Work continues to be the same game with a lot of the same frustrations. But I'm tired of looking at it/thinking about it so I'm creating another journal with more positive updates on what I've been doing outside of work while I continue to look for another job to stablize that end.

So what else have I been up to? Getting out of the house as much as I can. Appreciating time spent with friends while I try to make new ones at the same time. I've been rather stagnant on that one... and that is something I need to put more effort into. Friends are something you can never have too many of.

I've been very quiet about it, but I'm running for the  mnfurs board of directors. Why have I been so quiet? Because I don't feel that running for the board is about ME. I'm doing it for the COMMUNITY.

I know a fair amount about the working of the machine as it were in part because I have been with the community for a long time. And it's been a very rewarding ride. I don't want a title and I don't think this is about me. If I got elected it would not be my personal goals and vendetta it will be the communitys will that I would uphold.

Also, I consider the current board members as Friends. A few of them are considered to be very close friends. They have provided counselling to me on countless occasions. So a way I am doing this because I want to give something back.

No matter what I want to continue to work with the MNFurs Board of Directors, the MNFurs staff and the community as a TEAM. Because without teamwork and commodary things start falling apart just like they are at work. I have no one at my current job to ask for for help. I have no one I can offer my help to as well which is getting really frustrating here.

But I can still get such support from the  mnfurs community and even the furry community at large, such as Midwest Furfest where I am privelaged to be another team member. I wouldn't trade such commodratey for all the gold pressed latinum in the Ferengi Trade Alliance.

It feels like my life is one big game right now. Mostly on the Job front but for some other things too. All about moving and maneuvering pawns to get the best shot at something. This sums up the idea of changing jobs right now.

As mentioned before, I have a well paying job that is utter hell right now. Back and forth messages with management... getting "bandages" put on things (subcontractors) rather then fix the wound for good. Its all one stupid game with them. They are pushing me as far as I can go to save them as much money as they can before I break or quit. So far, its working... for them. But eventually its going to explode in their face. I really wish I had that date when the shit hits the fan, but Alas I still don't *sigh*

I had an interview with my old recruiter. I was hoping for a miracle, but I got a slap of reality. It went... realistically. He said the market looks "promising" but I should wait until I get an offer.

It means I continue to play the game. I advance my pawn one space instead of making a checkmate on Monday that I had hoped for.

At this point... my future is out of my hands. Fate gets to play for me for awhile. I just hope she doesn't sit around and take her damn time as she likes to do *sigh*

I sit and wait for that call back. THEN an interview, a deliberation and finally an offer. It could still happen by the end of next week... it could also be... three months from now, when my recruiter has something for me. Once I have an offer it will move very quickly.

And when it does happen my current company will get screwed over, big time. Because the rules of the game have also changed. In order to get another job I realize I can only afford giving out a two week notice, but I need to hold out until the very last minute, when I have a job offer in paw.

As slow as my company is with getting "paperwork" done... its very doubtful they can even hire someone in two weeks and there is so much proprietary training on my accounts that even if there was someone in there day one, I could not adequately train them in that amount of time.

I feel really really bad for the poor SOB who gets stuck replacing me as they will be thrown into the dark with a hopeless amount of work at their feet. But that is their problem, and the company's problem NOT mine.

I hate sounding selfish... but in this case I guess I kinda have to be. For now I'll move slowly and play their stupid little game for now like nothing happened...

And then one day, without warning they'll be freaking out.... and I'll be free...

And then hopfully NO MORE DAMN GAMES

So yeah. I never did do a thought dump of 2013, Just the very tail end of it which was in itself an amazing way to end the year. On the flipside 2014 has been off to a rather shaky start. I'll get into that towards the end...

39,167. That's how many photos I took this year. This does NOT include Video or "photos" taken from my cell phone which I do not consider to be a camera. It DOES include my 3 main cameras and ones I have sold off.

2013 was the year of the camera. The year in which my photography hobby really blossomed. I had enlightenment in 2010 when I shot a little over 20k photos but then fell into a bit of a rut over the next two years. I got annoyed by "professionals" and Gear Snobs. I almost hung up my camera because of them. But I didn't. And 2013 saw a renaissance beyond what I could have imagined.

For the first time in my life I was making a "living" wage. Because I still live at home it allowed me to have a surplus of money. This surplus went into upgrading my gear including buying all three of my current "upgrades" on the camera bodies, and a number of lenses and an upgraded set of Studio gear as well as a better desktop rig for actual photo processing and editing.

Towards the end of the year, I started leasing a small photo studio. Its not much, 200 SF. Its a place of my own that I haven't had the time to get the use out of it yet - that is the other edge of the sword which I will get into.

So the pros of 2013:

-Upgraded all of my camera gear (to a point where I have access to all the tools I need and many more options to play with...)
-Got more use out of both my cameras and studio equipment then any other year I've had the hobby
-Rented my first property of my own- this is a huge milestone. Its moving out and gaining responsibility (without fully committing to changing my lifestyle fully)
-Held a "stable" full time job that paid well. This is for 2013. 2014 is not looking as bright in that regard....

