Various and sundry

[Doug Brewer]

Hi Troops...

I appear to be back on the road to recovery from the sinus infection that 
tried to kill my Grandfather Mountain trip, so I thought I'd drop in a few 
thoughts. It's overwhelmingly positive, so those of you who only have time 
for whining and bitching should move along to your next Chicken Little rant.

Two of the three... I've added the 43/1.9 to my lens collection and am 
totally stoked about it. I've shot with it before and was impressed with 
what I saw, so I can now look forward to more in-depth exploration of its 
qualities. I will pair it with my 77/1.8 for a new self-assignment for some 
real fun. The 31/1.8 remains elusive, but in the meantime I'm happy with 
the 35/2 I've had for a while, and since I'm not much of a wide-angle guy, 
it will be fine.

Speaking of Grandfather Mountain... I had another great time, fever and 
inability to breath aside. It was great seeing Mark Roberts, Ed Tyler, and 
the Owenses, as well as some other PDML lurkers who identified themselves 
to me. (Your secret is safe, y'all...) A couple of the programs were a 
little more evangelistic than we've had before, which was fun, and having 
Mark's help with the contest (and the computer support from Ed Tyler) was 
invaluable, not to mention hysterically funny. Those of you who missed the 
trip this time really missed a special weekend. Nyah nyah nyah.

And, tv, the lovely bellydancer was in attendance...

I'd really like to thank Pentax for its official presence at GFM, and for 
providing access to a tremendous amount of equipment. In past years I've 
afforded myself the opportunity to test out some of the gear and enjoyed 
myself. This year I wasn't really up to it, but I truly appreciate the 
chance, and next year I plan to jump in and put some 645 stuff to the test.

Gee, remember when it was okay on the list to enjoy using your Pentax gear? 
I know it's not the popular view, but I like my Pentax stuff. I don't spend 
my time worrying about what might or might not happen in the future. That 
won't help my photos one little bit. What does help is burning a little 
film. Try it. You might like it.

Doug