Sharon, while I haven't been posting directly to your photo tip threads, I've been following them avidly. I so appreciate all the effort you've gone to to explain in such an easy way so many aspects of taking good [better for some of us] pictures. The last week or so I've been very busy organizing and then hosting our family reunion at a local fancy diner and have not had a real chance to digest the latest installments. The macro stuff interests me very much. I've tried to use my macro recently and found when I did the camera refused to take the picture?? Odd. LOL.. I'll figure it out but I suspect I'll have to dig through the manual to see what the problem is. Your post makes me suspect it has something to do with the camera not being able to focus on what I'm trying to do or the distance, or something..heh.. and it won't fire as self preservation. Smiles. I'll figure it out and then be back to digest more of your post. Btw, I got a tripod for my birthday! Yay.. I relative I had staying with me for a while apparently absconded with my last tripod. Grrrr... Needless to say I'm looking forward to using the tripod to work on some of your 'lessons'. Thanks for all your great work on our behalf.

Lars is you can get what you want with fully automatic settings then that's great and it's true you can usually make adjustments in Photoshop or other programs. I had some disappointing results the other day with my DSLR in the Botanical garden where there are extremes of dark shade and bright sunlight. I'm going back there again and will use only automatic to see what settings the same camera chooses and how the pics turn out. Then I can go back again and hopefully fine tune my settings for some better pictures. It's all trial and error sometimes in difficult lighting situations. Luckily the entrance fee is just a couple of Euros. :-) SharonCb

Update: My sons are done with this organization. The rink is privately owned by an independently wealthy man who has a 16 yr old son. He is a competent hockey player, but no superstar. However, since Daddy owns the rink, he is always the first player on the roster of the highest tier team for his age level. After last season, Daddy decided to reorganize. He bought a junior team, so his son will have a place to play when he moves up. He also changed the name of the organization, and is trying to create elite teams at the midget level. He is bringing in players from out of town to fill out the roster. He has doubled the cost of the monthly dues, hired coaches, and put together a very aggressive travel schedule. He has strongly suggested that players attend online high school to acomodate the heavy schedule. All of this was done without consulting the parents. It was presented to us as a done deal. Unfortunately, his grand vision is running into some problems. Tryouts were held in July for the midget 16 and 18 teams. After the 16 tryouts, the kids were given letter of intent, which were to be signed within 24 hours, and returned with a large ($500) non-refunable deposit. Needless to say, not many letters were signed. The following week,the at tryouts for the 18 teams there were not enough players to form 2 teams. They decided to consolidate the 16AA and 18AA teams. Six players are kids who are moving directly from bantam to 18! A team meeting was held to discuss the issue, and although many parents voiced concerns, they really didn't answer any questions. They failed to provide an itemized breakdown of where the money was going, did not have a roster, or any firm schedule, although they did mention that the team would be strictly a tournament team. They went on to mention at least 4 very expensive trips planned, all requiring plane tickets. After all this, they said that if the letter of intent was not signed within 24 hours, there was no guarantee that there would be a place on the team for the players. But the absolute worst was that when the teams were consolidated, 4 players were cut. These people had already given their deposits, and they were NOT INFORMED about being cut. They were not invited to the team meeting, and only found out after the fact, when parents attending the meeting called them. The organization did not even have the decency to inform these players and parents beforehand. Needless to say , I refused to sign the contract. My sons will be playing at another rink across town. It is a smaller organization, with a less aggressive schedule, offered at half the cost. It is considered to be second-rate in this town, but I really don't care. Enough is enough.

We'll be there for the whole weekend and at least the day before. That's why I want to bring food, since it's quite something to feed a crew for a whole weekend. Mostly oldsters, and I mean REALLY old, my 'rents are in their 80's and my uncle is 89. His wife is 70ish. My cousin and her grown kids and their babies might show up. Anyway, I was just asking about holiday travel foods in general, not my specific case. Unfortuantely, that mulled wine, my "go to" hostess gift, is out since the oldsters can't drink I think due to medications. Last year I brought what I thought was the perfect hostess gift--wine to a family of winos. But they had so much wine already they never opened mine. Farm fresh apples and cider were appreciated though. I'll bring that this time, and probably some homeade bread and jam. Shortbread savory cookies would be a good thing to have on hand over the weekend but I can't eat them and dad and his brother both have cholesterol issues. Perfect for my diabetic mom though! :) Oh yeah, and I have to deal with my dad, the pickiest eater on the planet. Maybe some spiced mixed nuts, that might be good. Anyway, what foodie gifts do you like?? I made apricot thyme liqueur this year thinking it would be good for gifts but it just isn't good. I used unsulfered apricots and cheapo brandy and it just tastes like cough syrup. Here is a link that might be useful: Eating Well Healthy Homeade Gifts for the Holidays