Cons:

-Almost every con I have falls under "Time". This has been something that had been growing in 2013 and has snowballed into insanity in 2014. Time and the Stress that makes me feel like I have a lot less Time for things that I might normally have. But some specific areas that got strained for me in regards to time:

-Did not use the Boat that much this year (also weather related to a point)
-Did not get to Fly Fish that much either (same thing)
-Had to split my remaining time between an increase of volunteer time for  mnfurs and other charity orgs, my photography (which often went
hand in hand with the Volunteer work) hanging out with friends, doing small daytrips and everything else.
-Building stress at work due to Bell curve in workload. When I started my job at the end of 2012 Full Time it was manageable. I was not stressed and
never was given more then I could chew. It went up EXPONENTIALLY during the Fall. More on this in Breaking Point.
-Had more time to take photos then I had to edit and post them. While I did get a lot of content up for 2013 I am horribly behind. And its beginning
to show as other people are dumping/posting photos from events I haven't even got started on yet *sigh*

So that is 2013 in a nutshell. It ended in an amazing Vacation, but the Stress leading up to it actually made me seriously think of moving and hitting the reset button on life. The idea, however improbable actually was quite damn tempting for a moment. Which leads us into the crap I had to deal with over the last two days when I got sucked back into reality....

From one perspective, I can't complain. I make more money then I actually need right now which makes me able to buy toys, help friends out, and go out more places WHEN I am able. HOWEVER there is a nasty nasty nasty double edge to this sword which is reaching a breaking point.

At my current job I am the ONLY Technican that my company has to cover my accounts. This means 1. I have to fight to get time off. 2. If I call in sick, even for a DAY I get SLAMMED when I return. For example I had a nasty Sinus infection that happened, gracefully, when it was slower earlier this year. If I were to get sick like that NOW I would be beyond screwed. If its even POSSIBLE to be more helplessly behind then I am right now.

The company I work for is cheap cheap cheap. They do EVERYTHING to cut corners. This was made evident when I have 3-4X the workload I can possibly handle in a week in Nov, Dec, and now Jan of this year. Currently I have enough open tickets and misc work that it would take me TWO WEEKS to catch up and that is IF NO ONE called in a SINGLE help ticket or slapped on another project atop the mountain I have right now. Which isn't going to happen. They started piling up work atop of this mound this week and its all collapsing on itself.

My company will not hire another tech to help me. I've pleaded several times, and got the cold shoulder every time. They will ocasionally pull a tech from another account for the SHORT TERM only if its a high priority project and then that tech will be dedicated ONLY to that project and NOT around to assist me with my backlog of daily work.

The day I got back from vacation I had a near mental breakdown when I realized how many tickets were in my que and that people kept calling in tickets. I started to snap at some of the customers because I felt like they were out just to make my life more miserable by giving me more work in a selfish way. This is NOT the case and nor should I be thinking this way. If your computer goes down its not your fault. But since I have so many tickets it feels like your issue is just there to taunt me, like you broke it knowing I was busy to watch me writhe in pain. This is not healthy.

If this wasn't enough they added Insult to Injury by forcing me to take ALL of my Vacation hours over the Holiday Shutdowns of the actual company I work at. Last year, they gave me paid holiday for this time. This year... Christmas and New Years. The rest of it "oh your site is closed down too bad you must use your vacation to cover it" Yeeah.

I have all of 4 hours of vacation left out of a Week and a half I had originally. Granted... I made good use of it. I got to go on two trips, one to Las Vegas and one to Arizona over my break. They were both awesome in their own right but at the same time going away on vacation only made things much much worse when I returned. Esp during this last vacation.

This means that taking time off for the next few months will be nigh impossible until I gain a day or two back. It takes roughly a month to acrew one day of vacation time. I get a total of 10 days of vacation acrewed in a year, half of which was forced to be taken during the holiday shutdown.... There was a con I wanted to go to in Feb (Fur Squared). Now the chance of me going is unlikely unless I get a new job, I risk playing hooky and burn the rest of my sick time (which I don't want to do) OR I straight up leave and take my chances...

I worked 2 days this week. Those two days felt like TWO WEEKS full of work...

---

I handed my resume off to the neighbor who is going to pass it off to his company. I got interviewed for another job in Nov that I did not get. I'm going to try to get my resume back to Robert Half and see if they have anything for me. But work is so draining right now that it feels like I'm quite litterally working 80 hours a week.

When I get home a lot of days I feel like that. I only want to do one of two things: get as far away from home as possible and blow off steam with friends OR fall asleep in bed. Getting out with friends and communities has been the ONLY thing keeping me sane right now.

So I guess the question is: where do you draw the line. Where do you reach a breaking point where the money isn't worth the stress? Sure, I can sit here and buy material possessions and even work on paying off my debts... but what is life if you can't enjoy it? What is a job if you are so stressed and overloaded with work that someone trying to even say hello to you at work could set you off because you don't feel you have the time to even nod thanks to them back?

I think I am reaching my breaking point. And both the companies I support and my parent company would stand to loose a LOT if I just up and left right now. It would take atleast a month to train someone on all the accounts I am on and get them the proper badge and network access they need for the sites to do my job. Add to that my current backlog- which would be instantly applied to no one if I walked off right now.

I wouldn't walk off without notice as... nice as that would be to just decide I am not going to put up with this anymore and not show up on Monday. But I have to decide at this point how much longer I can go if my company won't staff my role properly. How many weeks do I need to both cover my own finances and give them some hope to possibly get someone in to cover my job who will likely burn out in a few weeks anyways...

Or how long before I make the ultimatum: "Hire someone to help or I am gone and you'll need to hire someone anyways" and roll the dice and see if they actually man up and call rather then fold and slither into a corner like they have been doing.

