Spent the late morning and early afternoon at Powell Gardens to get some good shots of the butterfly festival.  Now, normally,  a man wouldn’t be so enthusiastic about seeing butterflies, but when it comes to photography, well, there’s a lot to see and to shoot.   So yea, I was like a kid in a candy store.

The only thing that bugged me though is that there seemed to be quite a few people there with cameras who acted like complete snobs as soon as they saw my camera.  And just about all of them were 50+ year old white guys with entry level SLR’s with kit lenses, or high end point and shoots.   Same move every time, they look at me, look at the camera, and throw some snobbish look at me and move on.  My “hi’s” and “How are you doing’s” were frequently met with silence and grumbles.   Out of the whole day, I only remember striking up a photography related convo with three people.   Two guys who had questions about what my ring flash was and how to get better close up shots, and another one who was an actual pro photographer in which I actually had a long and extended convo about lighting, new equipment on the photography scene, techniques, etc…   Thank god I was there to shoot flowers and butterflies and not socialize.  People who don’t even thank you when you keep the door open for them after you go through so it doesn’t slam in their face.   Here’s a tip people!  When people keep the door open for you, you ONLY walk through if you’re a woman.  Otherwise, you take hold of the door and say thanks.  Don’t walk through without even trying to grab the door or saying thanks for the consideration.   That’s how you catch a butt whipping by a black guy.   Fortunately, I’m not a hooligan.  But I wouldn’t mind being one for a day.  My theory was that these a-holes were from the rural areas where blacks aren’t too common.

Next time I go to that area, I’ll wear a shirt with a black power fist on the front.

Anyway, enough with the rant.  Other than that, it was a pretty fun experience.  The staff that worked there were very pleasant and informative and I popped off plenty of shots.   Here’s a sample of some of the ones I shot