Shooting Star Tree Orchid (neither macro nor close-up)

[JBW]

Thus

The next group of blossoms I'll give it a shot

[Manfred M]

I'm sorry Brian, having thought about what you have written for a day or so, let me give you my thoughts on it.

Manfred, From when I first joined this group you have always believed in your own inerrancey.

No Brian - I have never believed that. Purely from a photography standpoint, I spend a lot of time taking courses, attending workshops, reading / studying the subject and above all shooting and post processing my work. That to me suggests that I still have have lots to learn, even though I have a lot more training, knowledge and experience than many photographers.

I am sometimes wrong and when I am, I will be the first to admit my mistake.

You knew that I needed to do editing by the numbers because my MS would not allow me to do it any other way.

I am not sure what that means, but I spend a lot of time "working by the numbers too". I always have. In Photoshop, the Info panel is something I have open all the time, looking at the "numbers".

You knew that I would never be able to focus manually or move my tripod with the required delicacy. You knew that I did not have the coordination to use a three way pan and tilt tripod. Now you know what path I must walk to become a better photographer.

Truth be told you know nothing about my limitations physical, educational or mental.

Brian - I thankfully do not have MS. I have a good friend who has MS and one of my wife's cousins has MS too. So I have seen what the disease does first hand and understand some of the physical,and physiological issues that you are facing.

Looking at some great photographers; Steven McCurry has significant nerve damage in his right hand that I believe is a result of a serious childhood injury. He cannot hold a camera properly and has had his cameras fitted with a holding device to partially overcome that disability. He holds his camera in his right hand, using an assistive device and operates it with his left hand and somehow manages to create iconic images in spite of his disability. Joel Grimes is colourblind and still manages to produce world-class colour images.

I have had mobility issues since I was a child and have used a stick or cane for support for decades. The reason I prefer a backpack to a traditional camera bag because I need my hands and arms to help me walk. I fully understand that this not nearly in the class of what you need to get around, but I do have a lot of experience with mobility issues too. There are some types of photography I do not attempt very often because of physical limitations. People that look at and judge my work do not care that I have physical limitations and my work is judged using the same standards as are applied to others.

And of course you know all this because of your superior education and experience.

If you ever get the chance, I would suggest you might want to read Tom Nicol's book; "The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters". His book covers off your view in that sentence very well.

I make no apologies for having both education, expertise and experience.

I am more than a little tired of your abuse.

In that case, please instances of what I have written that are incorrect or inappropriate and more importantly tell the specifics of where I am wrong. If you can't do that, perhaps it is not abuse.

I have tried to use the 'ignore' option but I can't because you are a moderator.

You don't need an ignore option to ignore what I have written.

So how about you ignore my postings and save us both unneeded aggravation.

When you post in a forum that is dedicated to comments, I find it amusing that you don't want comments from certain individuals. CiC is a learning forum and comments are read by others as well as part of the learning experience. People learn just as much from reading comments on work of others than work that they do themselves, so I will cannot make any commitments that I will not comment on your work.

It seems to me that you have no issues at all when I tell you that you have done something well, but do have an issue when I point out an issue with an image of yours. I have a friend who is a well regarded photographer who is a photography mentor and brand ambassador to a number of well known photographic equipment companies. He runs an educational website and one of the first things he tells the people is that his site is not there to provide "Like". He suggests that Facebook is a good alternative if that is your primary reason for posting your work.

[JBW]

I'm sorry Brian, having thought about what you have written for a day or so, let me give you my thoughts on it.
.

Manfred, people whose opinion I respect have told me that I have misunderstood your posts. Therefore you have my apology. They have also told me that your criticisms might help me take my shooting to the next level. So please do continue to voice your opinions.

There are however two caveats:

(1) leave my M.S. out of the discussion.
(2) Buddha told his followers to sift his teachings through a fine filter to find what worked for them. I'll be doing the same with any teachings you care to share.

Brian