Given the lack of Flickr watermarking for image display and the apparent everything-is-free-on-the-Internet attitude of so many - people have downloaded my work and re-uploaded it to their photostreams, and otherwise used my work without permission or even credit - I'm increasingly feeling protective about my work and am using watermarking and/or uploading only lowest resolution; alas, I often don't upload my best work to Flickr.

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Just because I show up with good camera gear and take some quality images, I wish people wouldn't somehow feel entitled to assume free access to my photographs, *especially* if they failed to think ahead, or were simply too cheap to hire a photographer for the event.

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Photo buff since 1970s (was loyal Minolta SRT user since high school photography class); high school yearbook photo editor in my senior year. Was early digicam adopter in late 90s ($600 Casio QV-10(?), had crappy and remarkably unreliable Mac software) but took a break until around 2005, when I got a cheap $80, no-name camera.

Currently using mainly Kodak Z712 (12x, IS) "SLR-like" compact, and Canon 7D, Pentax K-5, K20D and K100D (infrared) DSLRs, as well as Sony HX-100V for its powerful 30x zoom and GPS capabilities.

An admitted camera/lens junkie, having fun exploring various creative aspects of my gear collection, especially with:

- Pentax 10-17mm fisheye zoom; would never trade fixed focal length for zoom capabilities, especially for zoomburst shots - way too cool!

- super-sharp Sigma 70-300mm APO DG macro, excellent for reasonably close wildlife shots (e.g. ground squirrels), as well as plant and insect macro work; sharper than any Canon L lens I have (or have used)!

- cheap but fun 500mm and 800mm f8 mirror lenses for their fantastic distance-compression and interesting doughnut bokeh (disliked, if not loathed, by some) opportunities; limited use, but inexpensive and fun creative tool

- infrared-only Canon PowerShot G2 for fun landscape work, especially with wide-angle adapter

- HDRI (K20D, K10D makes exposure bracketing so very easy but not as easy as K-5 in-camera HDR); using Photomatix Pro Mac software

- multi-exposure capabilities of Pentax DSLRs can be quite handy

Expect to join camera toss club one of these days when I get a suitable (already damaged?) camera (amazing how high eBayers will bid for *busted* stuff).

Alas, my huge iPhoto Library is stressing the limits of iPhoto 8, which beachballs a heck of a lot, making the app almost unusable, and crashes far too often, making me worry about corrupting my data. Perhaps iPhoto 9 sucks less, but it seems I may be forced to transition to Apple's Aperture.

Latvian in Boulder County, Colorado, USA