Yeah...I know about those bricks....where I shoot depends on the light and time of day. Around noon I shoot with the bricks in the background...the sun is right behind me. I keep the plant about 4-5 feet in front of the bricks. Later in the afternoon, I have grass as the background..but I get more shadows on the bloom unless I hold it just right...colors can be more intense though. I wanted to get the bloom at the right time, before the dorsal reflexed more...and it was likely to get cloudy later in the day. As for the size, I can't get Imageshack to behave like it used to...I never get any options about reducing size to 800 x whatever like I used to...its either thumbnails, or this...on the other hand, I find that imageshack photos, even when gigantic, seem to load up much faster than they used to...and I have a lousy connection most days..(I hate Time warner cable!!!!!!! when will FIOS hit Queens????) Take care, Eric