Header CSS (vertically align Site Title, resize Site Title, resize Logo)

Hey there,
for my website I’m using the North theme: http://www.raphaelaklein.at

1. I’d like to vertically center some stuff

Site Title:
– just as the Logo on the left and the Menu on the right side are vertically centered.
I’ve tried the following, but it doesn’t change a thing:

header#masthead .hgroup h1 {
vertical-align: middle;
}

Images:
I’d also like to vertically center an image within its row – see the portrait in the “Hello” section.

2. Furthermore, I’d like to format the Site Title just like the Menu – same size and same font weight. Under Theme Settings > Fonts I can only change the thickness (Variant), but not the size.

3. When I upload my logo in a resolution that displays it nice and smooth, it’s way too big in the header. Using the 50x50px version would make a nice height, but pixelates it. Tried this code from another thread in the support forum, but it doesn’t help either:

header#masthead.masthead-logo-in-menu.logo > img {
max-height: 50px;
}

Hope somebody can help, thanks in advance :)