At this point... if I get a job offer for up to $5-7 less hourly then I make right now I am GONE without a second thought. They might get the standard two week notice at best in this case so I don't jeopardize not getting the offer from the new company.

Wow that was long. Cookie if you read it all. So far... 2014 looks pretty shitty unless things change. Its sad when you reach a point where work frustrates you enough you snap at co-workers who are trying to be friendly. Then it will move onto snapping at parents and family, and then to friends. This sort of overwhelming frustration does NOT stop at the workplace.

I feel like I am working in a call center all over again. Even if this time I'm doing a job I don't mind doing under normal circumstances. But when you are forced to take on an entire army by yourself as a Lone Solider....

Things never end well for that Lone Solider...

So... 2013. It ended in an amazing way. Considering that is what is foremost on my mind that is where we will start; on the final days of 2013 which was spent in Arizona, a place I have been visiting once a year, with a few years I wasn't able to go for financial or other reasons, (such as the two years my Grandparents tried wintering in TX instead) to visit my Grandparents who wintered in Arizona and escape the winter wonderland of Minnesota.

It was also a place I could clear my head, and forget about my hectic at times life back in MN. Away from work, debt, volunteer activities, Conventions and the whole lot. It was solace. Its like looking into an alternate life where things were so much simpler. Just me, the majestic natural beauty the state holds, and a camera or a fly rod.

I even remember my early childhood trips here; two decades ago. Even if my freedom then was a lot more limited. I remember going to the Flea Markets with my grandparents and spending time at an outdoor pool when all the locals looked at me funny for swimming in 70 degree weather. I remembered when I saw the Grand Canyon for the first time; well before I was pulled into the wonders of photography. I remember waiting for the Hummingbirds to return to the nest atop an old planter in my grandparent's garage.

I remember my Grandpa taking me fishing on one of the reservoirs that winded through the Canyons in the mountains and how overwhelming it was to be on a small boat in a lake 100 feet deep... with canyon walls that were twice that high looming overhead.

---

As I was at the hotel room on the way to the Grand Canyon, I debated with myself.

What if I never left? What if I had a chance to reset everything and move down here. And a part of me wanted to stay. I won't deny that. I have a LOT of memories in this state and I didn't want to think that this would be my final time. Why did this have to be the end for me?

It was the last time for my Grandparents down there; but this does not mean it has to be my last time. There are too many good memories down here to let it go.

This trip I spent a lot less time with my Grandparents and a lot more time with myself. Out in the Mountains, in Solace. Just myself. I felt bad about this, but then I remembered my grandparents would be moving into an assisted living home 35 mins away. I can visit them any time I like.

But not here. Arizona is a special place. In my head the debate continued. If I did move down here: would it become less special? It might. Would the other extreme of the brutal heat of the Arizona summer drive me just as insane and wanderlust as the extreme cold of Minnesota winters? It might. It was a tradeoff. Part of me wished I was 30-40 years older so I could live half of my year down here and half of it back in MN; like my Grandparents did for the last 20 or so years of my life.

Then it was over. I took around 1700 photos which I still need to sort out. I'll be going through my photos of AZ from past years as well.. and may put together a best of memory collage. Who knows.. I may even do a photo book or something from an online place. That would be a neat idea. While I've only done real photography of Arizona since 2009, there is still a lot of content there. And photos from a pocket camera that while crude, are still memories dating back to 2004.

I'm sure there are some photos of AZ taken on film cameras such as my old instamatic Poloroid camera I had floating somewhere around the house.

---

Now I'm back home. And while my trip to AZ was amazing, and I really am NOT looking forward to the Hell that is work tommorow... it is good to be home.

If I left I would miss my friends up here. If I moved the first month may be amazing... and then I'd become incredibly lonely. And would have to make friends all over again which is not impossible but is difficult. I don't take for granted my friends and the community I have in this place.

Nor should I take for granted how amazing Minnesota is during the summer. Spending a quiet night on a boat out in the middle of a lake watching the sunset. Arizona sunsets are amazing but a summer sunset on the water rivals that quite easily.

A part of me is back in AZ. A part of me will never leave that place. But Minnesota is home.

I will find myself back down there, this time of my own accord; to visit if not for long enough. And this will keep me coming back.

---

There are a lot of places in the United States I want to visit. I'd still like to get back to Seattle as now I have a camera worthy of capturing the beauty of the mist coming over the mountains. Same goes for Hawaii.

I want to see Alaska in the Summer. I want to see Yellowstone. Washington DC. Fly fish out in Colorado or Montana for Trophy Rainbow Trout. Maybe even give California a second chance someday.

Of course... this means I need to find a job that will ALLOW me to take trips like this. That is, right now New Years resolution #1. What good is money if you can only spend it on material possessions, and not on life experiences of travel? As of right now, I have NO vacation time because I was forced to burn it all during the Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. Which is lame. Most companies get this time off for free, but not me.

I made the best of it, but I really want to travel. There are a lot of places I would like to see atleast once. I'm not going to even add other countries to the list. While it would be fascinating to visit Europe... there are so many places in this great nation of the United States of America left unexplored to me. In spite of how our economy and government is in constant strife, the Diversity of this country is simply amazing. There are very few places in the world that can compare; and I'm proud to be a part of it.

---

Arizona I will be back; sooner then you may expect it. This I vow.

