Hello, and thanks for the responses!

Believe it or not, this is my first attempt at Sepia... and I don't know if I am keen on it or not. :lol I prefer black and white over everything else, much to the husband's dismay. But, I wanted to mix it up a bit and I liked the effect the sepia lent to this particular shot. For some reason, in color it just didn't have the same "ooomph". I am thinking about trying it in B& W this afternoon and see if I like it better. I will also take your advice and give the background more dramatic contrast.

This was taken with my Canon EOS Digital Rebel SLR. As for settings, I tend to cheat so I can snap faster. :lol This was taken in "close up mode", so I fear the f-stop, focus, etc are not my doing. I simply was in the right place for the right shot with this one.

I am still learning - but I LOVE it.

As for the softness of this picture, I attribute it to my UV haze filter, and the overly muggy afternoon. This was taken in the late afternoon here in NC, with a storm rolling in on the horizon. So the humidity was DIRE! :lol

Thanks for the welcome, I look forward to sharing more. I might have to post the big one in color that is in my signature... as it was the first picture I really "took".