokina 11-16, a Nikkor 18-200 which for some reason is no longer autofocusing (I'll take it in to have it looked at) so I can only use it in manual mode, and a 35 mm 1.8 and 1.4. Looking over my glass inventory I see that I don't have a solid workhorse lens which can be easily adaptable to any situation. I'm willing to buy or rent such a lens. I adore my 1.4 but I don't need the low light feature outdoors. I think my wide angle could be good for a shot of the actual ceremony with about 40 miles of landscape behind it. But really thinking I need to have a goto lens for all purpose shots.
I'd love input and suggestions from people more experienced than myself.
What should I take or buy or use?
I am good with composition and decent in Lightroom. I'm thinking if I shoot in Aperture mode with a good basic lens I can deliver some good shots.
Please don't tell me to just say no. I tried that. I think if I don't step up to the plate we're relying on someone's Iphone. And I'm willing to work to hone my skills.
I have a personal photo blog at ordinarycapture.tumblr.com which should show what I've done in the past. Don't expect to get bowled over.
This person and her fiance are very dear to me and I'd like to step up for them. Thanks to all.