This is not the end my friend.

So now that FA is back, I guess I'll make my obligatory "where will Yarrick go.." post.

For the moment, I'm not moving anywhere. This "Redemption" site AKA Weasyl does NOT have the features FA has. Plain and simple. Its a very very big pain for trying to browse for art/photography there unless you are looking for a very specific thing AND people tag their pics right OR you are "friends" with someone, yeah. Weasyl looks a lot to me like Facebook for Furries (without the games... but STILL). And I won't get into how much I HATE Facebook.

So yeah. I'll just leave it at that. All of my venting/information sharing will stay on FA journals for now. If anything... I'd cross post to something? But I don't have the TIME to really cross post...

My bulk uploads for Photography will go on my two Flickr accounts. I will post an occasional photo here and there here. But to really see a bigger selection of my photography look at my Flickrs. That said... Flickr is NOT that good of a social/communication venue. So FA will still remain that community for me for now.

...So that said: Because of the downtime this gets a little delayed but I'm not too worried. I figure late cards are better then no cards.

Would anyone like to get a custom photography card from me? It will be printed on Matte photo/presentation paper with my new spiffy photo printer.

For those who are suiters and I have taken photos of at a Convention I attend or local event here, your card will have a photo (or a collage) of photos I've taken of you in suit.

For those who don't suit or I've never had the chance to take photos of your suit; I will do my best to match you up with a photo from my Nature/Zoo photography that I think you may enjoy. Typically, this would be a photo of an animal related to your 'sona but also could be something else. If I know you have an interest in trains for example don't be shocked if your card has photos of railway stuff on it for example :).

If interested, send me a PM with your address. Those I get before Dec 23rd I will mail out on the 23rd. Yes I know this means it won't get to you by Christmas but it should get to you before New Years which still fits the bill of being a holiday card.

Those I receive after the 23rd- if you are interested in a belated card... I can still ablige you but they won't get sent out until Jan 3rd at the earliest.

Happy Holidays!

I'm a photographer first and foremost. That isn't going to change.. but...

At MFF and the last Tree of Hope fundraiser I found myself shooting video for a change. And I've started to learn some of the things you can do with Adobe Premiere, even if they are fairly basic things, to blend a bunch of clips together and sync with a music track to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur_j.....ature=youtu.be .

I spent hours editing down about an hour worth of footage (that's about all I got to do over the course of the entire con, I was THAT busy :/) into a 10 minute video, and I used appropriate music to fit the con theme; heh.

Doing the video was a lot of work... but I hope it turned out okay. I don't claim to be a BBF or a Revvit; I never WILL be. I'd much rather be known for my photography even if I'm really not that well known... heh.

But I may do some videos now and then just to mix things up and keep things interesting. I may put together some photo montages with music too and upload them to this youtube channel.

Life update. Went to Vegas, had a great time in spite of getting lost a few times and my friend that I went with getting very ill from severe food poisoning from Sashimi (and now you know WHY I won't eat Sushi... HEH). I still have over 3,000 photos I need to sort through (many were burst shots taken at various water/fire/acrobatic or animal shows down there); and just haven't had the time....

Came back and work has just been hell this week. Winter likewise has been well... hell this week. We got our first major winter storm of the year. About 4 inches of snow but because of how rapidly the tempature dropped it all turned into ice. Not fun to drive on, worse having to deal with other people who act like they have never seen ice/snow before on the roads. So I had two days with hour and a half commutes home from having a shit day at work because I'm short staffed and my company is cheap and won't staff my position properly...

But I'm not going into that rant. Money wise I get paid well. The type of work is tolerable for me... the amount and stupidity of needing to be so many places at once at times? Maybe not so much.

Also work is forcing me to burn off vacation over the Holiday shutdown. Did I mention my company is CHEAP? *sigh*

So it looks like I'll be going down to Arizona during this winter break for one final dance in the Southwest desert. I'll be renting a car and spending 2 days of the trip to go up to the Grand Canyon one last time. This is the last year my grandparents are wintering there. They'll be selling the farm and their place in AZ come spring to move into a retirement castle next year. It's one of the downsides of getting older... things like this change. :/

It will be time to clear out my head and figure out if I start job hunting in Jan and go back on the market. I wouldn't leave this job cold turkey... but I may be interested in seeing what else is out there.

For right now, I need to power through the next three weeks. I expect to be very frazzled during this period of time. Then I will decide my path for the new year in the solitude of the Arizona countryside; just me and my camera, or a fly rod enjoying one of the most beautiful places in the United States one last time....

I could make this into a very long journal... but I'm going to try to do a much consolidated one as MFF this year, specfically my part in it, was CRAZY.

Crazy in a good way mostly. For those who don't know I'm staff at MFF; I'm the Gaming Tract head.

This may not sound like much... your mind may go "oh you have an easy job, you get to sit and play games all con" and a lot of times I wish it was that easy...

I barely had any time to play any games this year except very late at night when only the die-hard gamers were around; then I was able to sneak in some CAH But aside from that...

I was on my feet the rest of the con, running back and forth to keep my head above water. I scheduled myself to run 3 games and wasn't able to run any of them. Outside of running around as Staff all I got to do was take short clips of video between my runs. I am hoping to put together a MFF video this year as I was too taxed to really spend any time with photography.

