Thanks for all of the links. I am about to purchase some of the 4x4 & 4x6in rectangular filters. I will work my way through the references before I put the proverbial hammer down. I read somewhere that there is minimal color cast with NISI filters. My plan was to get the set of Lee hard grad 3,6, and 9 stop, and NISI 3, 6, 10, and 15 stop. Does one allow 2 stops for the polarizer? Like the Wine Country holder, bit it's huge.

I saw it in the afternoon a few years back when I was out at Greenbelt, MD on business. A lot of emotion. To have that place all to yourself must have been awesome.

Thanks for the survival hints! Great images, I like the perspective.
Where in the NW were you? I've been up to the Seattle, Vashon Island, Everett, Bellingham, Bremerton, and Keyport areas recently.
I checked out Western Idaho just after the eclipse last year. Liked Coeur d'Alene and Sandpoint.

I just picked up the 100mm f1.4. Trying to get the hang of using it handheld. It is a portrait lens though, so probably more suited
for the studio.

The observation was from an owner. I have seen the comment online. It depends on how you are viewing the image. It probably is discernable on a large format giclee print. Then again, comparing the image quality from the 200-500mm with the 400mm f2.8 isn't fair. Would hate to have to haul around the 400mm much less having to cough up the dough.

You sound genuine. I'm impressed with your experience as a photographer. I just took a photo journalism class and it's definitely different than the aesthetic, artsy side. My photography consisted mainly of what I took while travelling. I was last using a Hasselblad 503CW and a complement of lenses. Then, after a series of digital point and shoots, I made the plunge into DSLR's. Now I'm navigating through Adobe apps, Colorthink Pro, and ND filters. Love the big giclee prints!

I'm into picture quality. One lens fits all just isn't going to cut it. One critisizm of the 200-500mm is that it isn't "tack" sharp. Secret sauce missing.

I've been shooting Nikon and their lenses since the 8008 35mm film. Just finished an AA in photography. I think I know a little bit.

I have a 50mm f1.4 that continually amazes me as to how versatile it is. I just started trying to hand hold a 105mm f1.4. I have to run up the ISO to get enough shutter speed to minimize the hand shake. Framing is so much easier with the zoom lenses. I was able to unearth my Rand McNally Metro Guide to D.C., and perused the Points of Interest. I really don't know the town that well. There is so much to see.

Thanks to all of you for your replies, great suggestions, and quality images. For travel, three big lenses is definitely a bit of a strain. I've been advised to take just one lens for travel. Having just recovered from a hernia operation, I'm really listening now. I'm in the San Francisco Bay area, so am keenly aware of showing off pricey equipment. I was lucky to acquire a D850 last spring, so I'm loaded up with some pretty expensive kit. I'm going for the Annual Korean and Cold War Government Briefings. I had an uncle that was MIA during the Chosin Reservoir retreat almost 70 years ago. Thanks for the suggestions on perspective of the Korean War Memorial and Vietnam War Monument. I dodged that bullet.

Have been to DC many times, but never with a DSLR. Will be mainly outdoor, Capitol Mall, Arlington, no tripod. Have the triad, 14-24, 24-70, and 70-200, w/ tc 2. Any other siggestions, please?

I installed a Samsung 1 TB SSD into my laptop. Form factor was a bit of an issue. It's definitely an improvement over the 256 GB stock SSD. I wouldn't put too much confidence into the MTBF data, they are pretty much a SWAG.

Umm, the WD wireless not so good right now. Win 10 64 doesn't recognize the USB 3 port, XQD write speeds are excreably slow. In my experience, anything WiFi is significantly slower than hard wired. I definitely need the laptop to review my images, delete the unacceptable ones, and write to two external HDD's. Only then do I delete the images from my SD and XQD cards. IMHO USB 3 absolutely essential. Don't like going for the newest, up to datest. Bleeding edge is a painful experience. Writing to a Cloud account would be good, but many not possible out in the boondocks.

Wow! Wireless, with a USB port for card readers. Will check it out. Hopefully the write speed is fast. Thanks!

I shoot Nikon RAW, so at ~ 90 MB per shot, plus ~ 20 MB for jpeg, I will fill up a flash drive quickly. On my last trip to Myanmar I was able to get a 2 TB Seagate Backup Plus in Yangon after I filled up a 64 and 32 GB flash drive. I travel with a laptop (256 GB recently ugpraded to 1 TB) and clear the camera memory when I've copied the images to the laptop's SSD and the Seagate. Writing to the Seagate's 2TB USB 3 seems faster than to the flash drives. It would be prudent to have another portable HDD or SSD.