One can pursue this thread on many levels, "What is the future of Painting? What about glowing nanoparticles embedded in oil?" The future and history of any artistic pursuit can be analyzed on infinite levels. I think view cameras and platinum printing are cool! Optics really is not my area of engineering. In "professional" digital equipment the trend has been towards more pixels, on a bigger substrait (so we can reuse our old 35mm film lenses). [It sure would be nice to make use of my 20mm wide-angle again someday...] What I wonder is, how much SMALLER is it possible to make the sensor before the size of each individual pixel cell comes up against some physical law? Smaller means less battery, cheaper, and faster. [It also, with today's technology, means more noise, which may be the physical limitation.] With smaller sensors I'd invision the little "hat" camera, that could be capturing HDTV as I walk down the street. With the smaller sensor it should be possible to build a small 14-600mm F/1.2 zoom, that would fit in the "hat" camera. With smaller sensors, the speed should increase. Forget about spot metering. My camera/computer should evaluate the exposure of EVERY pixel, on the fly, at the instant of taking the shot! Actually, it should take a couple shots, before and after I actually press the button. The camera's reflexes to capture the ideal moment should be better than my aging fingers. The biggest advance, which I hope happens soon, is a practical way to zap dust off the sensor! In the near term I think there will be advances in storing, retrieving, and displaying the results. Flat panel wall-hangings will open up new ways of using stills, video, and sound. There really must be a better way for me to find where in my hundreds of CD's is the pic of Aunt Bertha at the Beach. Personally, I do not understand the "camera phone" trend. But it is safe to say the trend will continue, and portable retrieval and viewing, and sharing, will evolve.

Another long thread in what appears to be the Forum's favorite topic! Tom I think had the comment with the most wisdom, "I don't have to read it." People come and go, for good and bad reasons. I know that I first came to 'osity because I was learning Bryce and Poser, and this is absolutely the best place anywhere to learn and interact with folks with similar interests. I found the Photo areas somewhat by accident, as at that time there was never much photography emphasis in the "front page." Alpha (the Mod at the time) praised a couple of my first postings. Praise is a wonderful drug to attract a crowd! Interacting with the folks here encouraged me to get back into photography; something I had neglected for many years. I was learning new things from the folks here, and I also felt I had something positive to contribute. Having, or at least believing, that one is contributing positively is a very valuable thing to have. [The flip side of this is when one believes their contrabutions are not being appreciated, it really evokes feelings ranging from anger to depression. I understand the folks who delete their Galleries; I do not agree with the action as it seems to provide nothing positive, but I do understand the emotions causing it.] After some time I developed friendships with a couple folks here, (or not here anymore), and these friendships took on greater importance than the site itself. The downside of this is it led to acusations of cliques, and just being a forum to pat each other on the back. Fresh ideas were needed. The site needed to evolve. I do not stop off here much anymore. [When I'm feeling grumpy, I add, "and no one really misses me very much."] Hopefully it is because I've moved on, and am finding praise and meaning elsewhere. People come and go. What's the surprise in this?

Yup, something useful for everyone. Thanks.

I tried posting this yesterday, but site kept crashing: "Sigh I have not stopped back here much myself. Somewhat p-'d off, but mostly just old and searching around for something more meaningful. Everyone moves on. In the last couple of years Tedz Gallery has been a ray of refreshing light. I'll admit that I had misjudged him at first; not understanding the whole "High Commander" thing, and upset that he seemed to be polking fun at that poor half-blind kitty. But over the years I learned better. His gentle understanding and sense of humor will be missed. Manly Hugz to Brian, and to you, Dear Cindy."

Attached Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steganography

Really nice weel! What a hedgehog!

Update: I did get one of the Pelican cases for carryon at the airport. Worked fine, but really does not hold too much. Did not have courage to check. I think in future if I'm going to struggle anyway with carryon, a canvas case that holds more stuff is preferable. Used the 24-70mm almost all of the time anyway. Too hot and humid in Malaysia to carry much. Did miss a good tripod. Little collapsable thing was useless!

This community never fails to inspire and impress. Best wishes to all, and hope that Santa Cat brings nice toys to all.

Happy b'day! Hope you have a wonderful time, and that the b'day kitty leaves something really nice under your pillow.

How do you avoid nose smudges?

I generally shoot in color, and convert to B&W in the digital darkroom. Almost the best of both worlds. I say "almost" as B&W film still beats color film or digital in dynamic range. Usually not an issue, however.