I had my Olympus PEN on a lightweight video C bracket and a small LED light. All told with lens it weighed less then my 60D body ONLY which for as much running I had to do made it invauleable. I'm really suprised Micro 4/3rds cameras arent more popular at con. I saw dozens upon dozens of DSLRs, a lot of Go Pros and cell phones. The olympus is a great compromise for size and quality and is ideal for a convention. Unless I'm an offical con photographer; I have NO REASON to lug my brick of an SLR around.

Anyways... the rig worked pretty good the few times I got to use it. I'm a noob when it comes to Videography but I simply did not have the time to sit and concentrate on Photography- all I got for photos on the camera was few quick snapshots. But I hope the video I got makes up for it.

But back to gaming; it was insane. We changed our gaming areas which, in the past when we've done it would cause a slump for a year then pick up. Instead it exploded. The con grew by over 500 people and this growth reflected in gaming too. We had at one point a total of 20 tables of gamers full of 8-12 at each along with two games of Lupus in Tabula running 15-20 people and 20-30 in the video game room. Good freaking god thats a lot of gamers.

Next year, we hope to expand gaming further which is not something I was expecting to say. And hopefully have the staff to cover it so I can enjoy more of the con and not fall over dead. I haven't been this busy as gaming staff at MFF since the first two years as staff when it was really just me and I had no one under me. If that was still the case... I'd be dead by now c.c.

So a big thank you to all the people who stopped by gaming at MFF this year, and to my staff. You guys all rock! I'm really looking forward to next year in spite of how crazy insane it gets...

Because in the end it was all worth it. Gaming made a growing portion of this con happy. We had enough attendees in gaming throughout the con that made us bigger then a small to medium sized DEDICATED gaming convention. Sweet Jesus.

So yeah to all the gamers out there that went to MFF THANK YOU and I really hope to see you all back again for 2014 :)

So I broke down and bought a high resolution photo printer last night. A lot of people, myself included, would note that it may not be the smartest idea to dump $250 right before a convention and trip to Las Vegas; however I had a choice...

I wanted to print up some business cards to hand out at MFF if I find people who want to contact me or watch my photography. I found out I had the business card stock, but it was not designed/would have issues being fed through a lazer printer which was the only known working printer I had. I have a stack of old inkjet printers of various qualities sitting around that were all in unknown states of operation and had not been used in anywhere between one and 5 years. So I could run out, spend money on ink and play printer roulette; potentially blowing a lot of money on ink before I found a working printer or got lucky... OR

Say screw it and buy a new printer. Well if I'm buying a new inkjet printer I don't want nor need a Multifunction POS I have a high res photo scanner which runs circles around anything on a MFD save for a high end office Ricoh or Xerox or something. I have no need for an "okay" scanner. I also am not interested in a cheap printer that is good for things like business cards and greeting cards and documents and is hit or miss at best with small photos.

So I figured out what I wanted and went for it. A dedicated photo quality inkjet printer. I also do not have a ton of space on my desk so while a 13x19" monster sounds nice for a lot of people I don't have the room for it. I also want something I can easily transport from home to the studio to do onsite prints at some point. I don't need to do anything bigger the 8x10 for photography- this is my standard size for proofing. Anything larger... its cheaper to use an online mail order place for specality huge prints.

Without going with a printer that was no longer made or working with a dye sub printer- nice in theroy till you realise how hard it is to get the special photo paper in stock... there was only ONE printer that met all my criteria. Sad isn't it? Everyone either wants enormus photo printers that fill an entire desk or tiny ones that print 4x6. The legal sized photo printers are a dying breed.

The Epson Artisan 50 is one of the last medium form mid range photo printers on the market. So there was another reason to get it now. Microcenter only had 3 in stock. They were all in the back- not displayed in the front so it wasn't an item they carried as regular inventory any more. They only had one canon monster sized photo printer as regular stock; all the other Epsons they had were either the very cheap home user or the small business grade workforce printers- in their own right are good at what they do, fast and reasonably cheap color document printing; but not the best for photo printing.

Outside of the business cards; I printed one 8x10 photo last night and was quite shocked at how well it turned out. For not knowing how the printer works... and fiddling with the RGB etc etc... the printer provided a vibrant photo print with very minimal fiddling. I wanted to do my own printing for awhile now but was always scared of how complex a lot of people make it out to be. In this case, it wasn't any more difficult then getting the image as I wanted it and putting it on an SD card to bring to walmart. Everything done to the photo was done in lightroom before it was exported. I did nothing to the photo during the "print processing phase" and it turned out fine.

Granted... I'm very much a beginner at photo printing. I won't debate that. And I'd much rather keep it as simple as possible as I already do a lot of work to my images in post in Lightroom. But if I can get consistant results with simplicity then I am happy. I can also now make prints of any of the fursuit photography I do either roaming or in the studio without worrying about the... uh... awkward questions at the photolab c.c.

So yeah, onto MFF. Then Vegas; and when I get back home... time to make more use of the studio now that I have another step on the voyage done- the ability to do prints :)

Yup its only a week away. Part of me is excited.. the other part is "Brace for Impact" as since I work staff I'm the gaming head - a lot of my time will be sapped running my department. Its rewarding but very exhausting... a rant or announcement from me may happen after the con but for now...

Meme taken from  djfenris and likely others...

