Great to have this new forum! Thanks, Syyd and Colm! Well, here goes .. probably more than you want to know about me but ... I'm Lisa and I'm new (again) to Photography. I had started studying Photography about 20 years ago with a Canon AE1, but life, motherhood and other things kept my interest to purely "event" photography. About 10 years ago I accidentally smashed my Canon beyond repair and wasn't able to replace it until the past few years when I got a Minolta. This new camera and seeing what I can do with it has reignited my desire to learn. My son had expressed an interest in learning Photography so for Christmas 1999 we bought him a fully manual Canon. I thought I'd start at the basics and learn with him. He was really excited about learning but didn't have a chance to begin. He passed away on Easter Sunday of last year after an auto accident. Just recently I've found myself seeing the world around me again with new eyes and am wanting to capture that view on film. I plan to learn the basics using my son's camera as well as my own. I'm interested in learning everything I can about both traditional and digital photography. I've posted two of my photos in my Gallery here but am dissappointed at the lack of constructive crticism. (Yes, I can take criticism, good, bad and ugly) As a beginner, I think they look good but don't know what I can improve or how they look from a professional point of view. I love art, being creative and learning new things and look forward to this forum becoming a place to do just that and more. The attached photo is one taken with the Minolta very early in the morning on the beach. The sky had just started to glow with the sunrise and I caught Lucki sniffing around in a pile of seaweed. Lisa