EngelFish.Net

As you can see from the change in Belle’s size from the last picture to this one, it’s been a while since I’ve posted on this blog. Outside of taking up World of Warcraft and working a lot, I really don’t have much of an excuse. I doubt if anyone wants to hear about my Night Elf’s Mining, or the intricacies of SAS programming with regards to automation of home-brewed bank account reconciling programs, so I wouldn’t have made barn burning posts posted anyway.

So what is new you ask? Well, not much. I’m still looking for work outside of photography, but still doing photography full time as well. I really love it, and have had some great experiences lately shooting weddings. It really does make my day when we shoot a wedding where everyone is both good people and super photogenic! I’m planning on doing some website updates soon over at chrisengel.com, so keep an eye on that site too.

I’ve also been shooting some editorial stuff lately, and my latest project was about three times as much work as I’d expected it to be. When I bid the job I thought it would be about three days worth of work. The word “underestimated” comes to mind! I’m just wrapping it up now, but at least there were some terrific images. I’m looking forward to getting the editor’s feedback and seeing which images they run.

On the home front, Taryn finished her final undergraduate degree exam for the University of South Africa! She graduates, with a degree in Management-Finance-HR-Marketing, in March. We’re planning on going over for her graduation, which we’re both looking forward to. Taryn is also racing against the weather (it snowed here yesterday) to get her 136 pounds of bulbs in the ground. It has dropped into the upper twenties here the last couple of nights, so we’ll see in the spring if she won.

The menagerie is doing well too. All the animals (Felix, Oscar, Casey, Cleo, Alex, Xavier, and Belle) are doing fine. They have all decided that family togetherness is a good thing, and that sleeping on our warm bed is the way to go. I imagine the weather has something to do with that. Aside from a touch of hindquarter lameness, the Belle is growing well. She’s 6 months old now, and already the same size as Alex and Xavier.  She’ll be a bit taller, but probably not much heavier. She’s still the puppy though, and all things chewable are fair game in her eyes. The housebreaking is coming along, albeit slowly. She doesn’t like to go outside when it’s cold, and hates getting her paws wet… which means we have to be extra watchful on rainy days.

I’ll see what I can do about getting back on a weekly posting schedule. We’ll see how that works out. Anyone interested in taking wagers?

While we are getting away for the weekend to Charleston, I thought I’d post this picture of Belle.  She’s growing daily, which is a good thing.  She is not, however, catching on to the concept of outside = bathroom.  I’ve heard Taryn use more profanity in the past few days, normally brought on by stepping onto a cold wet spot on the floor.  Not pretty.

The trip to Charleston was Tommy & Kendall’s idea, but it comes with 100% support of Taryn.  I know we’ll have a good time, but being the curmudgeon I am I can only think of how much work I have to do.  I’m sure it’ll all be fine once we arrive…. but still.  ~grumble grumble~  But at least I get to do the driving there and back.  That’ll be loads of fun… for me… not for Taryn. ~grin~

I guess the biggest news since my last post is that we have a new puppy.  Our friends, Jen & Baron, rescued her from their next-door neighbors and gave her to us.  She was named Willa Mae, but we’re working on coming up with a less grandma-y name, with the front runners being Cara, Lily, and Tessie.  We’ll let you know what the final vote is.  She’s only a few weeks old, but she’s already bigger than Alex & Xavier were at the same age (appx 7 weeks), so she might end up being a big girl, although she looks like a black lab and I wouldn’t have expected it.  Her favorite pastimes, in addition to long walks on the beach and candle-light dinners, are chewing on anything she can fit in her mouth (noses and earlobes included) and sleeping.

Now for an update on my renewed running and fitness program.  It’s been over 10 days since I’ve done a damn thing, which isn’t good.  I did, however, get up and walk for 78 minutes this morning.  It felt good, and it was sorta nice to watch the world wake up.  I haven’t had that experience since running with Kim down on Hillsborough Street back when I was training for the NYC Marathon.  I’ll be keeping this up, if only for that great start to the day.

Photography-wise, things are slow.  I’m in the midst of prepping invoices, trying to design an album, returning calls for pro-bono projects, and putting together a shoot for the RSG Summer Project.  I did have one really interesting photo adventure this week though.  Saturday evening, just after walking in the door from a full day at the pool with Jen & Baron & Taryn, I got a call.  There was a wedding that night at the Duke Gardens (a 30-40 minute drive away), and they didn’t have a photographer.  The DJ was a friend of mine, and through Tommy, asked me to come shoot it.  I said I would, and asked what time it started.  He replied, “Right now”.  I told him it would be at least 45 minutes before I could be there and he told me they would wait for me.  Talk about pressure!  Skip to the end of the evening, and it was a beautiful wedding with a wonderful bride and groom.  Everyone had a great time, and I got some terrific pictures for them to remember it all by.  I was really glad I did it, and I was happy that I got the call at the last minute too.  I didn’t have to spend the weeks, days, and hours leading up to the event worrying and building anticipation.  I just showed up, shot, and had a great time!  If only all jobs could be this fun.

Outside my office window is a tree that I stop at least once a day to notice.  I have watched it roll through the seasons for a couple of years now.  Today, it looks like a funky lollipop, with reddish-amber leaves fringing an inner ring of golden-yellow, and a heart of the remaining pale-green leaves.  The sun rides pretty low in the sky this time of year, and there is a period during the day when it illuminates the tree from inside, causing it to glow with rich colors.  The wind today, although not strong, is constant, and the tree is slowly losing the battle.  Every day I can see more of the limbs and trunk, and less of the color.  In a handful of weeks it will be completely bare.  That thought makes me want to pull on a sweater, warm up a mug of hot chocolate, and settle in for the winter. 

IMAGE: Taryn with the puppies, who will officially be dogs on Thanksgiving, their first birthday.

Sorry, but I had to post this.  It was too cute to not share.