How do you want to be addressed?
Yarrick

Gender?
M

Age?
31

What do you look like?
6 foot 4 and have the frame of a tank. I could stand to loose some weight but even if I was in better shape I d still be very stocky. I may or may not have a beard - I shaved it off for an interview but may be back in time. Allways wear a hat. May be wearing a photography/ utility vest at times...

Where can I find you?
I'll be running my tail off between the gaming areas for 95 percent of the con. Finding me isn't too hard... but asking me to try to find you that's nearly impossible...

How are you getting there?
Driving down from MN

What hotel are you staying at?
Hyatt

Who are you staying with?
Mastel

Which days will you be attending?
Thursday through Monday morning.

Do you do art?
If photography counts then yes.

Do you fursuit?
Nope - not capible of nor interested in. Much rather be the photographer.

Who will you be with?
I'll be surrounded by sweaty gaming nerds most of the con; heh. In the few rare occasions I can escape the gaming dungeon Ill be hanging out with friends, mostly from  mnfurs

What is your main purpose for attending?
As prementioned, Staff. I run the gaming track there. Otherwise I hope to get a few photos with my Olympus PEN when I can...

Can I talk to you?
Long as I'm not running around crazy like sure.

Can I take pictures with you?
Meh- don't see why you would want to....

Can I touch/hug/snuggle you?
Only if you're Female ^^; I'm a rarity in the fandom- I'm straight and I'm a little reserved about intimate contact with dudes. If your a bro or inbetween keep it to a handshake, kay?

On the flipside... I get far too few hugs from gals per year. I really wish that would increase v.v;

can I hang out with you?
If Im not crazy busy overseeing games I do like to play tabletop games. If I have some downtime in gaming I'd be happy to dig out a board or card game and play with you ^^

Do you go to parties?
Nope. Never saw the appeal. I'm 100 percent sober. If the party involves gaming instead of drinking id be interested but it all comes down to my time...

What is the best way to reach you?
Show up to gaming - Ill be around.

Anything else?
If you like gaming and would like to help out at MFF come see me. Seriously. We are short staffed and gaming is one of the largest and fastest growing tracks at MFF. I can use all the help I can get to keep whatever little hair on my head is left...

Digging through my paperwork for my old computer repair business... I found out two things: My Tax ID was never closed. I thought I submitted a request to have it shut down several years ago, but apparently I did not; or it slipped through the cracks. Either way... I still have a valid Tax ID and just filed a sales tax return of 0 (Since I haven't been active in business for a few years) for last year.

As I was mulling over trying to put together a studio name, I found out something else. I had two business names registered at the state level. One for my Computer Business which was closed, and another under "North Wolf Photography".

Shortly before I got the series of contracts in late 2011 I was reaching the end of my rope as my computer repair business was failing and not making any money due to increased competition in the market. I worked a few months as a studio photographer and shot some events as a volunteer for a few non profits and a family reunion and a few other small paid jobs. It would seem that I registered that name because I was planning on going into Freelance photography (of boring things like Weddings and Events... GAH I'm really glad I did NOT have to do that for a living...) to make what I could with the equipment I had to scrape by. Then the IT market opened up, I started getting jobs and offers from real companies for... well a decent pay rate and never looked back.

That is until now. And finding out I have this name registered to me good to 2020 without having to do anything special. And changing the business name from my old computer repair business to the photography one I had set aside was literally three clicks and done. Everything is now under "North Wolf Photography" - and while the name doesn't really reflect the intended purpose of doing costume photography by itself, it does roll off the tounge well enough without sounding really tacky. Believe me, I was beating myself up with an invisible hammer over how bad some of the proposed names I came up with...

Its my beginning. Its all official. I have a name to use for the studio and the means to change it from a hobby to a side business at will without having to fill out any new paperwork. It has some level of protection where the name is locked and registered to me.

In exchange all I need to do for now a minimal tax return every year claiming 0 until I actually start taking money and work on an actual business plan and pricing structure. And get to the point where I feel I have the skill, the energy, and the time to make the leap to Pro or atleast semi-pro.

A door is open. I'll have the option of going through it when I am ready, or close it if I am not. Or stay playing in the shadows which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing either.

I have a FA for the studio made  northwolfphotography Expect my other flickr to be updated at some point in the future- we will see. Either way, the name is mine. It may not be the fanciest or the most attention grabbing name for a studio out there...

But I liked the name once. At one point it must have said "this is me". Why change it? I have a second chance to go back and answer a "what if" question; and while I have no plans to quit my day job right yet (Though I may be changing workplaces - but I do plan on staying in IT because well... damn. Its good money ^^)

So keep your eyes on that account. Watch it if you enjoy my studio work :3. I will be uploading a few shots from the test shoot at the studio there soon- this weekend. This will also be where most if not all my future fursuit photos taken in a studio environment whether it be at my studio or at a convention will go.

Photos taken at  tekuryuu's halloween party are edited and up on my Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/982877.....7637401970423/ Go and take a look :)

Had a blast taking these and looking forward to doing more studio work in the future. Having a blast with this.

So I did my first test shoot at the studio with  drakemccloud and  innouva everything seemed to work out perfectly fine other then the realization it would be a little tight working with any more then two subjects at a time. For the scale of the test shoot it worked out well. I can do individual shoots fine here, but not groups so much in this space. So if I do start it off as a business I will have to market it towards personalized individual shots; atleast until it would start making enough that I could afford rent on a bigger place.

