Thanks for the comment. Things do get lost overtime.

More thumbs up. Thanks.

Enjoy the orange juice. I hope you have enjoyed picture taking as much as I have.

Thanks you so much. I enjoyed those early years when everything was new.

Thanks. Have a GREAT day.

Thanks. Enjoy the beer.

Many thanks for the comment.

Thanks for the thumbs up!

Although it hardly matters to anyone but me, in a few days it will be eighty years since I snapped my first picture. Eighty years since I entered the wonderful world of photography.

It was the last Sunday in August. The year was 1935. I was six and a half years old. An older cousin had given me a little ninety-eight cent Kodak Baby Brownie camera and I was anxious to try it out. The day was bright and sunny. I posed my mother and her brother, my Uncle Jack, in front of a large fountain in a park. I have no memory of what was on the rest of that roll, but the image of my mother and Uncle Jack in front of the fountain is forever etched in my mind, although the print and the negative are long gone.

On that sunny Sunday of long ago 1935, I had no inkling that from that time on, I would always have at least one camera, often several, and that photography would be a large part of my life. So, in a few days, I will celebrate an anniversary of sorts, eighty long years since I first clicked a shutter.

Any stock agency that is in business to stay in business will set very high standards. We all love our own images, but that does not mean that others will as well.

Most amateur photographers have an unrealistic opinion of their own work. Anyone who says "I know I know what I am doing" is delusionary. When we enter the marketplace, we will be judged by standards other than our own. If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. Professional photo buyers do not have the time or inclination to wade through piles of snapshots in hope of finding a prize image.

I have never known an equipment freak who also was a good photographer. The best photographers have only the equipment they REALLY need, and shun the rest. Too much equipment is an impediment to the photographic process.

Three cheers, Searcher. You are one of the few people on this forum who deserves to be considered a real "expert." You know your stuff and are able to put it across accurately and clearly. You are never rude or condescending. You make a great teacher, and a real gentleman.

No camera, at any price, will deliver what you are seeking. It is not the camera, but the photographer that really matters.

You are a victim of unrealistic expectations.

Compared with some other photo forums, UHH seems to have an oversupply of grouches and ego-driven self-appointed "experts." For those reasons, I rarely participate here anymore. Admin needs to clean house - it would be a benefit to all, especially newcomers seeking answers to simple questions.

Thanks for the comment. I am disappointed with the loss of image quality from posting in UHH. I had much better results several years ago. I have noticed this loss in postings by other members as well.