Hello to all,

I have just registered here. I am not new to photography, I have been a "hobbyist" for probably 25 years or so. My wife and I are planning a trip to France in September so I am refreshing and upgrading my equipment. I am using a Canon EOS Rebel. I have recently purchased a Canon 28-135 IS f3.5-4 lens, and a Sigma 17-35 f2.8-4 lens.

Next on my list is the following;

Manfrotto carbon fiber tri-pod
580 EX Flash
70- 200 or 300 Zoom lens
Lowepro Slingshot 200

I joined this forum because it looks like an excellent way to correspond with likeminded folks about the subject. (43,000 members I think...?...impressive!)

Anyways, I just wanted to get a post under my belt and an introduction. I am looking for a few ideas and if anyone can help in the following it would be very much appreciated.

A) how do I select Neutral Density Filters? What are the numbers for? What is appropriate for what conditions? and where is a good place to buy them?

B) Does anyone have experience with scanning their old photo collection? This is something that is on my list and when I started to research scanners, I got bogged down with alot of options, features and prices! My thinking is to spend the money on a good scanner (Epson V750-M Pro)...catalogue my photos and then re-sell the scanner to recover the cost. I thought about taking them in but to keep the cost down, the stores want all the pics at once and I really don't want to take that many albums apart all at once.

C) And last on this extremely long introduction is Photoshop. I would like to find some information on learning more about Photoshop. I am sure that there is a spot in this forum on the topic... I just have to find it.

If you have made it this far through my post... thanks for taking the time and my apologies for the length... I am working graveyard shift and trying to keep awake...hahaha.

Look forward to sharing ideas and pictures with you.

Jeff