Yeah, it's all about finding that happy medium.

Thank you BassmanBruce.

Nature's way of comforting the death of summer.

Really like the first shot. Makes me want to walk on the road to see what's around the corner. Beautiful.

Believe me there was no offense taken. I'm open to the viewpoint of others. It helps me to refine my passion in art.

I agree that this shot could have been better if the yellow guitar were in focus. I remember that the music store was on the second floor of an old barn and was ill lit. I shot hand held at ISO 1000, 1/20sec @ f6.3 with an 80mm. Thanks for chiming in.

Shot in a music store. It was the colors that caught my eye.

This psychological phenomenon is known as Pareidolia. I have a collection of a few of my own. I posted one on this site in 2013 under the heading "Kind'a spooky"

Powerful image. Well done!

Fun series. Here are a few I've collected through the years

Have you considered tethering your D800 to a tablet or I-phone with software that will control your camera remotely. That would save your knees and cash if kneeling is the only reason to purchase a new camera body.

Not knowing what type of camera or lens you may have, a 35-85mm lens on a full frame sensor will satisfy most all picture taking on any trip. If you are traveling in a group, you generally will not have ample time to change out lenses. When you are in museums and narrow streets of old cities, you will need a wide angle. Keep in mind that you can always crop a photo in post processing to give you the same zoomed in effect as a 300mm as long as your photo is in sharp focus. Keep it simple especially if you and or your group will be doing a lot of walking and you have to carry this equipment.

A 24-85mm on a full frame camera is what I use most when taken photos on vacations. Rather than carry a tripod or mono-pod around with me, I use a bean-bag which easily fits in my camera bag or pocket. If I need to make a long exposure let's say in a cathedral for instance, I put the bean-bag on a pew and rest the camera on it then use the timer to trigger the exposure. Works great.

Linda, I use a Nikon Df.

This is a in camera double exposure. The photo of the owl was taken at Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center in Mystic Connecticut. The moon was taken later that night at a nearby campground then added as an image overlay in camera.