Best- XProHeli Silk Gimbal; Worst- a stupid $20 tripod that I can't quite just throw away, "just in case..."

Nope. not only the one you are. me idiot too... I only post about half the replies I write. :)

If I'm really new to something, I'll usually read the manual all the way through (sometimes before even buying the product). For example, when I first got Photoshop (v3), I read the manuals completely, and was very glad that I did. (Now since I'm accustomed to Adobe programs, I usually just start pushing the buttons right away, and use Google if I get stumped. But I do always scan the "new features for this version" pages, to make sure I don't miss any goodies.)

The first DSLRs I ever used were a Olympus, a Nikon, and a Canon, and I was using them at a job where I was expected to be the expert, so I read all the manuals cover to cover and always kept them at hand for reference. More recently, I usually just scan camera manuals for the stuff I don't already know about after pushing all the buttons - always good to have a complete picture of the features at hand.

My latest camera is a Sony, so as anybody familiar with Sonys would probably agree, that manual is an incomplete joke. :roll:

I think the root of the problem is that drones have gotten inexpensive enough that any idiot can afford one - so guess who's buying them!

I had a brief business partnership doing video with a drone flyer. It was enough to make me realize that drone flying for photos or video is an awful lot of hassle, expense and risk just to get that "unique" perspective (which is of course becoming less unique all the time). Besides, imo, removing the viewer from the normal human perspective is not that great for selling anything either, other than drone equipment. Some realtors that I know who were enamoured of drone video for a few minutes have already figured out that 100 expensive aerial views of the roof doesn't really sell a house very well.

And, if I am shooting a nice landscape and end up with a bloody drone in the shot that I need to photoshop out, I'll be clonin' and cursin'... :) I am actually glad to see signs like the one below appearing in some of the most photogenic places on earth...

Smith Rock State Park, Oregon

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Thanks, Douglass! & thank you for watching! I need to post a better version now that I have cleaned up the occasional car headlights on the trees from all frames... ;)

The other night I shot a 5-1/2-hour timelapse of forest fires with the stars above, in hopes of getting a few good perseid meteors straying into the northern sky. I did get a few good ones (the best of which I posted here), and ended up with a series of 945 raw files to play with. When I did a search for "how many layers maximum in Photoshop," indications were that it was theoretically possible to use up to 1000 layers, so I figured the big test was in order.
First, I used Camera Raw to apply the same Preset to all of the .ARW raw files, about 200 at a time (for some reason I didn't even try doing all 945 with ACR at once, although I suppose that could work). The ACR adjustments were few - the standard lens corrections for the Sony 16-50mm, and some noise reduction, and that's it.
Then, I ran a Batch Automation with an action that saved all the files as TIFs for a video (watch FULL SCREEN!).

Using a 2012 Macbook Pro with 8GB, 2.6GHz i7 and SSD HD (a pretty fast machine), the PS command 'Scripts>Load Files into Stack...' took 35 minutes to load all the files into layers, about 15 seconds to select all the layers, and about 30 seconds to apply the 'Lighten' blend mode - not bad! No crashies at all. BUT, it sure took a lot of memory!(Note the PS status bar screenshot below.), PLUS almost 90GB of hard drive space while running - make sure and Quit Photoshop afterwards!

945 frames stacked

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wow, that's a lotta memory

I prefer the B&W by far, and find it compositionally far more interesting than the other - no need for those pesky colors. And the frame doesn't hurt, either... :thumbup:
I think that you shouldn't feel too bad about not getting a pile of votes in the contests. I look at most of them, but seldom vote, unless I see entries that are really exceptional. Judging by the images that typically do well, I usually am left wondering, "but what about the good ones?" I finished taking it seriously just recently, when an out-of-focus, pasted in moon got 2nd place, just above a tilted-horizon 3rd.
I don't enter the contests myself mostly because I don't agree that a photo's placing well in a contest should automatically include having its own thread for critique created in some section of UHH that I and a lot of my friends never go to otherwise. ;)

3 of us were splitting a pile of madrone firewood when we all suddenly stopped and grabbed our cameras for these nice purplish tones. It's all been burned by now, though...

Pacific Madrone (Arbutus menziesii)

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Went up to Crater Lake last night, hoping for a clear sky, because the valleys around here have been filled with forest fire smoke lately. We were not disappointed - that is, me and the other zillion photographers (or at least people with cameras ;) ), who were there for the same thing. But while everybody seemed to be aiming out over the lake as always, this time there was also a forest fire going on to the North, for a little interesting juxtaposition. I got a 5-hour timelapse of this scene, with a fair number of streakers included, and some good fireworks to boot, as the good ol' Big Dipper wheeled across. Still sorting out the best ways to process and stack them all (945 raw files!)...

After some experiments with finding a good exposure for both the stars and the fire, I ended up at 8sec, f/3.5, ISO 3200 - using a Sony NEX-5t.
... oh yeah, and I also posted the preliminary & unedited first chunk of timelapse video here.

"National Complex" forest fires near Crater Lake

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ooh - that was unexpected! I was anticipating seeing a boring sunset, for some reason. I like the near-monochromatic look of it, and especially the subtle wide rays above the cloud bank (enhanced in post, I wonder?)

My first reaction was to try and figure out what city that is. Then I started wondering what it might have looked like a bit later on, also.

but, unfortunately... the over-the-top processing to enhance drama IS right in line with the widespread trend in today's "journalism" to over-sensationalize for commercial entertainment value. And I don't think it's a positive trend, either.

Whether it's any consolation... you are not alone!
Yesterday I was visiting with a neighbor who was having a yard sale - offering almost everything she owned - and she was relating the story of yet another nearby neighbor on the verge of losing their house due to mounting health debts. Personally, I can't give up my camera yet because I have been making a few meager bucks with it, but I am putting my tractor and backup generator up on craigslist this week, and parting out my old Toyota in hopes of making next month's house payment. I did get a part-time job today, but, yippee - minimum wage... :| I have had to develop a new philosophy about work and money lately: just work a lot, and maybe you can get some money for some of it.
As far as the photography thing goes, I think it is a shame that creative work has been reduced to "media content" in today's world, and people are aghast when you want to charge a reasonable price for image work.

I've kept telling myself that 2015 would be the year for a big turnaround, but that turnaround is happening very slowly indeed... (he stated with waning optimism!)

Chin up, my friend, things CAN get better... I have seen it happen before, anyway. ;)

It is clear to me that those photos go well beyond mere workman-like documentation. It's obvious that the photographer has a firm grasp of good composition, and was purposely intending to do more than just get "the shot" of an event - with great success, imo. Looks like art to me... :)

In that case, this may have been a keeper, too...

Sometimes in a situation like that, I could click a couple of hundred shots and feel like I still missed a lot of good ones!

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Love this shot!

I think you are following a sort of natural impulse that I notice sometimes - when you are confronted with an awesome scene, you shoot wide to make sure and not miss anything (sometimes perhaps with cropping in mind to start with).

IF I stumbled upon such a wonderful scene, had a long enough lens, and time to think about it(!), AND had already gotten YOUR shot, I would perhaps have tried to get one framed something like this - but that may just be the rule-of-thirds follower in me... :)

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