Hi "Old"; I use to make the f stop as small as possible to get more sharpness throughout the photo. If the air was "still", doing this wouldn't be a problem.
Wow, I have found or got a few shots that could be wow. A few of them happened simply because I was there at the right moment. Some were "made" by scouting areas and noticing how the light works on the scene. A single place could seen in different seasons; the time of day. If you are asking about creating a wow photo through the use of a computer program, you would still need to have somewhat of a wow photo.
Back in the early nineties, I use to read a pro photographer's column about "how to" when it came to finding the wow shot. His most famous shot was taken, I believe in Nepal. He had climbed up a mountain to take a photo of a monastery and when he reached the top; there in front of him the monastery with a rainbow arching over it and there was a lot of clouds and through the clouds was a "beam" of sunlight hitting the monastery. It was a wow shot that he just lucked into. But his words of "looking" at the light and how it made the scene looked was the one thing that helped me a lot. :D
If you decide to buy a used camera you have the problem of dependability. Nikon has a manual focus SLR they make brand new, it comes with a 35-70 zoom which is a popular lens for landscape and nature. Auto focus 35mm cameras, SLRs are found used but then you have to look at the possibilities of finding equipment that can be dependable. Used manual focus lenses can be found, but, again finding them without "fungus" or loose diaphragm or broken blades. I have a manual focus camera with two zooms and I want to keep using them, but I face the possibility of the camera wearing out, seals drying and brittle, lenses becoming "loose" due to wear and use. You may have to face the fact that "film" photography is going the way of dinosaurs. :)
Not to argue with your point about the vertical seams on the sofa, but wouldn't that be similar to looking down an elevator shaft? The back of the sofa must "slope" down and away from the lens to cause this. There would be no way to prevent this as to getting lower would create this problem in another way. I know there are programs that can digitally change or modify the image and I guess that is a good thing. :-)
It looks like the sofa isn't "square" with the wall/ fireplace. Same thing can happen with other back grounds. The idea is to look for this before releasing the shutter. I learned to do this after spending 45 minutes trying to get the perfect angle for a photo of an Albatross sitting on a nest. The background was perfect (grass). When I got the photo back, sitting in the bottom of the picture was a bright shiny red Coke can. I just didn't notice the can because I kept focusing on the bird and the background. I made it a point to look at every point of the frame and when it all looked good I took the photo. :)
I am a former film user with a Minolta srt 202 and two zoom lenses. I use to read up on the latest news on new film emulsions. I would read about the latest lenses or the new model slr's. I would read how to articles, how to look for the right light conditions. How to get the "eye" to be able to see those great shots. I treated each slide like a blank canvas and strived to put on the slide the best image. The "magic moment" could be so fleeting and I learned to arrive early, and wait for that moment. I really miss that part. I am asking why is their a constant change in DSLR's that to have bought one and two or three years later it is old hat and the newer model is better? I don't look forward to getting into digital and invest money on technology that could be outdated in a few months. Will there be an acme to this? I am un-decided which amount of pixel would be best for my use. I can't settle on any brand of camera and the costs for the glass is the one reason I am hesitant. I will not be "printing" large photos, maybe 14x11 max. I just want to "go back" to how I use to shoot, but with a digital camera that will fit my hobby.
They look good to me. I see a hint of color in the mist and this would be a result of light (rainbow). You mentioned you would see the mist, rushing to work. Scout the areas you would like to shoot on misty days. To get depth you would want foreground objects. I use to have favorite spots that I would go to on misty days. I haven't done any shooting for ten years, but I have been bitten by the bug to shoot some more. I am totally new to digital and I am in the middle of trying to figure out how many pixels to get and the best lenses that are equal or the same as my favorite zooms. A 35-70 and 70-210. Does anyone have any suggestions?
A lens hood prevents light from striking the lens from the side. I would think not using a hood where flashes are going off all around you would be a bad idea.