The PanSTARRS comet on March 15, 2013. Taken from the Pinnacle parking lot in southwest Austin (http://goo.gl/maps/eScnw). Taken with a Nikon D90, 70-200/2.5 @ 200mm, piggybacked on a co-worker's 4" refractor telescope to aid in aiming (the co-worked does not have a T-mount for his scope yet...); 5 sec, F8, ISO 800. My (david's) lens envy extends to telescopes now, too... *sigh*

Saturday: January 12, 2013 This is Arthur James (Arie), our fourth grandchild and Tricia's first child. He is one week old today. Our granddaughter, Katie was born on Christmas Eve. But we haven't met her yet since she lives in Arizona. May 2013 be filled with perfect new beginnings for you.

Saturday, 29 December 2012: [david posting] We spent the night in San Antonio on Thursday night with my brother and his family. While waiting before going out to dinner, I took out the camera and flash and started trying to balance the quickly darkening outside sky against the flash. I ended up getting out a wired remote and the tripod because the shutter speed was so slow. I don't fully recall what I was trying to do at the time, but I certainly could have upped the ISO from 100 to 400 or faster. Anyway, this was a test shot I ended up leaving on the camera after I was done playing. I kept having to ask Celine to stop talking to her Uncle Paul and Andrew so there'd not be any motion blur. I don't think she was too enthused about posing... Jacci pulled this photo off the card along with a few others from the day to process. She said Celine's skin was very orange (that's be because there's a strong mix of tungsten along with the flash) and in correcting that, it shifted the outside sky blue.

Thursday, December 27, 2012: [This is david posting for a change...] We have been largely away from the daily community because life has been happening. We are still trying to find a balance where everything fits and is do-able... If anyone knows the secret, please let us know. Anyway, we have been well, just too busy to post much of anything. Christmas Eve brought a third grandbaby daughter to parents John and Ashley in Arizona. A fourth is due at any moment from Tricia and Alex. My brother Paul, his wife, and son have been visiting since last Saturday. Today we visited the LBJ Presidential Library/Museum and then the Texas Capitol building in downtown Austin. We did not end up lugging the big bag full of Nikons but I grabbed the Canon SC200 IS on the way out just in case. I usually use that camera to shoot time lapses or just quick snaps. In the Capitol, in the rotunda, we noticed a neat view of the back side of the dome. I took a shot of it, but without a tripod. At 1/5th of a second, even with the image stabilization, it did not come out that great, so it's not getting posted. We will be going back to use a tripod and might even be able to incorporate some light painting into the mix as well. On the way out of the Capitol, I noticed these statues in silhouette against the building. This was the most crisp exposure of the four I took, all at 1/5th of second, hand held. I did some LR4 adjusting, but not much more than that.

Friday September 28, 2012 Sometimes, you just gotta have a little fun. This is from July when we went to visit my Aunt Mary and my cousin, Michelle. Michelle and I think of each other as so much more than cousins. We are sisters sharing the same childhood memories. But we live so far from each other now and seldom get to see each other. I'm not thrilled with the glare off Celine's glasses. But I can live with it. Have you ever really thought about the moments in your life you remember the most clearly? I don't remember the milestone moments very well. They are kind of foggy. But I remember the moments of laughter and tears with absolute clarity. I'll remember this moment for the rest of my life. So even with the glare on the glasses, I'm glad David got this shot. It's priceless.

Thursday September 27, 2012 3:30PM + Polarizing filter #1 + Polarizing filter #2 + Incandescent white balance = middle of the night Except, I'm not really liking what the double polarizing does to the paint on the houses. It kind of looks like we all are about to get really expensive love letters from the HOA telling us to repaint. Maybe we should just get a set of ND filters. That would be so much cheaper and more efficient than repainting.

Wednesday September 26, 2012 "How come nobody ever wants to play dress up with me?"

Monday September 24, 2012 Ecumenism The fall 40 Days for Life prayer campaign begins this week. Yesterday, kick off events took place world wide signifying the call to 40 days of fasting and praying for pregnant women, their babies and people who work in abortion clinics. These three men of faith took the platform at the Austin kick off event to pray together. What's stirring is that they are pastors of churches from three different Christian denominations, Baptist, Anglican and Roman Catholic. I guess if there is any issue powerful enough to have the holy men of different faiths put aside their differences and pray together, love for human dignity would be that issue. All of Christianity teaches that human beings have a special dignity above that of any other form of life in that the human person is made in the image and likeness of God. Although the understanding of that teaching can vary from one Christian to another, it fundamentally applies to every human being equally. Can you imagine how powerful the Christian voice would be if all Christians agreed on exactly when human identity begins?

