Thank you for the warm welcome
Now I'm just wondering how I can collect merit so that I can also upload pictures
Don't ask for it, it will be given if you keep doing what you're doing right now, merit is an appreciation of what you're doing, and besides you already have the copper account you can already post images this is the reason why you need to acquire a copper account to lift these restrictions.
By popular demand, newbies can now pay to have some of their restrictions lifted. If you pay the fee, you become a Copper Member, and you can post images. That's the main point of this: allowing newbies to post images.