Except maybe the brown deposit in your slacks and on the deck when you realize how close you came to "swallowing the anchor".

Dave C1

I'm glad to hear you got away from the strike without any personal injuries; every so often we hear of someone having had hold of some metal and been zapped. In the two incidences I mentioned one was at night and the second underway; as you said, it definitely got the attention of those on board and usually that of the insurance company too. I'm surprised that the insurance in the situation of the Original Poster is giving him such a hard time, but in a similar situation, I think I'd have had a survey before contacting the insurance company. Finding damage, evaluating the repair costs is their business and they have little to get in "low balling" the costs unlike insurance companies that make a habit of it (for autos and boats); I think the damage surveys also become part of the claim.

As was previously mentioned a fishing pole and line over the side may also attract the strike, but it would probably be as attractive as my mast. God help anyone holding the pole as they would probably take the full strike voltage.

Skneemiller,

This is from a recent Camera Club theme called 'selective focus'. I tried a few times but on much closer objects with a few that were ok if not good. The club has a shoot on Wednesday, so I'll be trying it again.

If you use a wide aperture, preferably in the 3-4.5 range or as large as you have if you are using a telephoto lens, you will get a quite short depth of field, and the animal is not close to the bars, the focus (AF or Manual) should be centered on the animal. The camera should then ignore the bars and focus where you want it, --the active word being "should". I use spot center focus; DSLT's on Auto focus sometimes focus on the nearest and largest thing it "sees" in the focus area. Experiment first to make sure the picture is what you want the f stop and focus can be readjusted. If he/she is right up to the bars, it won't work; you might try fixing the shop with a " Spot Healing Brush" tool--PSE's Name. It sometimes work but may require a lot of PP, usually more that I think the fixed photo is worth, but I'm not a PSE expert.

Very nice shot, and with only a second to get it, I'm amazed at your accurate focus, the clarity, no movement blur AND BRAVERY--WELL DONE!

When I'm out there and a lightning storm develops up that close and our having a 45' aluminum mast, I've already been looking for a safer sheltering spot even if it is just a mooring field or marina. I've seen a couple of instances of what a lightning strike can to do to sailboats one actually blew the depth transducer out of the hull. It sank, and in the morning only the top 1/3'd of the water was showing they are best avoided, but there is no way of predicting where they will go next or what they will hit.

Blackhorse,

For a six year old turning seven shortly, that may be something he use for a longer time than else, but I think your first priority should be cheap; the second as simple as possible with as few option settings as possible. With too many options, he's bound to get some wrong and be disappointed in the experience, and it will encounter several drops, hopefully repairable. Who is the Bank of Camera Repair bank, you or his parents? I was given my first camera, a plastic (everything was back then) Kodak Baby Brownie (JPTB--Just push the button), for Christmas when I was seven; that Camera led a hard life and survived until I was 11-12 (now in my mid-70's), and replaced it with a twin lens reflex. I doubt you'll be able to get one as cheap as either of them, but even with an entry digital, I think the reasoning stands.

Most of our cameras have so many options that the majority of us only use about half of them so we have paid for a lot of technology we never use, and I'm sure the other half are all looking back at that age.

Online get a nautical chart from the NOAA showing the light; the duration of the flash time (in seconds) is on the chart and with a stopwatch you can measure the unlit time. I generally use the continuous modes of the camera to make life a bit easier and gives you a choice of pictures.

Welcome to the PP world! If you have had any past experience with any of the older PP programs (Picassa, Windows Live, etc., you shouldn't have any problems with the dreaded learning curve, but I'd recommend starting with PSE which you can probably buy between Thanksgiving & Christmas for about $39-40 at many of the big box stores, and then you have the CD copy and don't have to rent it every month at $10 or maybe more now.

The hardest thing for me to learn in PSE was their naming of the tools; many don't do what the name implies, ie.. the "eraser" doesn't erase. The learning curve can be frustrating, but don't let it get to you--post your question here and you will get answers quickly.