Sunday September 23, 2012 Youth Night Activity Can you tell Celine is enjoying the mystery aspect of the activity? (She's the one wearing a blindfold and a grin.) But that's not what compelled me to share this image. This is my good friend, Wendy, helping Anastasia makes sense of the next step in the activity. Wendy is one of the adults in our faith community who works tirelessly to help pass our faith on to the next generation. That value is something that seems to have been lost in today's world. It makes me angry when I hear adults say things like "What's wrong with kids these days?" If you have to ask that question, the answer is probably that you didn't teach them. If you want today's youth to grow into loving and responsible adults, you have to teach them how. Kudos to Wendy and everyone like her who gets it. Nothing matters more than placing the future of the world safely in the hands of the next generation.

Friday September 21, 2012 All Aboard the Magic Bus! Can you believe a trip to Woodstock is considered to be an educational experience? There's a museum there now. This is one of the displays, an actual bus body with a movie in the windshield. Our world has changed so much since 1968... not that I recall much of 1968. Hey, now! I know what you're thinking. I was a toddler!

Thursday September 20, 2012 Hello everybody. Once again, I must apologize for my prolonged absence for our community. I've been a bit moody and have been toggling a headache since the injections in my back Monday. I have a dilema. I need to get Tricia's baby shower invites done but am having trouble pinning her down for a photo. She is leaning toward a jungle animal theme for baby room decor. So I'm starting to do some test shot improvisions using some items that will be part of the baby shower decor. This shot is far from a final shot. I need the actual ultrasound for the frame and I need to do something about the scratch marks on the glass table surface. My other thought is to use the blocks to spell out Tricia on one side and Alex (the daddy) on the other side. It seems like it would be more personalized than "boy". I would probably loose either the shoes or the boxes if I used their names. Otherwise, the image would be a little too busy. Another possibility is to abandon this theme completely and go with a Christmas gift / Advent theme since our little gift is actually due on Christmas day. (Blue really works for this idea since blue is the color of anticipation and/or patience.) Thoughts? Suggestions?

Sunday September 16, 2012 Complexity of the Human Face I've read some studies on the human face over the years. This man's face reminds me of some of those studies. The two sides of his face are so different from each other. One side reveals a man of deep sadness and a very hard life. The other side reveals a man of joy and playfulness. I tend to believe the playful side. When he saw me at the side of the stage with my camera, he turned in my direction and leaned toward me for the shot. I could see that he was on the verge of a smile. It never quite broke through. But I still think the happy side of his face is more prominent. I have surgery (injections in my back) tomorrow (Monday) afternoon. Not sure if I will get a shot posted. We'll see what happens :)

Saturday September 15, 2012 A Servant's Heart This is Rebecca. I was her religious education teacher when she was in 4th grade and again when she was in 6th grade. Since then, her parents have become our friends. She's in the 9th grade now and still she possesses the same gentle soul I saw in her 5 years ago. When all her friends (including our kids) left the festival to go watch a movie, she stayed and helped run the youth group booth. Gentleness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and I see it in Rebecca. I can't begin to tell you how I feel when I see the Holy Spirit at work in my students. I could have chosen a picture of people dancing or eating or laughing at the festival. But I chose this picture because of how Rebecca's character shines in it. Thank you everybody for all of the kind birthday wishes! You all made me feel so loved!

Friday September 14, 2012 Hello everybody. I'm sorry I have been away from SmugMug for a couple of days. I'm posting today rather late. It was my birthday today... and a wonderful day it was. I love where my birthday falls on the calendar. It falls on the feast day of the Exultation of the Cross. Since our parish name is Santa Cruz (Holy Cross), we make a pretty big celebration of the feast day (a festival that starts with Mass in Latin). This handsome little fellow was in the pew this evening just a few feet away from me. He was so taken with the choir. I've been working on image balance with lines and this moment caught my eye because of the vertical line from him to the sisters in the other pew. But I have to admit, the line probably would not have stood out for me if he were an adult rather than a sweet, innocent little child. Tomorrow the celebration moves outside. So I will have my handy dandy camera ready. Hopefully, I will have a treasure or two to share with my friends here in the Dailies Community. Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

Wednesday September 12, 2012 Thank you to all of you who were moved by my tribute to the fallen of September 11, 2001. I saved that image and those words for over a month because I believe that all of us are still deeply moved by the heros of that day. As the years go by, the immediate sense of grief may or may not fade. But our heros never loose their place in the American heart. I hope we never loose our heart. The day we do will be the day we stop writing freedom for our children. Having said all that... today's image is just a cute little critter.

