Thank you Ken, much appreciated.

Absolutely true:
http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/Police_admit_they_may_have_been_overze...

As Ferdinand Foch (General in the French army during World War I who accepted the German request for an armistice) noted after the Treaty of Versailles had been signed, "This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years".

It was the determination not to repeat this mistake after the second bust-up that has ultimately led to what we now call the European Union.

I originally bought the Scott Kelby, but like you, found it somewhat limiting. I then bought the Martin Evening, and like you, found it a bit intense. Give the Martin Evening a chance, it does take a lot of reading, but once you've started to get your head around it, it will be indispensable.

Nex,

If you could post an example of a problem image, it may help others to solve your issue.

Much as you may dislike this, it is now the accepted way to spell fibre in the context of optical fibers across the industry, across the globe. A colleague did a degree in telecoms which not surprisingly included a lot of work in this area. He submitted a large piece of work with the word "fibre" used consistently throughout. He got slated by his (British) lecturer and heavily marked down for this.

I haven't done this as a deliberate exercise for a very long time. However, I do find myself going out and about with only my Sigma 105 quite often, it's a lens that has surprised me with its versatility.

I suspect the variation in AWB between lenses are related to the colour casts that different lenses have. I didn't realise how "blue" my 18-55 kit lens was until I swapped to using the 16-45. I would imagine that the AWB will try and correct for these shifts.

I find a ball head works well with a monopod (can't stand it on the tripod, uugh). I usually use my monopod at airshows and find that with a ballhead quite slack - free to move - I can use the monopod to take the weight and give some stability whist still giving me the freedom to pan on rapidly crossing/vertically moving objects. Sounds odd I know, but it works for me.

Monopods are inherently unstable, I find the freedom of movement in a ball head ideal for taking up the adjustment.

Yes, I was talking about hole reducers, I thought that was what you wanted. I have seen adaptors to go the other way - as you want - advertised, but never seen one in the flesh. I suspect somewhere like Calumet may be able to help.