Personally I shoot because I want to show what it is that I see when I look around. As I have hinted towards many times, I am a recovering alcoholic with a few 24 hours under my belt. In my time sober I began to see the world in a different way than I did looking through the bottom of a bottle. As the fog in my head began to clear I saw the world differently than I ever did before, even before I started drinking (which for the record was a VERY long time ago!). I wanted... no, NEEDED to show what it is that I see. I wanted others to understand how special this place is that we live. I wanted to show the world how a certain visual image affects my life. Not so much as how it affects me but how it makes me feel. I tried Bryce renderings(which is how I found Renderosity) but though I was good at creating them, it still left the realism out of my images. No matter how well an image turned out, it did not convey the feelings I had. Then Digital Cameras came on the scene. I had not only the chance to capture what I felt and saw but a chance to shoot them as often or as many times as my feelings changed! Almost for free! I vaguely remembered trying photography back in the late 70's and early 80's but it was too expensive and digital was only the cost of the camera. I bought my first digital while in San Fransisco on a business trip, I was off to the races! That camera lasted less than a year I used it so much, but it let me show the world as I felt it. So I saved as much money as my patience would allow and I bought my Sony. Over 8000 images later it is still going. So am I! I got back into shooting 35mm because a friend of my mothers was selling her husbands equipment for very cheap; he had passed away the year before. I helped her buy a car and she cut me a break on the equipment to return the favor. So why do I shoot? Because I have a need, a need to show the world how I feel. Yeah Wolfy, I felt both of those feelings while shooting that tree. Magick Michael