Tuesday September 11, 2012 We can never forget the ink that wrote the pages of our history. Our freedom is written on those pages in the blood of our families and neighbors, some of them soldiers, some of them civilians, all of them Americans. From the ghosts of yesterday emerges the promise of today that tomorrow, our children will still be free. Love is never forced. By definition, it is always freely chosen. To those who ran to the aide of others and never came out. To those who could have escaped but remained to comfort those who could not. To those who chose to be remembered in an empty field rather than a crowded city. You have not been forgotten. You freely chose to love, and today we freely choose to remember your love. For step by step process on the ghosted image, see our August 10th post. There is one added step for this image. I erased the left half of the detailing layer so the ghost only shows on the right side of the image.

Monday September 10, 2012 This is our friend Chris. He just graduated from college in the spring and then entered seminary last month to study for Priesthood. He will be in our prayers in the years ahead through his studies and discernment.

Saturday September 8, 2012 Isn't it funny how we don't appreciate the beauty of our surroundings until they no longer surround us? This is birchbark. We burned it in our fireplace on Christmas Eve every year and as we unwrapped our gifts, we added the wrapping paper to the fire. Imagine the toxins we inhaled! There isn't any birch where I live now and I miss the beautiful white trees and the memory of the Christmas fire is so distant. How I miss birch! I took this shot at the Detroit zoo when we visited my Dad in July. Yes, while the people around me were taking pictures of the animals, I was taking tree "portraits". I think I was supposed to be paying a little more attention to the animal exhibits. But I'm kind of a rule breaker. This is my zoo species of choice.

Thursday September 6, 2012 DJ diCarlo Image Gourmet: The Magazine We will be launching our senior portraits website soon and it will include an online magazine for seniors. This is the model of our 1st cover. Once the magazine contents are complete, the titles on the cover will become hyperlinks to the corresponding articles in the magazine. It will also have a page turning feature for browsing. Here's the thing... This is only a working model. So honest critiques are VERY appreciated. If you have any lay out suggestions or article suggestions, please share them. I'm wanting this magazine to be a big part of our marketing strategy. So it has to impress teens. Our kids already had one suggestion we are considering. They think we should include a fun article like "What to Do if the Zombie Apocalypse Starts During Your Portrait Session". Cute, huh?

Wednesday September 5, 2012 ... And so, as they gathered at the entrance to the zoo, he went over the rules and strategies for Full Contact Hungry Hungry Hippo one last time.

Tuesday September 4, 2012 Jahari, being his charming little self. I think this was right before Uncle David gave him a piece of chocolate cake or something.

Monday September 3, 2012 Taking a break from pouting... Yes, Celine was pouting when I took this picture. She was upset because the boys went to the lake without her. But one of the special things about Celine is that she can smile even when she is angry. I asked her to smile for me and she did. Isn't she the sweetest teenage girl in the world? Of course, immediately after I took the shot, the scowl returned to her face. How I love this girl! Note on yesterday's post: Thank you every body for all of the wonderful comments on our family portrait. BillieJean asked if those are my parents in the center. No. They are Amy's Dad and his wife (Opa and Oma). Amy is David's 1st wife and she died from breast cancer in 2003. The kids had never been to a Leal family reunion and we wanted to make sure they experienced one together before Dominic goes off to college. It was quite an experience for me as well. I was surrounded by Amy's family and every one of them embraced me as one of them. What a privilege I have in being part of this loving family! BTW: Today's picture of Celine is from the day we arrived at Lake Wanaksink for the reunion. Happy Labor Day, everybody! Be safe at the BBQs, okay?