But for now, its a sandbox. Its perfectly fine for that. Business or Hobby... the next thing I need to come up with is a studio name. I'm always really bad at this.

As soon as I have a name... I'll put up a FA for it and possibly flickr or smugmug or something just for my studio work. I'm also not going to be catering to just fursuiters (though they'd be a huge part of it) but costuming in general. So I need to pick a name that fits that. I can't just go the lazy rout of doing ____fur(ry) _____ ; I need to come up with something that encompasses the cosplayer community in general ranging from sci fi and fantasy cosplayers to anime and fursuiting.

I had a name for my personal stuff "North Wolf Photography" but that only reflects on one of the fandoms Id serve and even then... barely.

So I'm open for suggestions. I know a lot of the photographers on my list may have a name reserved for their own studio and I don't want to steal your name :3. Being as I'm planning to diversify this out of furry it probably wouldn't work anyways...

So hmm. Name game... x.x

Streaming photo editing for those interested. Photos from  tekuryuu's halloween party this time... and maybe some more renfest or other things to work on :) Maybe something random thrown in there during breaks. http://www.livestream.com/yarrickphotograwuff Come watch!

So tonight... I crossed a barrier. I did something I have never done before. I signed a Lease XD. I am now a key toting member of society. I have my own space, a Photography Studio... and while small (200 some odd square feet) its a start of a whole new chapter in my life.

The price point is a lot cheaper then moving out with multiple roomates. This made it more appealing. Sure its small... but its also at a price that I can dabble with it as a hobby space and won't kill me even during months I have more bills to pay like MFF.

I've had the discussion with myself. Many times. I make a "living" wage yet I'm living at home. There are some things that in all honesty well... would suck if I moved out right now. Namely the ability to transport and store my boat. In order to do this I would not only have to rent a place WITH a garage but I would also have to buy a used truck... and we're talking several thousand dollars on TOP of atleast a grand plus in mortage/rent. I make a decent amount of money... but I would be struggling hardcore with those kinda of debts... when I don't need to be. Not yet, at least.

Regardless, the one thing that is missing out of my life right now is responsibility. I live the fun life. I help out a few communities and this helps... but when it comes down to it... I have a car loan and that's about it.

So I'm content enough of my living accommodations. So I live at home and have a huge nerd collection in my basement. Remind me again why I need to give this up?

But I have this extra money. And as much as I like buying toys... there is that part of me that says I should be responsible in some matter and start to invest it in something. Something I enjoy doing, but provides me a little place I can retreat to away from home if need be. An alternate path in life should the path I'm on currently with IT suddenly nose-dive and I have another means to possibly switch rails and do something else for a living.

It also provides that neutral ground where I can hang out with friends; lets face it... it can be awkward going over to someone's house when you are an adult and meeting their parents for the first time.

Right now, this Winter, it will be a Hobby. It will be a sandbox where I can play and unleash my creative juices and see where they flow. It is my little corner of Heaven on earth if you will. My sanctum. I think everyone should have a right to a place like this where they can go. During the summer, its a lot easier to just go out on the boat and the water becomes my santcum. During the winter.. that's somewhat harder to do without getting frostbite if you don't have a place indoors.

Many things need to fall in place yet. I have the key to the place, I've paid the deposit and signed a 6 month lease. I have a winter sanctum, a trial period if you will. Will I need to expand the sanctum after that, possibly including turning it into a legitimate part-time business? Perhaps. Will I be happy with the current arrangement? Maybe. Will I need to take a step back? I hope not- but I will reach that point when I get to it.

I'm very content right now. I may not have a relationship.. but I have a lot of friends, a steady paycheck, and now a little corner of leased space that is totally my own. I'm very grateful for all this.

So for the locals - If you want to get some photos taken in suit; give me a few weeks to set everything up and get through MFF. Come December- I'll be happy to ablige and get you a time slot for some photos :). The place does have a one-person sized changing room. Its tight, but after having the space looked over tonight with  innouva we think its more then enough to fit one suiter as a changing area with storage for a tote.

When I get back there with my camera and wide angle lens, I'll snap a few photos and put them up in my scraps of the new studio.

So Fall is coming to an early end. Today was the last tolerable night of the season unless by some strange luck we get an Indian Summer in November *sigh* I guess high 40's is not unusual weather for us in Late October, but it still sucks.

Got my last likely night of fly fishing in tonight, and actually caught some sunfish. I choose a small pond that is well stocked by the city in Jordan, MN where one shallow corner of the pond stays a little warmer then the rest of it, so its known to be a spot where a lot of the fish congregate right before the lake starts to turn over and prepares to freeze. Fly rods retired for all likelyhood along with the boat and all other open water gear... it was far too short of a season for fishing.

Looking back, as unstable as this Spring/Summer and Fall were which messed up my time on the water and opportunities to fish... I got a lot more photography in. A lot of small town street photography; and a lot of Nature photography. Both of which are among my favorite subjects to shoot. I also got a lot more fursuit photography in - that part is pretty obvious if you look at my second flickr account. ALL of those photos were taken in 2013; and I have at least 2 major events still to go before the end of the year and one in my Que to start editing as soon as I'm done editing pictures of questionably legal girls... (I was a con photographer at an Anime con last weekend. Enough said?)

This was the year I spent a lot more time blossoming my photography. I upgraded all three of my cameras (My SLR, my Point and Shoot and my Micro 4/3rds or "inbetween" camera) and have gotten to the point where I am happy with the consistency of my results from all three.

