Does the layer you are trying to use have any pixels on it? If not, you are probably seeing a small circle with a line through it when you try to use content aware, because there is no content on the layer. I always make my first layer a copy of the background layer (CMD-J on Mac) and do all my content aware adjustments on that layer. If I want to selectively darken (lighten) an area, I add a blank layer, change the blending mode to "multiply", and then use the appropriate brush on the mask of that layer.If I want to do a content aware adjustment I do it on the copy of the background layer. The key is that for any content aware adjustments to a layer, the layer must have content. Hope this helps.

Dugole, I can't answer this question, but it looks like jimbrown3 above has useful info. I have not used mine with the 2x converter. Do you know someone with the series II extender that you could borrow? Or if you see someone using one, they might let you use if for a few exposures.

I agree with Swamp Gator. The city and bridge make up too little of the scene. I would try again with a longer focal length. You may have done this, but I would use the vertical camera position to maximize the pixels in the height of the final image.

I am in the group that would take the best I have. A canon body (even a pro model) with 24-105 f/4 IS and 70-200 f/4 IS should cover you pretty well. This gear would be relatively easy to carry. If you have a cropped sensor, you might need something slightly wider, maybe the 17-40, or one of the Sigma wide angle zooms.

What Mr PC said. I have had 5 digital dslrs over the years, and have not had to touch anything to the sensor except a lenspen, and that only once. The rocket blower almost always does the job. I try to remember to use it prior to and just after an extended photo opportunity.

I have a 1.4 series II extender I use with that lens with good results. You are correct that that is a good lens. With the 1.4 tc, it is almose as good as the 400mm 5.6 (focuses more slowly).

For an inexpensive TC, I would probably go for grey market. Not for an expensive item. I had a 500mm f/4 nikkor lens, Nikon body, and tc fall out of my tripod onto cement. The 500 lens was grey market. Nikon USA would not repair it. They would also not sell parts to an independent repair business to fix it. I replaced all my Nikon equipment with Canon. I have not bought grey market equipment since (with Canon products, there is seldom much difference between grey market and officially imported items).

Did you bother looking at the site dpullem provided? It does exactly what you asked for, and is by someone who has been involved with digital photography from the start.

I think it is important to use a lens hood with every lens you have. Any light that hits the lens, even that out of the field of view, can cause problems. It doesn't take much effort to put the hood on.

I have the RRS BH55 and the BH40. Both are excellent, and I find they are both substantial for my macro imaging, with 180 and 100 macro lenses. If you plan to use the ball head with larger lenses, I recommend the BH55. I have the same size Induro tripod you have, and use the BH40 on it, and the BH55 on a larger tripod.

Either Canon or Nikon would be a good brand choice. Both offer more options to expand your system if you want. I have owned both, and currently have Canon. If you are seriously interested in landscape photography, I would recommend a DSLR with maybe a 24-70 lens and a 70-200 lens. This would cover a major part of your landscape images.

Get a belt pack from Think Tank or LowePro to get the weight off your neck. I have the Think Tank and several different sized lens cases that attach to it. Makes changing lenses quick and gets the weight on your hips instead of your neck.

I have several ball heads (Arca-Swiss, Foba, RRS, all quality heads), and do a lot of macro photography. I find that all the ball heads cause some droop. It's easy enough to just compensate by aiming it a little high before tightening it down. It possible, make sure you have the lens attached to the ball head, not the camera. This centers the weight better, but does not make the problem go away.

Make your first tripod your last one. If you buy a cheap one you will probably replace it twice in the next 5 years. My smallest has a load limit of 26 lbs., and my larger has a limit of 50 lbs. I limit myself to about 6 lbs. on the smaller one about 16 lbs. on the larger one. Weight is not the only thing that causes camera shake on a cheap tripod. So do wind and just having your hands on the camera/tripod when making an exposure. A good tripod will improve the quality of every one of your lenses. Do yourself a favor and buy a good one. Make sure that the tripod head is a quality one also. Otherwise, you will probably replace it too.

When buying a tripod, extend the legs to max height and try to flex the legs using your hand on the top of the tripod, both twisting and pushing down. There should be very little flex when applying as much pressure as you can. Put your camera and largest lens on the tripod and tap the camera lens and see how long it takes it to stop vibrating. Then tap a leg and see how long the camera and lens vibrate. Then make several exposures in the 1/30 second to 2 secs., both with your hands on the camera and with a cable release. Examine these exposures on your computer with some magnification and see if you can find any blurring of the image. If you can, don't get that tripod. In my opinion,the tripod you buy is every bit as important as which camera you buy and should require as much thought and care.

Good luck.

I never use a uv filter on amy of my lenses. I use only polarizers and ND filters. The uv filter has no real purpose. Why buy the best lens you can afford and then put a useless cheap filter on it. The lens cap and lens hood, together with reasonable care, provide all the protection you need for the glass on the lens.