Many thanks to all of you for sharing your wisdom and experience, from which I have received far more than I could ever begin to give. Best wishes for hope and peace in the holiday season and new year.

-- Tom Perkins (Thomas1592@msn.com), December 24, 2001

Answers

I would like to add my best wishes to all. This is a great family and a treasure for all who strive for the best in photography. Thank you all for your help, advice, challanges and for making my life more interesting. Cheers and good health for the comming year.

-- Jorge Gasteazoro (jorgegm58@prodigy.net.mx), December 24, 2001.

Hi to all

Mery christmas and a happy new year! With many wonderfull shoots with nice shadows and light! Peace for hole mankind! Cheers, Armin and my wife Anita!

-- Armin Seeholzer (armin.seeholzer@smile.ch), December 24, 2001.

This forum for me has been bottom line great, it's kept me young and kept me on my toes, and it helped me to make informed choices in LF.

Stephen Willard was kind enough to send me j-pegs of Hershey, the llama/friend/camera assistant, and he looks great and ready for action. 'Keep on truckin' Hershey, and Happy Holidays to all.

Jonathan and Rennae Brewer

-- Jonathan Brewer (lifestories@earthlink.net), December 24, 2001.

Merci à tous des conseils sur ce forum...Thanks to you all on advices on this board... Joyeux Noel et Bonne Année a tout le monde....Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to eveyrbody...

-- dan n. (dan@egmail.com), December 24, 2001.

I would like to add my best wishes and a Merry Christmas to all on the forum. The forum has become a kind of extended family, a family who loves and helps preserve LF photography.

Hope all have a great holiday and a great coming year.

Merry Christmas,

-- Doug Paramore (Dougmary@alaweb.com), December 24, 2001.

Happy holiday's to all of you!

-- Jim Billups (jim@jimbillups.com), December 24, 2001.

And a Merry Christmas back to all of you and your families.

Andy Biggs

-- Andy Biggs (abiggs@tvmcapital.com), December 24, 2001.

All the best to everyone this holiday season and good light in the new year.

-- David Goldfarb (dgoldfarb@barnard.edu), December 24, 2001.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! Thanks for all your help.

-- Wayne Crider (waynecrider@hotmail.com), December 24, 2001.

I wish you everything you wish yourselves this Christmas,

At this special time of the year, particularly in a year when so many will grieve for loved-ones absent due to the hostile acts of man in may nations, let's all gladly embrace the notion of "Peace On Earth, Good Will Toward Men". All men; whoever and wherever they may be.

It's already 08:00 am Christmas Day here in Sydney. Cloudless sunshine and temperatures heading to the mid 30's (Celsius). Yesterday Brisbane had temperatures in the 40's and the radio news has just announced the deaths of 5 people from heat exhaustion there.

Our friends in Europe are enduring a freezing cold snap. Arafat is denied passage to Bethlehem. Afghanistan is settling to the hope of a new peace (even if militarily enforced). Argentina struggles with poverty. Starving homeless refugees traverse the planet in quest of shelter and safety. And rosy cheeked children glow with anticipation and excitement as they unwrap sumptuously wrapped gifts beneath the gaze of the angel atop the tree.

With all its joys and sorrows, blessings and curses, horrors and delights this is an unpredictable, exhilarating and devasting world. But it's the only one we've got. Why do we still make a botch of it?

We, as photographers, 'draw with light' in an on-going effort to convey our appreciation, interpratation and adoration of those contrasts. We, like all other life on this little blue orb would be nothing without light - light which we often take for granted. Let's use our light wisely to enlighten, educate and amuse in the hope that, like music, photography might be a unifying language that is unaware of the boundaries of language, custom or nationality. An opportunity for us to share our thoughts with all men; whoever and wherever they may be.

"And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." (St.John 1: v5)

Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.

Walter Glover

-- Walter Glover (walterg@netaus.net.au), December 24, 2001.

It's almost 12pm in Paris, France, so Merry Christmas to all of you!! With my best wishes for a very Happy, sunny, healthy new year. Many thanks for sharing your knowledge with the LF beginners. --Daniel Luu Van Lang

-- Daniel Luu Van Lang (daniel.luu@worldonline.fr), December 24, 2001.

A simple THANK YOU, to all who have helped me in my endeavor to keep an open mind and never stop learning. I would also like to say it has been an amazing pleasure to correspond with many of you regarding LF. Here's wishing all a Happy Holiday and a Peaceful New Year.

Sincerely,

Mac

-- R.L.(Mac) McDonald (rmacsteam@aol.com), December 24, 2001.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Good Light in the coming year to everybody on the Forum! Special thanks to all of you who helped us get into large format photography. Since we had no previous experience or contacts in LF, we literally could not have done it without you. We hope that we can repay our debt by helping others discover the joys of LF and membership in our community.

Nick and Marilyn

-- Nick Jones (nfjones@stargate.net), December 24, 2001.

Peace on earth, goodwill to all! My prayers are with those lost during this terrible year...may our future be brighter and safer.

Merry Christmas,

John Bailey

-- John Bailey (Mdwphoto@aol.com), December 24, 2001.

Thanks to all...Merry Christmas and best wishes for the new year. Steve

-- Steve Clark (agno3@eesc.com), December 25, 2001.

It has been a joy to be part of this community. Long life to the LF Forum and Merry Christmas to all. Joyeux Noël!

-- Paul Schilliger (pschilliger@smile.ch), December 25, 2001.

Tell all you care for that you love each and every one of them this holiday. Merry Christmas to all.

-- Chad Jarvis (cjarvis@nas.edu), December 25, 2001.

As an update to my earlier post about the weather prospects in Sydney on Christmas Day, I can tell you that today, Boxing Day, I have just loaded some holders to go out and exploit the extraordinary light as the sun beats through a veil of smoke that covers the entire metropolis from scores of raging bush fires skirting the suburbs.

The light is slightly diffuse with about an 81C glow. Fearful of what the heightened red sensitivity of T-Max might do I have loaded Tri-X. My subject is not the fires or the fire-fighters - they don't need me and LF to further impede their efforts. I am doing a little number on the desolation of the suburb that is the birthplace of modern Australia.

Yesterday some 60 kms distant from the nearest flames we were rained on in the garden by charred twigs and branches . Over 20 families had their homes and possessions burnt to the ground for Christmas.

In a world where catastrophes like this happen readily and repeatedly why do we add to it with our acts of hostility.

This year we might all be living on the fault-line; let's not taunt it.

Enjoy the season ... Walter

-- Walter Glover (walterg@netaus.net.au), December 25, 2001.