[nldunne]

Bruce

I know this may not sit well with most, but.......

I encourage folks to work on their images - as much as is humanly possible - 'on location' - as some painters might do. Check the location - unmercifully - from top to bottom, side to side. - very slowly - whenever you can. Pull some weeds or wild grass or........... if the need arises to clean up an image. Try different lighting, image frames like trees, windows and all - anything - on location - to improve an image.

Use a piece of cardboard with a hole in it in front of your eye to see how much to put in your image. (Up close to your eye for wide angle and arm's length for tele work).

If you know of a strong painter's group in your community, ask questions of the members (if they will answer them) about light, composition, and everything you can think of about art. Study the work in major galleries to learn how to put an image together. The principles for composition are the same for painters as for a cam.

I suggest that you DO NOT use a P C art program any more than is absolutey necessary. it is not meant as a means of bailing one out of trouble for being lazy on location. You will learn far, far more, working o[ your image in the field and keep more pixels in your rimage(s) if you use the P C only for the smallest amount of image correction possible.

I for one have lost far too many irreplacable images in my time plalying around too much on here and in a darkroom in my early years.

Best of Luck, Mate.

Norm D