I’ve always said that if I could get something of good quality, made in the US, I’d gladly pay a little more for it. It was really nice to be able to back that up. I can’t speak to the durability, but I can honestly say they’re the most comfortable boots I’ve ever worn. In fact, when I put them on the first time I thought they had messed up and forgot the steel toes – but they are steel toed. They’re just so well built I couldn’t even feel the caps.

So anyway, this evening when I got home from work the setting sun was lighting up the butterfly thicket, and there was a beautiful female Tiger Swallowtail flapping around it. I grabbed the camera and snapped a few shots before going in the house for dinner.

I’d never been to a photography workshop before, so I wasn’t certain what to expect, but it turned out to be pretty interesting. Most of the people who were speaking at the event weren’t really talking about a specific type of photography, more along the lines of photography in general – so I can’t claim I learned a lot of new things, but it was kind of neat hearing how other people approach the field. Besides, you’re never wasting your time when you’re listening to people who are really good at something.

It’s kind of hard to believe it’s been 3+ weeks since our trip to Florida to watch the final Atlantis launch. I’m still going through all the photos we took. On Sunday after the launch we went back out to the coast to take a tour of Kennedy Space Center. These are a few of my favorite shots from KSC.

I shot photos as long as I could, keeping Atlantis in focus and just holding down the shutter button, but all too quickly it dwindled to a speck in the viewfinder, so I quit taking photos and watched the last few seconds with my naked eyes. A thick cloud ceiling, hanging low, and the shuttle punched into it like bullet. The fire of the rockets lit the clouds from inside and above, and for just a moment a bright yellow flash spread over the sky, and then she was gone.

Most of the reviews and comments you see about the E-5 contain the same five words: “It’s built like a tank!” – which is true, but personally it reminds me more of an assault rifle. Black (naturally), solid metal, armored, practically waterproof, with big chunky buttons, clicky dials and levers and things. In fact, the on/off switch is virtually identical to the safety on an M16.

I suspect that the three of us look pretty ridiculous when we’re out walking around now. I was carrying my E-5, Marshall had the E-P1, and Vicki had the FZ50. Something like 90% of our conversation consisted of angles, lighting, apertures and ISO settings. Two days and we took over 600 photos.

Way out west in North Carolina, about as far as you can go without tripping over into Tennessee, beyond the Brushy Mountains, the Blue Ridge, the Black Mountains, and the Appalachian plateau, smack in the middle of the Smokies, there’s a place in the Slickrock Wilderness called Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest.

Somewhere, all those teachers I tormented in High School must be laughing their asses off.