I have been to Monument Valley many times in the summer and early spring months. So far as I know, the sun has risen and set EVERY November day in MV. I think that is also true for most of Maine. the OP would know for sure.
https://www.amazon.com/slp/mafer-clamp/spru5d3svwgz4hm
This will fit the top of a light stand and clamp a horizontal cross bar. Two of them can join together and clamp both a horizontal and a vertical.
BH has similar clamps, but a bit higher in cost.
Head for the local DIY or electrical supply house and buy some conduit tubing
Not much has changed. Every photo lab I was friends with back in the day had a similar display of prints somewhere in the back. Often on the inside of a normally closed cabinet door such as was used to store chemicals and supplies.
Hwy 180 which goes east into Kings Canyon until it ends at Cedargrove will most likely be closed for the winter. Details about seasonal conditions in both parks are at https://www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm
If you have time, drive Hwy 64 through the San Juan NF to Taos. There have probably been temporary closures already due to snow but the road will be generally open for another three weeks or so. Elevations are over 10,000 with some tremendous views. If you have even more time take a ride around Mt. Wheeler "The Emerald Circle" You'll cross the Gorge Bridge over the Rio Grande, 564' abpve the river. It is one of the highest bridges in the US and there is a pedestrian walkway. Have lunch at Michael's Kitchen in Taos. You can go back to Chama the way you came or head north through Antonito.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Chama,+NM+87520/Red+River,+NM/Taos,+NM/Antonito,+CO/Chama,+NM/@36.7493158,-106.4848203,9z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m37!4m36!1m5!1m1!1s0x873d8143f632a903:0x8465216bcf8d3854!2m2!1d-106.5794793!2d36.9030679!1m10!1m1!1s0x871715f629295997:0x81dc866c92a37c41!2m2!1d-105.4061159!2d36.7080849!3m4!1m2!1d-105.2781576!2d36.5405329!3s0x871744382c6e7e9b:0xa1ea0fb881ef02bf!1m5!1m1!1s0x871764da7f11fcb1:0x90ea918361a9b782!2m2!1d-105.5730665!2d36.4072485!1m5!1m1!1s0x8716450c89d99fcb:0x34f5344ec55b8bc9!2m2!1d-106.0086329!2d37.079179!1m5!1m1!1s0x873d8143f632a903:0x8465216bcf8d3854!2m2!1d-106.5794793!2d36.9030679!3e0
In the future I would recommend you try putting some thought into the title of your posts. Just a suggestion, good luck with your situation.
Wouldn't the lens be secured by the same size screw in the same size hole? Except with the QR plate there are two connections to potentially fail instead of one? Unless you want to keep the plate on the lens for other reasons I would suggest you use the strap in the way it was designed.
What about 42nd St Photo?
Although the opportunity to save money maybe tempting, under no circumstances should you buy a used or refurbished Tampon. Performance when do you need it most will be greatly reduced. Used Sigma, no worries.
If you absolutely need to use specialized software not available for Mac, you can run Windows quite nicely, either with the free Bootcamp application from Apple or another app such as Parallels. http://www.parallels.com/ I did this for quite a few years until I finally bailed on Windows altogether.
Both work well, with Bootcamp possibly a bit faster, but neither is noticeably slower than a Windows machine. The downside is that you must reboot the Mac to use Windows under Bootcamp; with Parallels you can use both at the same time, including cutting and pasting between operating systems. In either case you will need a copy of Windows, purchased or obtained separately.
I have never looked back in over 20 years since I last owned a Windows computer.
Get it laminated, either mounted on plastic or not. Or get an ink-jet print on weather proof material such as is used on buses and outdoor signage.
Why would the moon look better from on top the lighthouse? Maybe a photo of the moon AND the lighthouse would be more interesting.
Or combine TWO photos, a larger image of the moon taken with a telephoto lens and a second image of the lighthouse and horizon with a wider lens. Adjust the size of the moon larger or smaller to get the effect you want.
Sounds like a bad idea to me. You paid a lot of money for the f2.8 lens. Why make it into a f5.6? Use the polarizer when you want its effect, take it off the rest of the time.
It is not necessary to have separate version for every print size or proportion. You can change your print order setting in Zenfolio to crop automatically to the proportion of the print. Alternatively you can set Zenfolio to allow the customer to select cropping however he/she would like.