Sunday September 2, 2012 Family This is from the family reunion in New York this summer. I think it would have been fun to try to pose everybody in a creative way. But it was task enough to get everybody in one spot large enough for the whole group. We would have done it outside, but it was raining. [edit by david] Because of some remote control issues with Nikon's CLS in large spaces or long distances, I'd purchased two sets of Yongnuo RF-603 remotes. These have short cables that can plug into a camera and remotely fire the shutter. For this shot, the camera was on a tripod with one of the remotes on top. There were two umbrellas, one on each side side of the camera, remoted by the Yonguo's. And in the back, behind the camera, was another flash (optically slaved) on top of a bookshelf aimed at the cathedral ceiling. The fourth remote was in my hand so I could take the picture (Doh! I just noticed that you can see it - the light is red because the shutter was open.) I've not used the remotes too much yet, but so far, they've worked well. In fact, the other night, I pulled a pair out so Jacci could take the moon shots without disturbing the camera on the triopd. (Using the self time for those shots, even at two sections is a pain...) I think eventually I want to get at least another pair.

Saturday September 1, 2012 The moon once seemed so far away. Goodnight and goodbye to a man who spent the days of his life changing worlds. Our night light has never been so blue as on the night of his burial. (Note: I am not sure if "Mr." is the proper title for Neil Armstrong. I suspect not. But I have been unsuccessful in finding reference to an official title for him. Everything seems to refer to him with no title other than his name.)

Friday August 31, 2012 When I met my son, Andrew, he was 8 years old and weighed 105 pounds. Now, he's 16 and a pretty solid rock of muscle. It's not really anything I've done. He worked hard all the way up to earning his 2nd degree black belt. What an amazing adventure it has been watching him grow into the outstanding young man he has become. He lost his 1st Mom to breast cancer when he was 7. He wasn't thrilled about the new woman in his life. Can you blame him? I've driven him nuts with all my "mothering". Yet every night for the past 7 1/2 years, he has blessed me by tracing a Cross on my forehead before he went to bed. How rich I am to have this young man for a son! Update: Answering Julienne's question: I married Andrew's Dad in October, 2004. We were both widows with children. [Update 2 and edit by david] We're not quite a Brady Bunch because we have the wrong gender mix. We both had three children each, having six between us. Each set has two older boys and a younger girl, and the sets are separated by 6 months such that the youngest girl of Jacci's set is 6 months older than the oldest boy of my set.

Thursday August 30, 2012 The Crushed in Spirit This was just a simple snapshot. Jasmine had just gotten out of the pool and dropped her goggles to the ground, annoyed because Julia and Jeanette had teamed up against her. The three of them are identical triplets and absolutely love being together, but sometimes, there are hurt feelings when somebody feels left out. This shot melted my heart because of the way her eyebrows tell the story of her hurt feelings. I also kind of like the way the mark from the goggles is still visible at the bridge of her nose. Poor Jasmine. Don't worry, though... Her beautiful smile returned when the pizza came out a few minutes later.

Wednesday August 29, 2012 Hello friends :) I'm sorry I have been largely absent for the past couple of weeks. I've been pretty busy and not feeling particularly well. This is from a recent youth night at our church. The theme of the night was "The Body of Christ" and my friend, Wendy and I were responsible for planning a couple of activities to go along with the talk. This is one of the activities we planned. We broke the teens into groups of 5 and wrote letters on their hands and feet. (Don't worry... We used washable markers.) The letters spelled out the words "The Body of Christ". Then we gave them words and they had to work together as "one body" to spell these words. As you can see, the activity was a hit. The tie breaker word was really fun. The top two teams were given a "hint" and had to figure out the word. The hint was "This 8 -letter word describes somebody who sings at church." The answer was "choirboy" and it took them a little while to get it. It amazes me to watch this group of teens. Two of the kids on this teem were my students when I taught 4th grade R.E. Now they are in the high school group. I guess the longer you give your heart to the youth of your community, the more you understand your investment in them and the more you want to pour out your heart into their future.

Thursday August 23, 2012 I was looking for something to process and post for a daily and I ran into this little gem... I hadn't noticed when I took the shot that most of the people in the background are girls. Suddenly, the sinister look takes on a whole new meaning. I believe he plans to woo them with his t-shirt.

Wednesday August 22, 2012 Father of the Bride To Be One day, this moment will be a faded memory and the vivid image that will stand in its place is that of a father giving away his little girl. Childhood is so precious.

