Up front I will admit to having a bit of GAS as part of my motivation. I've been a moderately serious amateur since retiring 15 years ago. I started with a Nikon D60 then moved up to a D300S and settled on twin D7200s several years ago. I also have a D500 but haven't used it in the 3 years since I purchased it because the controls and settings are simpler (at least in my mind) on my trusty D7200s. My walk around kit has the D7200 with a 18-300mm lens. When I need or anticipate needing more lens horse power, mostly for wild life (I live on the Maine coast), I grab my other D7200 which has the 200-500mm always attached and at the ready. When I'm on a shoot, I virtually always have both cameras with me. I'm am not a technician by any stretch but I have a knack for decent composition so sometimes I hit the jackpot and score a great capture. I've been published a few hundred times in our weekly county newspaper and have been in magazines and tourist pamphlets published by the state. I've also received recognition a few times from the New England Newspaper Association, but mostly I'm just a retiree who loves shooting in RAW and doing post-processing in Lightroom & sometimes Picasa, and I get my kicks from the Likes on receive on my FB page when I post a good image. I'd like to purchase a new rig, mostly because I can, and have pretty much convinced myself that a Sony Mirrorless A7III with 24-105 lens could keep me busy for a while, and will likely be as good as, but not as heavy as, a Nikon D850 in combo with one of my other Nikon DX lenses (I have several). The D850 has been in my headlights for a while but I'm inclined to try a lighter weight rig. What say you folks who've considered or done a similar transition already?

The USPS is recommending that we do not send checks through the mail. "...305 mail carriers robbed in the first half of fiscal year 2023..." This must have been a tough decision because that will eliminate a huge volume of mail - and revenue. Theft of checks has doubled over last year. They also recommend mailing checks from inside the PO, rather than in a convenient sidewalk box, is you must use them.

As you probably know, criminals can "clean" checks and re-write them. You'd think there would be a technological way to prevent that. The check paper was supposedly developed for security. It should be possible to develop an ink that can't be removed from the check.

The only checks I write now are for taxes, dog license, and the town dump.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-postal-service-warning-checks-mail-fraud-theft/

I have a friend who is petite. She is ready to buy a new camera and associated lenses. She currently owns 12 -15 year old Canon gear which she plans to replace. As a recent volunteer park ranger with her husband for 3 years she enjoys photographing landscapes, birds and wildlife and plant close ups. With a fall trip to Europe planned she feels now is the time to make a new purchase. Again - her interest is in capable equipment that is compact and lighter than the her current Canon equipment and likely to step into mirrorless. Being a regular UHH reader it seems steering her toward Sony or Fuji would best suit her objectives. It is not her intent to buy an all-in-one camera. I would appreciate and specific recommendations for camera and available lenses that would meet her photography objectives. I am a Nikon user and currently size and weight are not of concern to me. I want to give my friend the best advice I can so she makes the best choice for her. Thanks in advance for you guidance!

I have always saved all my pictures. I got my first camera when I was 6 years old, that would have been in 1949. I have negatives and prints and slides from then until I quit shooting film in 2020. When I started shooting digital with a 6 MP Kodak pocket camera I continued that practice. Somewhere, on some disk I have the first digital picture I ever shot. Storage was not inexpensive in the early days but I knew it would be important to me later.

My hope was that someday post processing was going to allow me to salvage all those "I almost got it" shots that record important memories that I don't want to loose.

So here we are in 2023, storage is getting cheaper by the day. Post processing software is doing things we didn't even dream about 5 years ago. I now have over 38,000 uncatalogued images most of which I will never look at some of them I will. I will salvage them using all the improvements in Lightroom, Photoshop, Topaz and many others. I will use AI technology with no apology.

Late at night, all alone with a glass of 24 year old Laphroaig Scotch, I will cycle through that magic folder titled "Memories" and relive those earlier days.

Ok -- this is a little about photography.

I'll start by saying, I take pictures for my own pleasure. Am by no means a professional photographer. That being said, I am occasionally a photographer for social or political groups in which I am involved. Things like getting shots for a newsletter or a website, or making sure that someone who is being honored has a record.

So, it was with surprise and excitement when I opened my local newspaper a couple of days ago, and saw they had printed (and credited!!!) a picture I had taken of some local candidates for office. Nothing particularly special about the photo itself, but still, it's my first published photo.