... chuck and ann's daughter, liz, invited me to photograph her wedding in alabama ... first time i've ever done so, i traveled extra light, carrying only two camera bodies, two lenses, and two flash units (extras were backups) ... amanda made all the plans, so all i had to do was stand atop a snowbank outside my apartment in 15°f air at 4:15am and wait to be picked up ...
... obviously the world south of maine is embracing spring ... we were welcomed to alabama by one of the local venomous denizens, a brown recluse, Loxosceles recluse ...
... with a bit of time on our hands, chuck and i sat out by the pool for about fifteen minutes ... needless to say, we discovered that maine's long winter seems to have greatly weakened our resistance to uv radiation ... no matter, it was worth it ...
... on the way to the rehearsal barbecue we made a little scenic detour into downtown enterprise to view the "only statute in the world dedicated to an insect pest" ...
... it seems that in 1915 an infestation of boll weevils ate up the cotton crop and there was thought that the farming community would never recover ... instead of giving up, however, the farmers planted other crops, such as peanuts, and the result was the growth of a vibrant economy ... in 1919 they dedicated this monument in recognition of a "blessing in disguise" ...
... everywhere you go, there's always something neat to be seen or learned ...
... the wedding was great fun ... for me, of course, with one camera and lens it was a back to the basics of photography experience, made more interesting by the fact that i'm still getting used to the d7000 camera ... you can enjoy the entire wedding album on phanfare, but here're a few of my favorites ...
... still not quite used to the d7000's controls, i was pleased to find myself becoming comfortable enough with the camera to be able to focus it quickly enough to capture a "decisive moment" ...
... liz and victor posed for me, i then did a bit of photoshopping ...
... while i consider myself to be a well-traveled individual, on the way home i encountered something i'm told is now rather routine equipment in airport terminals, an automatic hygenic seat cover dispenser ... will wonders never cease ...
... okay, hopefully you're done laughing ... but, honestly, don't you wish you'd invented it ... i do ... i mean, after all, it's such a way cool idea ...
... back home, after four days in t-shirt weather struggling to readjust to ice and snow and well-below freezing temperatures in mid-march, i considered purchasing a new lens, a nikon 18-200mm VR zoom, which would allow me to much better utilize my d7000's capabilities ... budgetary considerations had to be made, of course, so i started laying out an ad on ebay to sell my sigma 100-300mm f/4, a most cherished lens that i very rarely use ... halfway through the process i put the sigma on my camera, opened the window, and took this snapshot ...
... i erased the ad ...