Oklahoma may be the most diverse state in the union, from an ecological and landscape perspective, so you're in great territory. And, of course, if you're a weather fan, you're in the right place!

Thanks to all of you who responded to this item!

I suggest getting a reasonably priced digital, maybe in a kit with a couple of lenses, then start taking pictures. Lots of pictures of things that interest you personally. Something like a Nikon D3400 or Canon equivalent should work just fine. The real issue is the interaction between your visual interests and the equipment, and something like the D3400 would make it easy to grow in terms of that interaction.

On those trips where weight and mobility, as well as control over the photo circumstances, were issues, I took a Canon SX50 with a SX710 as pocket backup (newer versions of both are available). I know that image quality suffers a little bit with that kind of equipment, but the combo is really very flexible. I usually have both those set with the dial on the athlete icon, to minimize auto-focus problems, and keep the digital zoom turned off unless I want and need it. Oh, and I'm actually a Nikon person with both crop and full frame bodies and a suite of lenses, which I take and use when weight is not a problem and I'm in total control of the shooting circumstances.

On our Costa Rica trip, weight would have been a problem. You'll give up some image quality with something like a Canon SX60 (and I understand there is now a SX70), but you'll gain a whole lot in terms of weight and flexibility. If you go that route, keep the digital zoom turned off until you really need or want it. We were on the Gulf side, and the photo ops were not nearly as clear as they were on our African trips, and so the flexibility of my SX50 was nice (and I kept the dial mainly on the athlete icon to minimize the auto-focus mis-behavior).

I have a Sigma 150-600 that I used on two different Nikon cameras and it's pretty obvious from the results that these results depend more on me and my use of the equipment than on the equipment itself. But that statement could probably be made for about any equipment on the market, provided the user is not some high end professional.

In my experience, *.mov format is a pain in the neck. I use Filmora (formerly Wondershare) as my video editor. It's not very expensive, and is relatively easy to learn and use. You can import your *.mov files, edit them, add titles, etc., and export as MP4 or something like that for uploading. That's one of many suggestions you'll probably get.

My scanner is an Epson V550; it's not a high end one, fairly inexpensive, but it has a film holder that I use for 35mm negatives and on professional mode you can up the ppi quite a bit (I usually us 2500 or something in that vicinity for these negatives). I've been happy with the results, and the scanned images can be manipulated in Photoshop or other software.

Those are excellent! Thanks!

Excellent advice in the replies. Also, be able to talk about your images if asked about your work, what you're trying to accomplish, etc.

Although you'll give up a lot of action shots, and lose some image quality, a point-and-shoot such as a Canon SX710 (or one of the newer equivalent models) has some serious telephoto capabilities and would clearly pass the "pocket camera" test. And yes, in all my travels through major museums in recent years, including art museums, the cell phone camera epidemic has pretty much invalidated any no-photo rules, even of famous works of art.

Those are both really nice. Personally, I like the one with the fence, but I also know that's because in my own photography, and other art, I'm drawn to images that seem to have some kind of a narrative that looks into the future, and the fence does that, at least for me. Good work.

I've used several versions of Wondershare (now Filmora), and am exceedingly happy with it, although it's not really free because you have to pay to export your edited video to a file that can be used in other platforms. But the price is reasonable and worth it, in my view, because the software is powerful and relatively easy to learn.

Love the list of myths and the responses; thanks!

Those are REALLY nice! Thanks! Don't be surprised if you get asked for permission to use those in some textbook, especially an online one, or online field guide.