Monday August 20, 2012 Anticipation The other day, when I posted Young Texans in Love, Our friend, Jean Yves (Ifocus) had a wonderful suggestion that I aim for a kissing shot with the lips barely touching for an anticipatory feeling. Awesome suggestion! While I do not have a shot in this engagement shoot with lips barely touching, I do have this one with lips about to touch. This shot was a processing challenge because there was a bright yellow pedestrian crossing signal on the street corner and it popped up right behind his shoulder and her hand. Yuk! It was ugly and so distracting. But, it is gone now because Jean-Yves' suggestion inspired me to tackle the challenge. I tell teens I am a digital dermatologist. I guess I can tell young couples I am a digital landscaper, too. (Best viewed in X3 to see the genuine romantic facial expression.) I'm sure many of my friends here in the community have noticed that I lean toward B&W for emotional shots. I nearly always provide our customers with a color version as well. But when I put the two versions side by side, I am usually more compelled by the timeless emotions conveyed in the B&W versions. I'm wondering how other photographers feel about emotion conveyed by color or its absence. Post Note: Harsh, thanks for the suggestion to remove the line from the curb. I will definitely fix that since we haven't presented this image to the couple yet. Your suggestion will make the presentation all the better!

Sunday August 19, 2012 "My Cheeto!" How I wish Mena were more in focus. There wasn't any time to adjust the camera settings. It was a split second expression and then it was over and the Cheeto was gone. But I'm still laughing. Childhood is so precious.

Saturday August 18, 2012 Young Texans in Love Aren't they a beautiful couple? The wedding is almost a year away. We had so much fun shooting their engagement portraits on campus at their alma mater, UT. That's the Texas State Capital in the background. When we turned around and shot in the other direction, we had the famous UT Watchtower in the background.

Happy Birthday Tricia! Thursday August 16, 2012 Today, my oldest little girl is 19 years old. I have never known more of a survivor than this one. I joke on FaceBook about how she tried to kill me 19 years ago today, and she takes it in good humor. Tricia came into this world with a ruptured placenta and she didn't breath right away. A room full of people waited on bated breath for Tricia's first breath. In truth, it's a miracle either one of us is here today to celebrate any birthdays at all. For the first five years, Tricia was totally a Daddy's girl. When Tricia didn't sleep, neither did Daddy. There were a lot of "Nick at Night" nights for the two of them. But Daddy was pretty sick, needed a heart transplant and was too sick to get on the transplant list. One night, when Tricia was five, I asked her as I tucked her in, "Will you be okay if Daddy goes to heaven soon?" She thought for a few seconds, "Hmmmm... yeah". Some moments are etched in a mother's heart forever. Her Daddy died the next night. We call that day, his "birthday into heaven", and sometimes we even have a cake and sing happy birthday to him on the anniversary of his passing. In fact, Tricia helped pick his headstone which reads, "Born into eternal life". But life hasn't been just a bunch of sorrows for Tricia. When she was 13, she was a district and state champion in her sport, gymnastics. She has worked for her spending money since she was fifteen and she finished high school with several college credits already in her pocket. And now... the big news... drum roll, please... Tricia is giving us a grandson, due Christmas day. I chose this picture for today because of the silly expressions and the festive attire. Tricia is on the left with the multicolor lei and her friend Michelle is on the right in the pink lei. I took this shot before prom last year. Happy birthday, Tricia! Life is such an adventure with you. I can barely wait to see what you have in store for me next!

Wednesday August 15, 2012 The few days we were in Michigan this summer happened to also be the weekend of the Farmington Founders' Day festival. I remember enjoying this festival when I was a little girl. It's the town in which I grew up. The town square where the festival is held each year holds a great number of my childhood memories. As I was meandering through the festival enjoying the memories, I came across a garden of place settings. Of course, I was instantly reminded of our SmugMug friend, Godschild. Now, I know that Godschild would have done an SOOC of this and it would have been amazing. But I had to do something that reflected both my walk through yesteryear and the warmth of today's friendships. So I took the shot and added a little grain, stained the edges and tweaked the color a little for a more vintage feel. Godschild, I just want you to know that you have such a warm and timeless personality that it makes me smile to see things that remind me of you.

Tuesday August 14, 2012 Radiant Joy This is Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio and Fr. John. I wish I could tell you Fr. John's full name. He made a guest appearance Saturday at Mass and I did not understand the full pronunciation of his name when he was introduced. I believe he is from someplace in Africa. When he spoke, he had a gorgeous accent, full of both culture and compassion. The Archbishop is originally from Mexico. I met him earlier this year when he sat a few seats from David and me at the screening of "For Greater Glory". What a beautiful soul he is, so gentle and joyful, despite the many atrocities he has witnessed in his life. I took this shot during the Gospel proclamation. When I was going through the pictures from Saturday, this one caught my eye because of Fr. John and the banner behind him. It's why I took the shot. But on my computer, the radiance is even stronger than it was in my camera.

