How time flies

Wow, my four days off have disappeared very quickly. They were very "productive"...I was able to sleep in, take pictures and read (both for pleasure and catch-up on some reading for work), while still having time to sort, process and upload pictures to the web.

In the last Cayman Islands' camera club, Paul Aiken, a new club member and an accomplished photographer strongly recommended that members start uploading their pictures to Flickr for others to comment on. He believes, and I agree, that one only improves when they receive feedback. As I researched Flickr, I found a number of groups that hold "contests". I joined two: fotocompetition and challenge you. While neither of these verbally provide you with direct feedback, you quickly learn whether your picture is liked and by how many when the voting starts.

Let me forewarn you, this becomes very addicted for us competitive types ;-) I have had a few winners, including:



and



And yes, I have managed to play with the 5D Mark II:





The last picture was taken at a private residence which must have spent 10's of thousands of dollars on Christmas displays and lights. I have more pictures here.