This ones special, well done!

Thankyou for taking the time to respond, thats very good advice and you may consider it taken. There are so many things I need to take into account. After much thought, I think my starting place will be in photography. The big issue for me has been where to begin. There is so much out there I want to learn, but I'm patient. The main thing is I feel excited about a hobby again, haven't felt this way in a long time.

Hi Marlene, I'm new here and certainly no critic, but had to say I particularly like the top B+W photo. I was exposed quite a bit to photography growing up and my father went through a B+W stage. Even though taken at a distance, your top photo comes out beautifully with the silouette of the trees and reflected water in the forground. It feels as though the fireworks are being enjoyed on summer evening from a back porch. Tara

Thankyou for such a terrific response! What kind of artwork do I want to produce? That is a good question. I'm interested in anything and everything, I'd like to take a few nature shots and see what I can do with some imagination and software to spice them up. I'm also intested in creating my own 2D images from scratch. I would love to know more about animation, and this Poser program has me intrigued. I guess I just want to be creative from the ground up. I have a very basic camera, a Canon Power Shot A70, but would upgrade if my interest continues to grow. My father was an obsessive amateur photographer for many years, so I guess the bug has finally bitten me. I only informed my partner of my interest this morning and he told me he already has paint shop pro, shows how observant I am! He has so many things on this computer I wouldnt know half of what we have. I am looking into trying out the free trial of Photoshop CS2. I guess since I'm starting at the very beginning I'm more interested in any suggestions to get my toes wet. I can see I have plenty of reading to do, I'm feeling like a kid at Christmas. Thankyou again for your questions and suggestions, I appreciate every response I get. I hope this gives a little bit more of an idea of where I'm presently at. Cheers Tara