Thank you very much for the compliments. *blushes*

NEVER EVER think your photography is 'bad' just because it isn't as good as someone else's!!!!!

You have to remember even the people who you admire their shots the most, have people who they also look up to as having 'better' shots and yet even those people have people who they look up to......etc etc.

We all started somewhere, no one is just born with all the knowledge to make perfect pictures, it's a learning process that requires practice, and with that LOTS and LOTS of 'bad' shots.

If you think some of the stuff I post are 'great' pix, you should have seen some of the stuff I shot a few months ago while learning off camera lighting (still learning but getting better), or even the stuff I shot back in the early 90's when I got my first SLR. Some of those are so bad I had to circle the subject in some shots write a caption in the photo albums so people would know what I took pix of! No joke!

About the only time I ever get riled up about 'bad' shots is when the person is billing themselves as a 'professional' or an 'expert' in a certain area and from the pix they certainly have ALOT to learn. Not so great shots from someone learning is one thing, but not so great shots from a paid wedding/portrait photographer is quite another.

Nope never seen a toaster like that. I've spent years as a packrat and am now trying to declutter from under all that 'stuff' so I'm downsizing my stuff.

Let us know what the camera shop says about that old camera. I'd be curious as I don't know anything to speak of about that brand.

If you sell that old camera for any amount of money, maybe you'd want one of these?
http://www.lumiquest.com/products/softscreen.htm
I have one I keep in my camera bag for quick shots when I don't have time/energy to drag out the big flashes.