While preparing for last night's No Fear Photography meeting, I realized that I've had a pretty exciting month of photography!

• As Independence Day approached, I realized I didn't care a thing for trying to take some fireworks photos, but we still stumbled upon some, and I happened to get a fireworks photo or 2 that I actually liked.
• I got away with taking all my gear on the beach vacation -- flashes, umbrella, lenses, foam and poster board reflectors, everything! The monopod bungeed to a chair or railing makes a great lightweight light stand.
• I crudded up my sensor pretty badly on vacation, and ended up learning: 1) small apertures show dust really well, 2) to clone out lots of dust spots in post-processing, and 3) how to clean the sensor with a blower, swab, and Eclipse fluid.
• I managed to shoot a few strobist-style shots of the family on vacation -- they played while I setup, then I shot for 10 minutes or so. Then we abruptly tossed all the gear in the van and ran off, because someone needed to hit the bathroom.
• I passed off my D40 and 50mm f/1.8 crammed into a too-small bag as a point-and-shoot, so I got it into the Kill Hannah show at Chameleon.
• Upon acquiring a super-cheap Sigma 70-300DG lens which only focuses manually on my D40 and a few other accessories, I've acknowledged that I have all the gear I need for now, and that opinion has stuck for nearly a month now. 300mm fits my needs nicely, and I seldom wish I had "just a little more".
• I've actually started shedding gear -- Stacey's borrowing my Nikkor 55-200VR lens which was effectively replaced with the 70-300. If she doesn't buy it, maybe someone else will.
• I'm having lots of fun shooting close-up shots with the Sigma lens.
• After about a month of shooting almost exclusively with the 70-300, I went back to my kit 18-55mm lens a bit to shoot some wide-angle -- I'm particularly enjoying wide landscapes and a bit of distortion in portraits.
• My manual-everything 50mm f/1.8 remains my go-to lens for parties, low-light, and street photography.
• I was looking at the Fall non-credit photography courses at HACC and trying to choose 1 of 2 possible classes. Today, I just registered for both, instead of trying to choose: Portrait Photography and Perfect Pictures.