AzY, The two batteries, one Canon OEM and one knock off, both seem to hold a full charge (per the camera readings) for about a month, maybe a bit longer. I find that is long enough for a 'grab the camera and go' shot should I see something in the yard. We have a state conservation area behind us so I'm generally doing that a couple of times a month. When they seem to be losing the charge too quickly, I'll replace the weaker, and test the older more often.

Very nice shots of two beautiful runabouts! Having been a boat owner and working on our and family boats for about 60+ years, I can appreciate the TLC & $$$$ that have gone into the years of maintenance that have gone into the Chris Craft in the second slip. One more observation, as there were many more of them around when I was young, the biggest advantage was not having to crawl over the engine hatches to get from the forward seat and the aft one. We didn't have this term back then, at least I never heard it, but those boats were definitely "chick magnets".

The things I first noticed are the little white circles at the point of the ears of the moose(?) on the left. I know I'm possibly being super critical, but couldn't you have removed them with one of the clone or PSE tools? The spots will show up even more as you increase the enlargement.

Don't get me wrong; I like all these shots! In my honest opinion flowing and falling water look like water and give the sense of action and free movement, not so much like medium weight cream. That is a personal preference, and the only person you have to please with your photos is yourself!

I think this is a GREAT shot of Portland Head Light, and better than I was able to get over 20+ years of cruising Casco Bay and further down east. Back then we lived in Andover, MA and kept the boat on the Merrimac River. Regarding the light being lit, it's a nice touch but on what looks a bright sunny day, would the light have actually been lit? Even ten years ago most of them were on automatic clocks with an override for foggy or other poor visibility conditions.

I have only two batteries for my Canon 60D, but I sorta follow a similar system. When a battery come out of the camera (between 1/3or less capacity left; it immediately goes on charge and the already charged battery from the last switch is installed. If it doesn't show a full charge--seldom happens unless I haven't been very active--I immediately charge it. If I'm going out for a full day's shoot or even for a shorter time that I expect to be active, I charge both the day before. Works for me.

PS--I think your son owes you an apology and maybe a smack upside his head!

The only experience I have personally had with selling used equipment was a ca. early 1970's canon AE-1 that I traded in on a new 60D; considering that the AE-1 was 40+ years old, but it looked and worked well, I was not unhappy with their offer--about what I had paid for it.

The rule of thumb on selling used equipment to a reseller is that you will get about 50% of current retail price for the equipment, but that may vary somewhat based upon the number of them available and the demand. Remember, the reseller has to clean it up, and maybe do some undiscovered repairs, and then resell it with a 30% markup which is generally considered the necessary minimum markup to cover costs.

Have you tried KEH? They seem to get praises here on UHH.

Appeal, Morning may give you better light color and angle, but I was mainly thinking of water vapor coming off the glaciers because of the early morning temp differentials.

Most of my photography (and my favorite venue) is from our sailboat with racers, hydroplane or sailboats, being the subjects. That means the both the platform and the racers may be bouncing in three directions from the wakes and waves once, and I may also be panning the speedboats thus the need for high shutter speeds. The sailboats at a minimum of 1/500 and the power boats at 1/1000- 1/3000 depending upon conditions. I always use center spot focus as I want the action to be in focus and don't worry about the Depth of Field so I let the camera chose the f/stop. To a somewhat lesser extent you will be in the same situation, the plane is moving (and vibrating?). As I assume you are not flying you will have no warning if the pilot jinks or banks for some reason. The fewer things (camera settings) you have to think about, the more time you have to compose, focus, and shoot. Don't be afraid to use one of the continuous shooting modes, it will give you more shots to chose from. You said you are not really familiar with the camera so take advantage of all the presetting you can use. The following is not meant to be disparaging so please don't take offense, but an old Army expression comes to mind which really helps when everything is rushed; it is mainly meant as a caution for Officers when planning & delegating, but you may appreciate it: KISS = Keep It Simple, Stupid!

Have a great trip, we took a two week cruise from Seattle to Anchorage a few years back; it was the best cruise we've taken! We would both love to do a repeat, but I'm afraid our time has passed.

Please post some shots when you get back, and if you have some questions about what you did or didn't and think you should have done, post them and ask. Most of us here are amateurs so we all have made those same mistakes. Practice is the best teacher, but answers to questions helps speed the process.