h_j7

<p>Also, one other thing to consider, like Mr. Kahn pointed out, "there may be folks posting in the gallery who have no other outlet for thier creativity, good or bad."<br>

And, to take it one step further, those same folks could possibly not care at all what you, or anyone else for that matter, thinks about the images they post. Just because you think an image is "boring" doesn't necessarily make it so. Feel free to come out of your ivory tower every once and a while. A breath of fresh air may do you some good.<br>

I rarely browse through the galleries anyway so I am not one to judge what constitutes a good or bad image. We all started somewhere. We ALL still take bad photos from time to time. We also get lucky every now and again and snap that perfect image. YOUR perception of perfect might be totally different than mine when it comes to photography. To each his own I guess.</p>

<p>Agreed! I didn't intend to spark a debate on the artistic, (or lack thereof), value of photography. Just wanted to jot down a few thoughts that occurred to me while digging through the trove of images here and on other sites. I then thought of the LITERALLY millions of photographs that get snapped each day of people, places, and things that we will never see.</p>

<p>I just thought it was interesting and something to ponder. Now, where is my damn teleporter! :-)</p>

<p>So, Julie, what you're saying is that if someone snaps a photo of...let's say...thier wife/husband/significant someone...then posts it on this site, that we are NOT seeing an image of someone that person loves?<br>

I could care less about a "teleporter" or some other Star Trek gizmo that would allow me to to physically be wherever and whenever I wanted to. The moment in time/space when the shutter is released to capture an image that "somebody else" deems is worthy of being photographed is what I am referring to. Whether that person is standing on some Himalayan mountaintop or in the bathroom of thier 250 sq ft flat. They allow us a tiny glimpse into thier world.<br>

So, YES, in a photograph, you see ALL of those things and then some!</p>

<p>...simply put, AMAZING!<br />I will be 44 years old this coming November. I have only been "in to" photography for the past few years and I still have a loooong way to go. I am currently working as an IT contractor in Afghanistan. I am from Houston, Texas.<br />The reason for my opening statement is that I realized that photography can open up the rest of the world to us all. As I sit here browsing through the images on this site and others I can't help but imagine what it must be like to be standing in Paris or Rome or WHEREVER some of these images were taken. We get to see peoples kids, thier dogs, cats, what they ate, what beer they drink, and who they love. We get to see some of the most artistic expressions ever captured digitally or on film. We also see some of the most rudimentary images of peoples feet, bad hair days, and everything in between!<br />Photography can capture peoples emotions for the whole world to see. It can make us remember things we had thought we had forgotten. In an instant it can bring us to a specifc point in time. Whether that point was yesterday or 20 years ago, photography can do that! I catch myself looking through these images and then realize how small we really are in the grand scheme of things.<br />To me, anyway, that is what photography is.</p>

<p>I'm determined to make this work! :)</p>

<p><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5257/5499127159_6578b111c3_z.jpg" alt="Salt Crystals" width="640" height="428" /></p>

<p>This will be my first ever entry. I'll try to make it work!<br>

D60, ISO 400, f4, 20 second exposure</p>

<p><a title="Bunker Stars by T.B0ne, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5057/5510632975_a62e54696d_z.jpg" alt="Bunker Stars" width="640" height="428" /></a></p>