Don't forget to watch the sky. The place is probably the world capital of hot air ballooning. Also take a peak at the mountains to the east around sunset. They are called the Sandia (watermelon) mountains for a reason.

Years ago I took my brother up Mt St Helens. Now you should understand that this brother went on a mission to Japan for the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints (Mormon) and he had picked up some of the Japanese stereotype photography habits so he was snapping gobs of pictures as we ascended. Then as we approached the summit he suddenly realized that he had no film in his camera. I guess it saved him development expense since it in the days before digital.

I'd suggest that you pony up a small amount of money and get a remote flash trigger. With all the nice gear you have, surely you can afford that. Then you can put the flash at an angle to the painting so that specular reflection does not enter your camera lens.

Got one for my wife and she hates it. It is flaky on getting her email and they seem to want to force Mcafee on everyone.

I you start with a blank score and put your birds there in place of notes from a public domain piece, there should be no problem.

The original Beethoven stuff would be fair use. The problem is any sheet music available today would be property of whoever created that actual sheet music.

If you had taken pictures with that film it would be worth developing to try to recover those images. However, if it is unexposed why bother? Presumably any photos you take you want to see and probably keep. If the film doesn't work, that would mean that you probably do not get those images. Get a good digital (if you don't already have one) and take the photos you want. Save the film to show grandchildren how photography used to be done.

Be very careful with this. Most sheet music is copyrighted and the copyright holders are often very protective of their rights. As a photographer you should understand and respect copyright law.

Lots of options for learning, some in person, some on line, some via DVD etc. I like two courses taught by National Geographic photographers available from a company called "The Great Courses." Interesting and very informative. You can find them at https://www.thegreatcourses.com/search/?q=photography then just search for photography.

One thing to consider: Lens technology is relatively (note the term "relatively") mature. Still some improvement underway there, but digital cameras are new enough that they are still advancing rather quickly. I'd decide which brand you think you will prefer, then be certain to get good lenses for that brand. If you are going to skimp on price, skimp on the camera and maybe think about upgrading the camera later if you decide to get more heavily involved. Be sure any lens you buy will be able to work with that brand's future developments.

If you can, get them to wear dark to medium clothes and use a dark to medium background. Light clothing or background will probably exceed the dynamic range of your camera. I learned that when I photographed a black friend up on Mt Hood, sunny day and snow in the background. Ugh! Either the background was completely blown, or she was just a black blob.

Another possibility, if your subjects will hold still for it, is the HDR mode on the camera. That takes three different exposures, then combines them to deal with the dynamic range problem. Obviously not good if things are moving.

You can even shoot through the zip-lock bag. Of course it won't be as clear as shooting without that plastic layer there, but you can get descent photos. I had a bishop at BYU who was a professor of recreation (Maybe I majored in the wrong subject, he got paid to have fun). He took a trip down the Grand Canyon and got some good shots that way. Of course with all the water spray, the distortion the plastic layer caused wasn't even noticeable. And having it sealed in the bag provided excellent protection. Probably even better today since such bags often have double zip locks.

I can think of three possible causes:

1. Focus is bad. Either you are in manual focus and did not focus properly, or you are in autofocus but the camera is focusing on something other than your subjects. That camera has lots of fancy settings, settings that can work for you or, if you do not use them properly, get you in trouble. One such setting tells the camera what to focus on in the autofocus mode. If it is focusing on the image center but your subjects are not at that center, they will be out of focus.

2. Water is condensing on the lens. That happens in humid environments, especially when you just came from a cool place.

3. Subjects moved and you have the exposure time to capture them without blurring.

If focus is the problem, one way to reduce the problem is to go to a higher f stop. That will require either a longer exposure or a higher ISO.

The current problem with the Gorge waterfalls is that the Eagle Creek fire has closed nearly all of the area. Sad but that's the way it is. There are some good mountains in the area, maybe instead of just going straight down the freeway, take highway 35 from Hood River around the south side of Mount Hood. Snow is possible this time of year but being from Montana you probably know how to drive in snow. You might even go up to Timberline Lodge, take the road from the east end of Government Camp. The lodge itself has some interesting architecture, and on a clear day you get a good view of the top of the mountain and south to Mount Jefferson.

Bummer, sad to hear that. The big question, however, is if the cracks are superficial or if they allow atmospheric air into the lens area. All quality lenses are filled with dry nitrogen or other inert gas. If air gets in to mix with that, it will include water vapor. Then when it gets cold you will have condensation inside the lens. That will obviously degrade image quality. Should that happen, the only remedy is to pay and have it fixed, sorry. If you can take photos in cold weather with no image degradation, the damage is probably only cosmetic.