Hello and welcome! It was the encouragement of my co workers that persuaded me that my work was good enough to sell and show. I have been here now for about three months, I accidently found this site through an internet friend that I have had for about two and half years (Snakey). He came here as a Bryce artist and over time I have encouraged him to participate in the photography end of the site. Snakey has been viewing my work via MSN or Yahoo messenger for the past two years or so, and he always encouraged me to go forward with my part time hobby. If it hadn't been for my co workers and Snakey's encouraging words, I may have never had the courage to post my work on an internet site such as this. When I go through the gallery, basically I have my favorite artists that I check out first. I then go through the gallery and click on what catches my eye. If I give a person a critique telling them what I think they could have done, it is usually via the IM system here in Renderosity, unless they ask for it in the posting. If they do not ask for a critique I comment on what is right with the photograph rather then what I see that may be wrong. Goes back to the saying I always heard that if you can not say something nice, then don't say anything... I try not to give an unwanted critique. (If it really bugs me, I will send an IM). I have noticed when a person picks out a tiny flaw in a photo, it becomes a feeding frenzy, the people that comment after, now see this flaw, no matter how big or small it is (and maybe it is something that just bugs a particular person and really isn't a flaw at all!?). That in turn affects the ratings, which probably won't make the artist feel too good. I like to encourage rather than discourage. So when you make your posts, if you want an honest opinion, by god ask for it, most of us would be more then willing to give you that. I do hope that you enjoy your stay here! :) Brenda aka: Nilla