i really appreciate it. i have only owned my DSLR for about 5 or 6 months now, never taken a photography class, so i would say that i am quite the newbie to it.
thanks for the tips the post production for shot #1, that makes a lot of sense.
the "sensor dust" was actually sand i think, brought my dog to the beach that day. saw those spots on a couple of my shots, but after i got home and did a cleanup of my lenses, it seemed to go away.