Nice set, Joe. A question: my daughter just moved to Pittsburg. Any suggestions for some locations that would provide interesting backgrounds for my grandchildren (some places where she can keep her feet on the ground)?

When I started buying DSLRs, I bought a book in the Digital Field Guide series for each. I found them very easy to understand and more than helpful with the camera's individual settings. I presume the ones for Canon are the same (I use Nikon). Good luck.

Just wondering ... did his horse run off?

Just got back from Norway. I am a Full-frame guy and I did very well with one body and 2 lenses, a 28-200mm and a 17-35mm f2.8. I just hope that you have more sunny days than I did.

If you "learned the old way, with film", you may have kept some of your older Nikon glass. Works great on my FX Nikon cameras and it's fun to dig out an old "prime" lens now and again. If, on the other hand, you went wild with DX lenses when you went digital, you might want to stick with it.

Actually, I originally joined this group because I thought the topic would be photography. My mistake, I am obviously in the wrong place.
But with regard to your comments, I have learned that when one resorts to "Ad Hominem" attacks, it is generally because they realize that they have run out of "intelligent" things to say and that their position is weak. If "Ignorance is bliss", then you must be a very happy individual.
At this point, I believe that you are supposed to say "Oh, yeah ...?"

Hmm --- "known fact".
"To date, scientists have not observed abiogenesis happening in nature, nor have they been able to create a lifeform through controlled experiments. In fact, reaction conditions resembling the Earth's early conditions have even failed to produce the most basic polymers that all lifeforms possess (protein, DNA, RNA, etc.). It is now understood that the probability of even a single protein forming through purely natural processes exceeds what is acceptable based on the law of probability."
The basic problem that I see with those "more intelligent" non-believing folks is that they haven't yet learned the difference between a "theory" and a "fact."

I know all about it. Pitching a being that is outside of the time/space/matter continuum who is by definition an invisible, spirit being is a bloody "hard sell." But then, it all started "somehow." Why did it start? Who knows --- maybe God is just a kid with an ant farm.

Wow! And you doubt my intelligence. During the last century there were two competing theories about the universe --- the Big Bang (BB) and the Steady State (SS) that said that the universe had always existed. It was during the latter part of the century that "proof" was discovered that the universe was not pre-existent. That is why there is now an overwhelming consensus among astrophysicists for the BB.

Actually, I have often been amused at the growing number of folks who do not believe in God, yet are adamant in their belief in ghosts or other "nocturnal nasties."
Or how many accept the "Big Bang" theory of the birth of the universe, but have no answer as to what (or who) "made that first domino fall" since a cornerstone of physics has always been that matter cannot be created out of nothing.
Or, finally, how many of them, when times get very dark, turn to prayer. Just who do they suppose is listening?
The current vogue seems to be that God is like an instruction manual --- we only pull-it-out as a last resort.

Listen to the folks steering you toward Mt. Katahdin. It is actually in a large state park, Baxter SP. You can get great shots from Sandy Stream Pond (get a park map) and may well get a moose in your shot standing in the pond (I did).
If you get to the coast, Maine has 63 lighthouses all along the Down East Coast. Way too many to name here but shots of lighthouses with schooners sailing by are there to be had.
I loved Cadillac Mtn but for some reason was never able to get a shot of it that I was completely happy with. But shots from the top were pretty much OK.
Hope that you all have a great time.

Hi. I live in Delaware and have been a shooter for >30yrs. Love my D800 but still lament the demise of film. Like to travel (mostly US) and do scenics. Hoping some folks here can suggest locations when I get the urge to "safari-out."