I never saw an exceptionally good artist who didn't have his/her ups & downs

Photography, unlike most other forms of creative expression, is unique in that we can practise it spontaneously. Carrying a camera opens us to changing our plans because the light has changed. It encourages us to think visually.

As @trevmar advised me:

Time to smile again Goanna. You are not doomed. Pick up your cameras, go and take some photos of children enjoying themselves. Then forget those silly doomsayers, and start smiling again... from http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/148503#Comment_148503

[As it happens, I did not have the cholesterol blues at the time, nor am I sure that trevmar was not speaking tongue-in-cheek]..

Still, it was good advice. In fact, carrying my camera is exactly what I've found myself doing more and more. I personally find I tend to plan video shots a little too much (I always shoot series of editable takes), so I cannot be as spontaneous as when I take stills. I find I don't need any ulterior motive or plans to exhibit; more and more I can photograph friends and family without them paying much attention to the lens. My audience for these stills is simply my family and friends, the same as for anybody else.

I live in a place of great natural beauty and get a lot of satisfaction from the effects of sunlight on rocks, translucence through leaves, or sunrises.

So, I'll just echo trevmar's advice and say keep your battery charged, a spare SD and carry a camera - even if it's just a phone.

I've just hacked my GH2 with the Apocalypse Now patch (the smooth one if I recall correctly) and it's absolutely fantastic. I'm an amateur and I'm still learning everything, but the colours and details are great. I've found that the High Bit Rate setting is better than the 24P but with both I have some major issues with what I think is moiring. It's objects mainly with straight edges such as books, or repetitive patterns such as pillows that seem to kind of pulse and flicker.

I've read a fair bit around the site to try and adjust the settings to smooth and reduce things by -2 etc, but I'm finding that it just can't handle these kinds of images without pulsing.

Is there any work arounds or things that I'm missing as an amateur, and if not, are there alternative patches that have tackled these kinds of problems whilst retaining the brilliant quality?

Thanks in advance,

IS2