Monday August 13, 2012 Two Flags at Six-Flags My friend, Morag and I were in the water park part of the amusement park when I noticed the picture perfect view of the flags at the entrance. It took some patience to wait for just these two flags to wave while the others rested. I wanted to get a shot with a car of screaming people on rails AND the two flags. But I could have spent the whole day waiting for that shot since there really wasn't much wind. I decided against waiting for the perfect storm. I'll take my two flags at Six-Flags.

Sunday August 12, 2012 Get Holy or Die Trying! Have you ever wondered what God hears when a teenager prays? What does it look like to Him? Their lives are so turbulent and often, their decisions seem so irrational. Just when a teen thinks he has the world figured out, everything changes and he has to rethink all of it. Most of the time, he forgets to ask God for direction. And when he does, he usually doesn't listen for the answer. But every once in a while, it happens... and it is so amazing to watch. This is far from a flawless photo. But because this young man grabbed my heart in that moment, I had to share. This is what it is to be "down in Adoration falling". I'm moved by his faith and so I'm sharing my flawed photo of a perfect moment :) Note: This took place in a popular amusement park in San Antonio as the temperature peaked for the day at 104 degrees. There were about 1600 teens in attendance, praying together. I saw a group of teens wearing a shirt that read " Get holy or die trying". I thought it was pretty fitting for the day. The heat was enough to kill, but I could not have spent my day in a better way.

Saturday August 11, 2012 This is Chelsea Florence. She opened for The Thirsting last Friday. While the main band was playing, she asked me about how to get pictures for her own use. Of course, I'm thrilled to give them to her. So we started chatting. Turns out, she and I went to the same all girls high school in Michigan... well, not at the same time. I was there in 1979-80, just for 9th grade. Then I moved and went to five more schools before graduating in Arizona in 1983. (I moved a few times.) Chelsea graduated at Mercy. She's 27. So that would mean she was there from 1999 to 2003. I know. I'm kind of babbling. But Chelsea is the first person from Mercy I have run in to in my adult life. I haven't thought about that place in years. I guess in a sense, she is a kind of younger sister. So, what did our beginnings at Mercy High School do for us? I guess it instilled a love for youth ministry. She inspires youth with her music and I minister to them through event planning and religious education. Isn't it funny that we started out in the same institution so many years apart and our paths would cross for just this brief moment because that institution instilled one thing in both of us? Maybe that's why the women who come from all girls schools have a unique bond with each other. Having said all that... I'm off to take six teens to an amusement park for an end of summer event. Have an awesome Saturday, everybody!

Friday August 10, 2012 Ghost of Butterflies Past Explained Happy Friday, everybody! Thank you for all of the comments and questions on yesterday's post. Today, I thought I'd share with you the process of making it. Tile 1: The original image Tile 2: The original image with the detail mask over it. (This is a Kubota action called Enter the Dragon Old World Color) Tile 3: The mask has been flipped and the background layer (along with the premask layer) has been hidden so you can see what the mask looks like by itself. It is somewhat transparent and lets some details from anything beneath it show through. Tile 4: The final image with all the layers showing. I actually discovered this process accidentally on another image. But the image is a little too stirring to share just yet. I am saving that image for a specific day.

Thursday August 9, 2012 Ghost of Butterflies Past This was an experiment. The original shot was at a wall at Antietam Battlefield. After creating a detail enhancing mask on the image, I horizontally flipped just the mask. On the "critique discussion" that is circulating in the community: Count me "in". I absolutely love the idea of a network of artists helping each other grow. I enjoy reading compliments on my images. But what I really want to know is what I did right that I should keep doing, what I did wrong that I should stop doing and things that I might consider for artistic purposes (variations of what I've done). If I know that you are interested in the same nature of comments on your images, I will do my best to give you that. Another concept that i think helps with artistic growth is asking questions. I've done this with some of you and I hope that you feel free enough to ask me questions as well. Also, I think we should keep in mind that not every critique is meant to specifically improve the quality of an image. More often than not, when I critique something, I'm lending a different perspective, not a suggestion for improvement. Having said this, I'm excited. I think if this approach catches with enough of us, we all have the power to mold and form each other as artists :)