"composits, rendering, brushwork, selective blurs" are what you say people do in photoshop and other software in order to achive the final image, which does not make it photography anymore. Aside from the rendering part, composits, brushwork, and selective blurs can easily be done in a darkroom. I know this, because I do this in a darkroom frequently. "The use of software can allow the worst collection of images to look good and the best photographs look better. But it is not talent in photography." I can use 3 enlargetrs to combine 3 different negatives in whatever manner I deem fit, and I have done so on numerous occasions. This does not make any of the photographs looks better, rather, it all culminates into one final piece of work. The final work is what does or does not look good, not the individual photos. If you take a shot, and it's REALLY overexposed, you're gonna have to do some darkroom work in order to make the "bad" shot look "good." "Any image I post in the photography gallery has been a straight scan from a actual photographic print." All the images in my gallery that go into the photography gallery are also ALL done in a darkroom, with minor contrast brightness adjustements in photoshop that is done merely to make the print on screen look like the one I'm holding in my hands. One thing I had to get used to was that 35mm and large format negative photography is no longer the only form of photography anymore. Most anything that can be done in photoshop, can also be done without it. Using oil paints and pencils on black and white photographs really is nothing new, so the brushes in photoshop don't yeild any hidden advantages. The dodge and burn tools are self explanatory. Blurring in selective areas really is not that difficult either in a darkroom. Multiple image printing is also a possibility which I have experimented with. This is no different than taking two images into photoshop and combining them that way. Cropping, adding, subtracting, etc, also capable in a darkroom. From what I can surmise of what you said pnevai, true photographic skills are only shown when taking a picture. This simply isn't true. It takes some real fucking skill to make a good print in a darkroom, and I assume you know that. I've spent upwards of 10 hours on a SINGLE print in the darkroom getting it JUST right. Are you saying that darkroom work offers no insight to photographic skill? It takes an eye to be able to take a good negative, and making it into a great print. I could simply set the time to 20 seconds on F-5.6 for each print anmd churn them all out, instead, I spend the hours it takes to get something great. It doesn't always happen either. Just because someone applies 3 filters to an image in photoshop doesn't make it a great image. Personally, if you're unhappy with seeing photoshopped imagery, you can simply never look at the photography gallery again, because something tells me none of us wants to fall into your little ideals of what photography really is, because you are just one person, with one opinion. There are others that agree with you I'm sure, but if you don't like the way it actually is, go find another gallery to look at. the following is a link to your image, "Ferocious". http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=139675&Start=1&Artist=pnevai&ByArtist=Yes You posted this in the lightwave gallery. Now, did you use ANY OTHER PROGRAMS in this image? My guess is that poser was used. If you did, then this is not a pure lightwave image, and according to your philosophy, you proably should have posted thi in the Mixed Medium gallery. Also, a guy by the name of 3DAFX offered this ias a comment... " lose the lights on her body, use a different texture for the skin and give those monsters some gravity and then she will be perfect" At which point you responded "Yo 3D, the image is precisely the way I want it. It's not going to change. Spent a fair amount of effort makeing everything look exactly as it is. So tell it to someone who cares." I got news for ya. One, he was offerering what he thought to be a helpful comment to make the image better, at which point you told him to Fuck Off in kinder words. If you can't take the heat, don't click the comments button. People will not always offer the utter praise you seem to desire, sometimes they will actually say something that they think would make the image better, god forbid. Also, some of the photographers who post to the gallery spend a fair amount of time getting their images to look exactly as they do, using whatever software or darkroom techniques they want, and my gues is that your little idea of what photography really is doesn't mean a damn thing to them, so why don't you go tell someone who cares. ryan