Very good first try! :) Welcome here! This is a great plase to hang out! Yes, I think you're right about the macro use. Also, What I do is that I always shoot with the max quality. That leaves me a lot less storing capacity, - but then again it gives me a lot more to "work with" when I'm back home, - photoshopping. In my example below, - the virgin and child, the original file size is almost 3 mg's. The one I posted here is taken down in picture quality (and size), - for faster loading. I still have the original jpg (My Sony's native file format), - but I have a "better" original, saved as a .tiff file. If you use a jpg and save, - open it again, - edit, - save etc... you will end up with a very poor quality. So keep your originals as tiffs. Good shooting, - and congratulations with your new camera! :) Britt