clapping this really rocks!!!! awesome!!!!

i left u a comment in gallery but just wanted to tell you how much i love it!!! it's magical!

This is a VERY interesting thread for me, Jeroen!!! First, hats off to your for your outstanding photography! You have many gifts...especially for composition!! Sometimes i use HEAVY postwork...sometimes i do like u...sharpen a bit, add contrast, enhance colors. I will post 2 examples of little post work and a lot of post work...but later...gotta run for now. Patrick...that filter is dynamite!!! really looks great!!!

what do i say about this?? exquisitely beautiful!!!!

Thanks Michelle!!! i so much appreciate what you said...after all...u r the one who inspired me with your image. don't worry about my gallery, silly girl!!!! i'm just happy u looked...and i'm glad u like! i am the same with self-portraiture...it is a wonderful means of self-expression!!!! and u r absolutely right...it is VERY difficult to get in front of the cam and expose myself like that...and then to actually upload....makes my stomach knot. but so far no one has made distasteful remarks...u know the kind i mean. it is hard to do this when u r a woman. well, i take that back. i shouldn't generalize. it's hard for me to do as a woman. if i were a man i would not be scared to upload self portraits. anyway, it's even hard for me to face many of those images...regardless if i upload them here or not. getting older...and facing that...seeing that unmasked. health issues...and facing that...seeing that unmasked. these are not easy for me to see. the trick is to be able to look at myself and love who i am. anyway, thanks so much for your feedback and the nice things you said. i know my photography skills have much to be desired technically. looking in my gallery is like looking in a mirror. sometimes we have bad hair days!!! hehe.... but my gallery is a reflection of who i am. and i like what i see. i do this to please myself i guess i really don't need to ask, "Does my photography suck?" As long as I like it, that's all that matters. If it please or touches someone else in some way, then I'm happy! Thanks you Michelle and everyone else! I feel much better about all this! hugz sheila

Thanks Misha for what you said. Yes, what you're saying makes sense. I appreciate your offer to help but i spoke my mind to that person and said how i felt...and i blew off steam here. i'm fine now and cooled off. yes, u r right about taking the bad with the good. i welcome critiques. I do NOT mind when someone tells me what they think might make it better...did i consider this or that...or maybe tell me i might try this or that. I welcome ALL that. i think that is good. but not everyone sees "critique" in the same way. Thanks! sheila

awesome work! like it a lot1 i left u comment in gallery!

yes!!! I'm with Dee-Marie!!!! Can i PLEASE squeeze your nose and HONK HONK with her!!!!!! :) I wanted to YANK really hard the nose of my dentist today!!!! thanks for the laughs!!! i needed them too!

thanks Cindy! saw dentist today...now THAT sucked!!!! :)

gerhard...thank you! i'm glad you hear what my photography is saying!!!!!! thank u SO much for what you said!!! zhounder...i so much appreciate your words...and you taking the time to make comments in my gallery. it is good to hear what u think, and i take your words into consideration. They made ME think...and i like that! u like your new Nikon? HC: i take most of mine on auto too. I do try different speeds and have used automatic settings, but i really "suck" at that! i just need more practice. natural comic? dunno 'bout that. maybe...because i am just plain funny to look at!!!! sorry 'bout all your heaps of horrible comments...might make an interesting book!!! i was gonna make everyone some silly cupcakes, decorate them, and then take pics...uh...well...let me go see if i have eggs...might just bake some...we'll see. i certainly don't wanna be demoted! cindy...sorry...i think i can off short and snappy in my note to u...i was just hurrying out the door and didn't realize how i came off. u forgive me??? i think critiques can help us see things differently. when zhounder commented on my Cherish the Elderly it made me think. His words made me realize that perhaps the postwork was taking away something...like from the richness of their faces. i dunno. but i like to hear other peoples' thoughts and ideas. thank u for worthiness!!!! group hugz!!!!! sheila

cindy, i was NOT given a critique. thanks!!!!! hugz, sheila

P.S. Cindy...3DGuy...just read yours. Thank you both also for what you said!!!! I will try to stress more that i want more critiques. I love reading everyone's comments. But I also like to know how it has affected them or come across to them. I don't give critiques because i don't feel qualified to do so. i have my own ideas about what i like but i don't have any technical experience...just my own eyes and senses. sometimes here in the forum i will leave a comment about someone's image...will add in my 2 cents...but really that's all it is...two cents...because I have no training or expertise in photography. but i believe i do possess some worth here in RR. I enjoy so many wonderful images here, and I like to tell people how much i enjoy their art. I think that counts for something even if I have nothing else to offer. okay...thanks guys!!! pressure cooker no longer whistling Hugz, sheila

thanks guys. I so much appreciate all the comments everyone leaves...no matter what they say...no matter how many words. Dee Marie, i don't see anything wrong with saying WOW either. Like you...sometimes that's just the first thing that hits me. I like my photography. I like the way i express myself. I know it didn't sound like it from what i wrote. I was mad. someone said something to me. I probably should not have posted this thread here, but I was so mad about what was said to me. I won't here what was said. It is that person's opinion after all & they're certainly entitled to it. I don't agree with it. All i know is the reason why i do what i do is because i enjoy it. It makes me feel good. It is a way for me to express myself. I don't upload images for other people's enjoyment. I please myself first. I work on an image until I'm satisfied with it. If I can't get it the way i want it, I'll post it in the forum. Or if I'm not sure how it's coming across, I'll post it here for feedback. That helps. I know the forum is the place to get more critiques. that's true. Dee Marie & Niu, thank you SO much for what you said. sniff sniff. i just got so incredibly mad. My opinion: I like who i am and i like my images. they come from my heart. I know they are not technically up-to-snuff, but I'm trying to improve...at my OWN pace. I'm trying to learn new techniques. My gallery is a place of self-expression. If someone doesn't like my images that's fine. I don't expect everyone to like my work. After what was said to me, I guess i just needed to let off steam. Thanks for listening and for the wonderful things you said. Hugz sheila

hehe cindy...on 5th thread up! and about that 5th thread up....what a Mug!!!!