Like #1 and 3 the best. Have't ever tried a ND filter, which really made #1. Wish I lived next to "sunset/sunrise" water..

The only comment I would add is instead of moving your lens to or from the light, you should think in terms of composing your shot the way you want, then adjusting the ISO/shutter/F-stop to get the histogram to where it needs to be. Really works best in manual, and after playing with it just a little bit, you'll probably say, this wasn't as hard as I thought it would be..

I also think they're awesome shots. How long was the exposure, and was it a major challenge to get this good of a shot?

you had also mentioned in another post you had gotten a mac. I didn't respond, but I love LR. Don't know if aperture sp? can do this, but you can take out a tremendous amount of noise in LR. I've shot pics up to 2500 with no noise! The other thing I love about it that is is non-destructive, meaning if you alter, make changes in PS or many others, you are saving a new file each time, but in LR, I can go back to the original file, or even any particular step along the process, and start from there. Want to ask you sometime re: your web site, i.e. who is it through, can you share with others on it, esp. full size pics, and cost.

curious why you chose f-20, with the distance and other things you were juggling.. Pic still came out fine, though, so that wasn't a major hinderance. When you magnify is the moon's focus nailed? Just thoughts that popped up.

on my list too. Was your guide a photographer as well? Starting to look into a trip for myself.

I would also highly recommend LR, and have over10,000 pics on my mac laptop. With just a little bit of forethought, you can make it so you can easily retrieve any picture within a very short time, and you can copy them to your external HD, and still have them show in your catalog. For backup I also recommend 2 other things, 1) dvd backup and filing, and I also use Backblaze, which is designed for macs, by mac programers. A third backup is Time-machine, which I have successfully retrieved pictures I mistakenly deleted. I can do over 90% of post processing with LR, and it is non-destructive, meaning in one click I can go back to the original, or to any step along the way. As someone else said, there is a free download, and they have just released LR 4, beta, a free download, that I am just beginning to start to transition to it.

BTW, congrats on your first DSLR being a Nikon!

How many lenses did you get with the 5000? That will determine if you go with the full frame or not in your choice. A Dx lens on a full frame turns a 12meg pic into a 6 meg camera, just to give you an idea of the difference. I have a D300, which I love, and seems to have unlimited capability. If you are attempting to get in the business, consider looking at the D700, which is a professional, full frame camera, with incredible ISO capabilities. Good luck with your decision, and ignore the Canon people, because they haven't figured it out yet! (JK)

Always love Alaskan pictures, and all 3 are good, but I have to say the iceberg pic is my favorite, primarily because of the blue. Good capture!

Don't think I would worry about it, unless it is an extended time of several months, with older batteries. I have an SB800 & SB 600, and have never had any problems over several years.

Love Alaska, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Bryce, hope to go to Columbia river area, as well as revisit the other places. outside the US, I've been to Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Greece, Germany, France, and Czech republic, as well as some others. Think Germany was the prettiest.

Think you might like this plane

We tend to forget why we sold them, we had to, to purchase the next one we drove! I had a 1965, 289 Burgandy Mustang, 4 on the floor, and that was fun!