DrBen

You make me feel very old. They were indeed circular. My family had one in the late 1940s. I didn’t like it because I wanted the screen to be rectangular, like a movie theater screen.

Chelsea and Tony Northrup recently published a Picture This! podcast that discusses the future of DSLRs versus mirrorless. Tony thinks the long-term future of mirrorless is not nearly as rosy as many think. The general decline in DSL photograpy vs. cell phone photography makes the switch to mirrorless increasingly difficult for manufacturers to sustain. On the other hand, the enormous number of DSLR bodies already in use makes investments in lenses and accessories for the DSLR market financially viable.

fair (adj.) Old English fæger "pleasing to the sight (of persons and body features, also of objects, places, etc.); beautiful, handsome, attractive," of weather, "bright, clear, pleasant; not rainy," also in late Old English "morally good," from Proto-Germanic *fagraz (source also of Old Saxon fagar, Old Norse fagr, Swedish fager, Old High German fagar "beautiful," Gothic fagrs"fit"), perhaps from PIE *pek- (1) "to make pretty" (source also of Lithuanian puošiu "I decorate"). The meaning in reference to weather preserves the oldest sense "suitable, agreeable" (opposed to foul (adj.)). Of the main modern senses of the word, that of "light of complexion or color of hair and eyes, not dusky or sallow" (of persons) is from c. 1200, faire, contrasted to browne and reflecting tastes in beauty. From early 13c. as "according with propriety; according with justice," hence "equitable, impartial, just, free from bias" (mid-14c.). Of wind, "not excessive; favorable for a ship's passage," from late 14c. Of handwriting from 1690s. From c. 1300 as "promising good fortune, auspicious." Also from c. 1300 as "above average, considerable, sizable." From 1860 as "comparatively good." The sporting senses (fair ball, fair catch, etc.) began to appear in 1856. Fair play is from 1590s but not originally in sports. Fair-haired in the figurative sense of "darling, favorite" is from 1909. First record of fair-weather friends is from 1736 (in a letter from Pope published that year, written in 1730). The fair sex "women" is from 1660s, from the "beautiful" sense (fair as a noun meaning "a woman" is from early 15c.). Fair game "legitimate target" is from 1776, from hunting.

How soon we forget! You leave your itinerary with your boss. He calls you at the hotel where you are. If you are out, the hotel switchboard person will take the message and inform you. If you have not yet arrived, the message will be clipped to your reservation folio and handed to you when you check in. You may instead be reached at a client’s office. Some variations may involve teletype, telegram or fax. If time will allow, you tell your boss to send a letter addressed to you at a hotel or at General Delivery, Main Post Office, City where you will ask for your mail. These methods were all still in use in the late 1970s, when I was working as a desk clerk at the Hôtel Château Frontenac in Québec, Canada. Don’t you remember the early TV ads for Phillip Morris cigarettes with the hotel bellboy walking around the lobby shouting “Call for Phillip Morris”? It was a clever play on words alluding to the way hotel clients sometimes received messages. “I blinked my eyes and in an instant, decades had passed.” ― John Mark Green

Could interest people interested in the history of photography, archeology, anthropology, cultural trands, etc. I was 16 in 1968 and a regular reader of MP, so for me, it’s nostalgia. “What’s past is prologue.” —Shakespeare (“The Tempest”) In contemporary use, the phrase stands for the idea that history sets the context for the present.

US$38.26 may seem expensive, but the ISO and most national standards organizations depend on sales of their standards to fund their work. If you are near a university or engineering school, you may find a copy to consult. If your local library participates in the interlibrary loan system, they may be able to get a copy for you to read.

Your 50% definition is too restrictive. A physician who is semi-retired and who earns only 25% of his usual income from medical fees is still a professional. Words have both specific meanings and general meanings. In the context of this discussion, the general meaning applies because we want to differentiate between amateur (hobbyist) and professional photography. In an occupationsl context, whether a photographer works full-time, part-time or ocassionally, the following definition of “professional” applies: A person who practices an art, a sport or any other activity for the purpose of earning money, in opposition to a person who is motivated by personal pleasure and who does not thereby derive any income.

There sure are a lot of hypercritics in this discussion. The people got good value for a good price. As an old fogey myself, I suspect the level of dissatisfaction expressed by the subjects is LOW for such a group of senior curmudgeons. The photographer, in less than ideal conditions, managed to get a satisfactory group shot of 70 people—no closed eyes, no reflections off glasses, no hidden heads, no yawns, etc. For $10, you don’t get and you shouldn’t expect Annie Leibovitz results. Moderator Note: Image removed. Terms and Conditions of Use

As a translator/linguist, I think it's important to remember that languages (all of them) are inherently arbitrary. Thus, spelling and pronunciation of any particular language can vary from place to place and from time to time. Nikon Corporation (株式会社ニコン Kabushiki-gaisha Nikon) In Japanese, people say (more or less) "knee-kwan", but in English-speaking countries, there are two main pronunciations, "knee-con" (UK) and "nigh-con" (US). We see a similar distinction between British and American English for the name Putin. Americans say "poo-tin"; Brits say "pew-tin". So, for Putin, the Americans are closer to the Russian pronunciation and for Nikon, the Brits are closer to the Japanese pronunciation. All language choices are matters of established usage--which over time often changes. A survey conducted in the US asked: “How do you pronounce marry / merry / Mary?” All 3 are the same (56.88%) All 3 are different (17.34%) Mary and merry are the same; marry is different (8.97%) Merry and marry are the same; Mary is different (0.96%) Mary and marry are the same; merry is different (15.84%) Often the difference is regional. None of those pronunciations is wrong.

Works for me and everyone else in Canada--even in Québec.

If you're as old as me, you may remember Jayne Mansfield, another big-breasted, blonde bombshell. She didn't make porn movies, which were illegal at that time (late 1950s, early 1960s) but she did have a movie career (like Marilyn Monroe) and like Strormy Daniels, Jayne played the seedy nightclub-mens club entertainment circuit; she was a Playboy magazine favorite. And both Stormy and Jayne had or were rumored to have had affairs with presidents, Jayne with JFK (and his brother Bobby) and Stormy with Trump. Neither are my cup of tea, but some men fall into the trap laid by BBWs like Stormy and Jayne. Like Oscar Wilde said, "Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.”

Vogue magazine’s September issue will soon be on newstands. It has a formal portrait of one of America’s Best Undressed people—Stormy Daniels. Guess who the photographer is.... Give up? It’s none other than...drum roll...Annie Leibovitz. I just thought you fashionistas would want to know. See the photo here: Stormy Daniels Isn’t Backing Down

I know this is an old thread (2003), but if anyone is still looking for glass bottles for developer, etc., you can get Boston Round Amber bottles in various sizes at: www.uline.com Anything from 1 quart down to 2 oz. by the case only, but 1 quart bottles are $2.50 each in a case of 12, with caps. They also stock thousands of other items for packaging, materials handling, warehousing, safety, etc.

This works as described. To add a cover photo, the photo must by one of the photos in your gallery. Since my gallery was empty, when I clicked on add new cover photo, the message said you have no photos. I added the same photo that Norman used. Then I was able to use that image in add cover photo. This entire thread is frustrating. It began as a question about a profile photo (forum avatar) and turned into a cover photo discussion and the OP wanted to “change” it. When others explained that changing, removing, editing, etc. either photo required deleting the active photo and replacing it with a modified version or a different photo, the OP said he did not want to delete the current photo. He may know what he wants, but I still haven’t figured it out. o_O