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The days are staying wonderfully mild here in Raleigh, with the past few seemingly filled with perfect weather and wonderful light.  Days like these make even me enjoy fall.  I know that it won’t last forever, but it certainly is nice while it’s around.

The weather drove us outside for most of the weekend, when we weren’t working that is.  Although we’d intended to spend most of the weekend getting some cleaning done around the apartment, it didn’t happen.  We still have a living room that looks more like a packed UHaul truck, and as I left the building this morning I could see the building foyer through a 2 foot by 1 foot hole in our kitchen wall.  Needless to say, neither of us are happy about this.  Tonight, regardless of pending work, we will be cleaning!

We will be heading up to NYC this weekend to support David in the marathon.  Our normal crew of 7 has been reduced to 4 this year, as David & Dan are travelling solo and Kim is jetting off to a wedding elsewhere this weekend.  I’m looking forward to seeing Mr. P, checking out the museums, and swinging by the Photo Expo at the Javits Center.  I’m sure it will be a terrific trip.

Speaking of being somewhere else, Mom is moving away.  She’s answering the siren call of the west coast, and moving out to live near my sister in the far northwest corner of Washington State (Sequim+Port Angeles).  I really don’t want her to move, but there’s not much I can about it.  Taryn and I will probably be driving her stuff out there around Christmas, but nothing is set in stone.

The house shopping continues, but without notable developments.  We spent the better part of yesterday discussing a particular house, and even called the owners to go take another look at it.  There is a lot to recommend it, but neither of us feels one hundred percent about it.  We have a contract in hand, but we haven’t completed it yet.  I don’t know what we’ll do, but I know I’d like to get the heck out of where we are.

IMAGE:  This is another of the images from the CAM Exposure Time event.  Kurt & Taryn are showing us their best catalog looks. 

This article pays tribute to one of the finest photographers … evar!

This video clip is part of an ad campaign run by Dove, the soap people.  Instead of using professional supermodels, with their extraordinary bodies, this campaign uses “real” women instead.  I think supermodels are hot, but I have to admit that I think this campaign does a great job pointing out that real women are sexy too.  This particular ad, however, is something special.  Doing photography, I’m well aware of the ability to make images that are part reality and part fantasy.  The ability of advertising to shape the self-image of young women, and men for that matter (think Men’s Health), lies in the assumption that this beauty is real.  We all know, but often don’t stop to think about it, that it’s not.  This ad does a great job of showing how unreal beauty ads are.

As a photographer, I’ve rewound and watched the photoshop portion of the video about 20 times.  How big of a geek does that make me?

Time for the weekly wrapup. The deal for the new studio we were planning isn’t going to work out, so were looking for a storage unit to contain all our stuff until we find a new space. Not getting the space is a bummer, but I know we’ll find something great eventually. Also on the bummer front, I’ve sold the motorcycle. With the impending studio deal, I decided to let my favorite toy go. I found a buyer within 45 minutes of posting it to craigslist. The couple that bought it seemed pretty stoked, so I know it’s got a good home.  I didn’t realize how attached I’d become until we drove off after signing the papers.  C’est la vie.

Selling the bike right now was incredibly bad timing too.  The Cabrio has been in the shop for over a week now, and we just had to have it towed to a different shop to have the oil pump rebuilt. Going from 3 vehicles to one is like diving into icy water, and I’m not over the shock yet.  To add to the inconvenience of sharing one car, the repairs on the Cabrio seem to be piling up.  On the bright side, once they’re all done we can put it on craigslist too.  A small convertible doesn’t cut it when you’ve got ladders, light stands, and photo gear to haul around. I’m looking for something along the lines of a van, minivan, or suv, but we’ll see. We also found a house that we’re interested it.  Taryn is working on arrangements to look revisit it and to check out some comparable houses in the neighborhood. It’s a 30+ year old, 3800 square foot ranch, on 2.5 acres of land.  The 13 minutes drive to downtown Raleigh rocks, and it’s a five minute walk to the Lake Wheeler Park.  Rural living, easy commute, and the right price make me like it a lot.  But, and there is always a but, with the musty smell in the basement, the “unique” landscaping, and the basement furniture being up on blocks, we’re concerned that there might be some water issues.  If we put an offer in on it, it will definately be contingent on a thorough inspection.

Work-wise, I’m buried beneath a pile of work that just seems to grow every day. Office stuff is, as always, growing faster than I can keep up. Photographically, there is *way* more to do than I have time for.  Between pushing to meet deadlines on office projects, editing images & albums for clients, and prepping for upcoming shoots and shows, I’m getting very little sleep these days.

Speaking of clients, the CAM Exposure Time project was this weekend.  I have to admit that it was one of the most fun things I’ve done this year, and I’m already looking forward to volunteering next year.  It was great to hang out with a group of motivated and talented photographers, as well as the terrific volunteers who were there to help out.  On top of that, every single one of my sittings went well and were with really fun people.  Taryn and I spent the day running around, shooting terrific images, and laughing the whole time.  At the end of the day we were both exhausted and happy.  It reminded me why I enjoy photography so much, and why I want to make it my career.  I’m still editing the images, but I’ll post a few of the personal shots and outtakes to flickr, and a selection of my favorites to chrisengel.com.

IMAGE: One of the few crossover projects I’ve been working on is the poster pictured above. It is one of the props for our national sales meeting, which is next week in Las Vegas. I did all the photography, design, and build. I don’t know if I’ll have the chance to do it again anytime soon, but I’d jump at the chance if so.

Taryn and I spent the last few days at the beach in Nags Head, NC.  A couple of folks from the Raleigh Flickr Group decided that a short holiday was in order, so we rented a house at the beach and proceeded to have a great time.  Taryn and I are already talking about when we can do it again.

House-wise, we’ve taken two steps forward and one back.  We finally found a home that we both liked, so we made an offer.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get the house.  This leaves us back in square one.  I know we’re both ready to find something, and I’m sure Taryn doesn’t want to be looking at houses any more.

This upcoming weekend I’m volunteering at the Contemporary Arts Museum’s “Exposure Time” fund raiser.  We’re setting up in the building CAM is working on buying & renovating, and then making portraits for anyone who comes out.  The sitting fees go to CAM and I’ll get a chance to meet some new folks and connect with some area pros (and hopefully pick up a few things).  If you need to have a picture taken, this is a great time to get a professional portrait and support a great cause too.  As a side note, I’ve finally posted something to chrisengel.com.  It’s minimalist but will grow slowly over time.  I’d love to get some feedback on it.

IMAGE: The clouds denied us the obligatory “sunset over the sound” picture at Jockey’s Ridge, so I made this portrait of Taryn instead.  Sometimes clouds are our friends.