Just speculating ... was white balance (WB) on "Auto"? By zooming in closer for the second shot, some elements (a lot of the concrete, and the white door) were excluded from the shot (assuming what we are seeing has not been cropped) and that may have caused the WB to shift.

I often find myself shooting in places where rain can be an issue (e.g., while vacationing), and more often in snowy conditions ... just tired of feeling like I need to keep camera tucked away under jacket or in camera bag so it doesn't get wet. I assumed (clearly I was mistaken) that Nikon would at least have some weather-sealed lens options available at a price that would make sense for an "enthusiast" camera user when they went to the trouble of beefing up the weather sealing on the D7100 body. Have never dealt with Nikon products before, and it is looking more and more like I won't be anytime soon unless some additional cash just drops out of the sky unexpectedly.

Thanks ... Have tried those and find them too awkward. Just don't understand why Nikon would make (and strongly promote the weather sealing of) an "enthusiast" level camera and not offer any "enthusiast" level lenses with sealing, instead of only pro-level lenses.

I am contemplating purchase of a D7100 but am having a problem with lens options. I want a weather-sealed lens to go with weather-sealed body, but it seems hard to find which lenses are sealed. Local camera store says there are only 3 high end Nikon lenses that have weather sealing and they would all blow my budget. I am looking for a wide angle zoom ... was looking at Sigma 17-50 f2.8 but no sealing. My total budget for body + lens needs to come in no more than $2000 and body is around $1100 around here right now.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I would check with places that deal with large-format scanning (e.g., engineering drawings) and see if they can do what you need. We have a large-format scanner in our office that will handle up to 48" wide with unlimited length ... I think it might max out at 300 dpi, though I have never checked for higher resolutions. This one is is pretty old technology these days so I would be shocked if you couldn't find a place that can handle larger size scans at a good resolution for you.

Nice shot ... we'll try hard to forgive the Edmonton thing :)

Have all of my stuff similarly covered as a special add-on to my home policy (but not restricted to just home use). A real benefit is that it forced me to compile (and keep current) a list of equipment, with serial numbers. When they send the list out as part of the policy, I print that off and keep copies of it with me when I travel (NOT stored in the camera bag!) in case anything gets stolen ... that way you have all the info with you if needed for a police report.

Very nice Chris, but the title of the post is misleading ... I was expecting photos of cows :)

Thanks for that Jerry ... as luck would have it, I have to go to Home Depot today :)

I am a bit worried now ... starting to do some of the "in your 60s" stuff when I'm only 51 :(

Nothing to be ashamed of!

I am a big supporter of making the best of a photo through whatever post processing suits your fancy, and am a regular user of Photomatix Pro for HDR. Not sure if I should say this (don't want to spark a big debate) ... way too much emphasis sometimes on photos needing to be "straight out of camera" to be considered true photographs and not "art" of some kind. Not quite sure how any digital image can ever be "straight out of camera" unless you want to somehow view all of the "bits and bytes" of digital stuff stored on your memory card ... which I think would probably be a mess of hexadecimal stuff or maybe just a bunch of ones and zeros (sorry to any computer techies out there if I am mistaken here ... I'm just a traffic engineer). :)

LOVE the layered effect of the mountains in #3, and the gradation of the colour as the eye moves from foreground to background. Has an HDR look about it ... was it processed as HDR from multiple shots, or from a single shot? Or am I just seeing things that aren't there?

Does anyone out there know for certain if this software will work with Corel PaintShop Pro X5? Looks like a great deal, but only if it will work with my primary editing software :)

Very nice ... what area(s) did you visit? Shots bring back memories of living in Ontario a long time ago.

I have to go a long way north to get good fishing out here in Alberta, and get to see lots of moose up north as well, usually along the side of the highway (a scary prospect, if you've ever seen what can happen if you hit one).

Excellent article ... thanks! I have it bookmarked so I can go back and read it over again when not at work (shhh ... don't tell my boss :))

I wonder if I could use the same basic approach to justify buying some nice new camera gear? I have not had a drink in 25 years, and have never smoked. Had I been drinking and smoking all these years, I probably would have wasted enough money to now justify, through this brilliant math-based concept, purchasing some awesome new "glass" and a couple of new bodies to hang off of the new lenses ... maybe even go for medium format :) Thanks for the inspiration.

Just occurred to me that my wife does not smoke, and only has an occasional glass of wine if we go out for dinner ... if I use this "new math" she might just want to use it too, thereby depleting our savings even more. Guess I better hurry up and spend it all first!