I am an American baby boomer with varied interests and I consider myself to be a new-comer to photography, especially digital photography. Since getting my Nikon 7900 in '04, I have become rather interested in capturing wildflower and small critter close-up images: thus most of my postings are of those subjects, but occasionally I do find other things that either interest me or I just feel compelled to share, lol. I use a point and shoot Nikon 7900 coolpix digital camera and I am usually within a few inches of my subjects. I seldom use a tripod. My camera has very few manual adjustments so most of the time I have it set to "macro" mode. With this setting, I get a 7.8mm lens with an f stop of 4.8 and aperture speed of around 1/50-1/100 of a sec. I do my digital editing using Paint Shop Pro XI as the primary program with some usage of a few specialized features in Photoshop 7.  I appreciate all comments but I ESPECIALLY like those that give honest critiques. Update: I bought a Nikon D40X with 2 Nikon  AF-S VR lens (18-55mm and 55-200mm) at the end of 2008 but did not have free time to play with it until May 2009. It is a steep learning curve to go from point and shoot to DSLR, especially if one knows nothing about photography beyond  - turn it on  - then point and shoot, lol.
Update #2 - Aug 2013: I bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC - Lx7 because the Coolpix 7900 is on it's last legs. BIO I am a 60ish single man with a diverse background of employment. Among other things, at one time or another, I have been an engineering draftsman, a union carpenter, a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stagehands union, a stained glass pattern maker, a ranch hand, a lifeguard, and a member of the USAF for almost 8 years. I have been retired for over 20 years because of a back injury and now spend my time enjoying my 25 acres of Northeast Texas Woodland. I have been building a house for the past 10 years and may even finish it eventually, lol. Thanks to all who have taken the time to comment on my postings and I hope everyone (who has clicked on one of them) enjoyed the image. Lee