Bsteph, There is very little cropping here. I wanted to clearly set the surroundings. The lady in red had won at least an honorable mention in the judging, as indicated by the ribbon. The first place winner in crafts was a jewelery maker, my wife selected some gold plate over sterling earrings from the jewelry booth. I bring home pictures and she brings home momentoes.

I'll move in closer and try to aviod the keystone effect. This was a trial shot to see what the scene would produce. Visually it has some appeal, now to capture that with an image that is better than a snapshot .

Well! Since I have been there, done that, have sons that have been there, done that and have grandchildren that are about to go into your stage of life, you would hardly shock me or worry me. Mostly I am amused by your candor and exprssion. You have a genuine streak of creative ability in words and pictures. DON'T LOSE IT!

It has been years since I took an interest in photo sales. The first stop is a book store. IN the photo section there are books on marketing. Many of these books have listings of agencies and publications that tell what market they cover. Second you can submit directly to publications. Write or e-mail them to see what their policy is for accepting and publication. As for markets such as fabric printing, contact artists who do that sort of art and craft work. Either work with them or have them quote a price for production and find a boutique that will take them on consignment.

You have the makings of some fine designs for fabrics. Why not try shopping them around to some source of fabric production. Beautiful transferred to silk on a scarfe.

The color is very vivid and that adds to the image. The wet patio stone is good background. If you only lose half the shots of animals at macro range you are doing OK. I will second your find that 64 meg cards help and I have even rigged my van for recharging the LI batteries.

I do like the pose, the details are really good. I particularly like the staff ending at the face, the pipe, the bonnet shading. Everyone would like to have taken this shot. I would only clone out the guy by the left leg. You might blur the others a bit with a new layer. Bill

Alpha, The Photoshop work does improve the results! I have also copied some Ektachrome from our honeymoon 43 years ago. It is a real mess. I was not stabilized correctly and has lots of color shift,etc. The good part is with modern tools I can salvage small prints. It does not impress the wife though, because the girl in the pictures is a beautiful 26.

This still presents a weak image. There is some work to learn how to get the best copies. One thing is shoot a well lighted white wall as the light source. lots of diffusion and easy color compensation. While I'm here! does anyone know the color temp of hologen work lights? They are rugged and inexpensive. They might make good studio lights with diffuser screens.

Gee whiz! I'll have dig up some 1954 negatives from the archives. The normal practice was to "push" the Tri-X for all the low light we could capture. It was only successful part of the time, available light being very hard to judge and light meters are useless on the street at night. I'll vote for No 1 in this series. The dark is deep and few highlights. Almost the tonal range of charcoal drawing. Grain is part of the game. Sometimes you are forced to accept it and sometimes it adds to the effect.

It is very liberating to take the time, pick the place and just concentrate on image and technique. I believe that the mental feedback from such sessions is one of the best ways to learn both ourselves and the equipment. After months of use and several hundred images I am just learning what the Nikon 880 will do for me. The first image is my favorite of this series (excluding the self portraits). As you stated, a feeling is evoked.

Jeff, The skill required is to be observant. In a visual medium it is crucial. ry, Yes there is an eye image. Your mental synapses are not playing tricks. Seeing images in natural objects such as this beautiful rose is a creative gift. It makes you more aware of the possible transmutations. Those striking images that hold the eye and the brain.

There is strong emotion here. I can't name it, your turn. This picture is the sort of image that with the right title is great. It stands Ok by itself but better with a few words. The lighting on the face and the hair have a very primitive quality. A sort of "native girl with fan" look.

I believe they used to refer to this as "high key" lighting. There was a lot of this work done in the 1950's. It is sensual with with being sexy. I would still like to see the low hint of light on the back and maybe enough face to help me find it. I was very impressed by the similar image in color.

You were obviously successful in the attempt to get to a comfort zone. In the series you can almost see the transition. This image is a standard and a good shot. I would have used some fill or pure silhouette on the water shots. The ripples are good stuff. She will like this shot. Probably hate the first one. You are quite good at site selection and composition. As a new model this girl seems ready to learn.