Please use new listin. Thank you. Ron S

Ok Stiches, just where was the arrogance? I simply stated an obvious observation, that anyone could make, who was not biased. Considering the wastefulness associated with both professional and amateur organized sports, and the obviously better uses of the monies involved, please fell free to show me the REAL benefits of sports, in today's world, and why sports are not totally wasteful.....and in fact.....given the degree of bad sportsmanship and violence, now associated with sports, at every level from elementary school, to Little League, to Pro sports, it seems to me that sports is simply making an already violent animal MORE violent. That is something that the world can certainly do without. By the way.....just how did you relate competition to a plant swap? Have to admit....I see absolutely no relationship. To me, a plant swap is about sharing, not competition. Come to think of it.....just why is competition good, anyway? Competition seems to foster violence, anger, and jealousy, in most people. In other words....it makes us worse creatures. It was once said, that there are no truly normal people.....because normal people are not compelled to do anything, but rather, simply are. Something to think about.

Hi Julie, What is Silver City like? Gosh, I don't know where to begin. I grew up in Minnesota and am now back here where I started. I really like the climate in Silver City. I used to tell people that it's far enough south to have mild winters but high enough in elevation (6,000ft.) to have nice summers. We'd never get that unbearable heat like El Paso or Tucson. The average annual rainfall is about 16 inches with half of that coming during the rainy season of July and August. Starting on the edge of town is the Gila Nat'l Forest, 1.5 million acres to roam around in. I've always been an outdoors guy and raised 4 sons down there that love to hike and camp as much as I do. The Nat'l Forest ranges in elevation from about 5,000ft to over 11,000 ft. Silver City is about 10 or 12 thousand now, not the sleepy little town that it was when we moved there in 1985. It even has a Wal-mart now. But, to do any serious shopping you have to go to El Paso or Tucson each at least 3 hours away. I don't believe I have any pictures of the town itself, but I could share some of the surrounding areas. Great Mexican food there of course. That's probably one of things I miss the most. You just can't get decent green chile up here. What else would you like to know about? Ron

From the context of your post I take it that you have not done anything like this before so first of all great job! Some things that I noticed. Watch the hair. I know sometimes the photog can have limited control over this, but it can be a distracter. Add some color to the pictures. That wall is a great background, but every thing seems to be neutral toned. Add colored shirt or something like that. The white balance in #7 is off In #3 she has some blown highlights on her nose. Personally I donÂt care for hands tucked under the arm, have her put them on top of her arm. The eyes look a little dark in few, use some fill flash. When you are doing close-ups, people always look at the eyes, make the sure the eyes are whatÂs in focus. Maybe turn up the color saturation. Or increase it in PP. #1 is my favorite, composition and exposure is great. Weddings can be difficult. I suggest having an external flash. Then there is the dress, most likely it will shiny and white. Try not to have blown highlights with that combination. Check out this photog, he has great ideas and pictures. http://www.josephmark.com/ Great job, be sure to post more shots. Here are some kids pictures I took, you can see what the colors do for the photos. http://s21.photobucket.com/albums/b257/zitro_joe/lopez%20kids/?sc=1&addtype=local Joe