My studio work still needs a little practice... oh yeah I bought new strobes this year and uh... 7 lenses? Good god... I don't even want to THINK of how much money I dumped into photography gear this year >.>. Needless to say I am now complete with the lenses and cameras to keep the hobby going for a LONG time.

I also spent a lot of time volunteering for  mnfurs for both Event support and to some extent as an Event photographer too.

The next step is deciding what I want to do going forward for the winter and year ahead. Whether I want to try to dive deeper in MNFurs or start up my own Photography studio as a side business or both, and watch ALL my free time disappear.

I hate winter. For me, the end of my year in is coming up; the end of November which is MFF. That and a trip to Vegas following. Those are the LAST things I have to look forward to until late MARCH.

Winter is the void where it would be AWESOME to have a portrait Studio to play around or even hang out with close friends in. It would be like moving out of the house... but without having to worry about little things I just don't have time for and take for granted like shopping for food or doing Laundry.

I need to decide if I'm willing to sacrifice a lot of my very limited free time during the summer. Same would go for moving out I suppose. I've been living a lazy lethargic life outside of having fun and the 40 hours a week that I slave drive at work. Maybe doing something with that extra money and investing it in SOMETHING would be the next step in life.

Fall changing into winter may be a reminder that I should be moving forward; and I'm really not. I like my job well enough... but having a place to escape to would be nice. I'm stagnant. And a little lazy. I come home often tired and unmotivated until I hang out with friends. I need to go on a Diet and learn to live healthier.

I don't mind living at home otherwise as lets face it, moving out would mean selling the boat and making a lot of other sacrifices. (I wouldn't have a truck to pull it or likely a place to store it..)

But having some incentive to do something other then Work, go home and play games, and get out of the house as much as I can to be social... It's not a bad life... at all. I'm not complaining but...

Outside of work, am I slacking off in my responsibilities in society as someone in their 30's by living like they are a college freshman?

This is going to be a lot of fun typing out on a cell phone keyboard- but they block FA at work, and I need a mental break and thought dump of this since it is currently on my mind.

I have a Beta personality. Its most common something that is aquired by parents as they are raising a family, that is on particular form of it anyways. A parental or maternal Beta is very common.

A much rarer form of this personality occurs naturally without being inherited or devloped from taking on a family. This is what I am and have been since I can remeber.

The most intriguing thing is I was born in the Chineese Zodiac year of the Dog. My 'sona is a Dog. And the description of the Dog personality on the Zodiac calander is spot on. Its actually quite creepy how well this lines up with me O.o

Taken from: http://pages.infinit.net/garrick/chinese/dog.html

"Dogs are honest, faithful and sincere. The Dog is very righteous, and is the first to speak out about injustice. The dog is an agreeable companion - when he is in a good mood. But when panic strikes he can turn nasty, and bark till he is tired. He can be judgemental, defensive, and picky if you rub him the wrong way. "

''Among the animal zodiac, Dog individuals are the most humanitarian. To the Chinese, Dogs represent justice and equality. These are the givers in life, prepared to sacrifice their own dreams, ambitions and desires for the sake of others, particularly for those they love. Fiercely loyal to those they love, Dogs are ever ready to jump to the defense of any member of their family or friends who is being attacked by either word or deed. "

''The Dog is an introvert who rarely shows his feelings; when he does it's only because he thinks it is absolutely necessary. He's stubborn in the extreme and knows what he wants. Frequently cynical, he is feared for his sharp tongue and his acid and disagreeable remarks. He gives the impression of looking systematically for faults in everything he touches. ''

So what does this all mean? I am not an Alpha personality altough I will often clash with Alphas. I look for what I believe is best for my friends or even a community at large and if the Alphas at the top are not doing anything to help with the perceived problems I'll bare my fangs and challenge them.

On the flip side, it also means I jump to conclusions VERY quickly. I can be prone to panic in the regards that I'll see something... and feel that it needs to be fixed on the spot NOW.

Despite all of this, a Beta can be a very awkward and private individual in times of peace. They can be very socially awkward and introverted. They are often quiet, deep in thought and observing the world around them.

They despise people with superiority complexes. They view everyone in their pack as Equals and despise those who claim they are on a higher plane then they, or anyone else. They butt heads with such people constantly, and work best with leaders who treat them as comrades and friends rather then insubortinates.

If challenged, they will lash out. They are very quiet and reserved until you start pushing buttons- and once those buttons are pushed... watch out.

Above all, they put what they view as right for the pack large or small, first. They are prone to jump to conclusions and chase things that are nothing more then harmless shadows.

So this is a Dog in a nutshell. This is my personality in a nutshell. Its very ironic how well they line up.

I am Dog. I am either your most loyal friend who would take bullets for you; but am also a very cranky and defensive beast when challenged. I follow a pack around, sometimes in a very awkward fashion observing and keeping quiet until someone moves out of place or I am called upon.

Not sure what triggered these deep thoughts; but regardless.. I felt I needed to write them down before they got scattered to the wind.

Edit: For the record I am NOT a Therian. I have no delusions that I am anything BUT a Human IRL. I do respect people who do believe themselves as otherkin; but I'm anything but one myself.

First off: something that has gotten released in the UK but no US carrier has picked up yet :/ ) :http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxycamera/mobile/galaxys4/index.html - The Samsung Galaxy 4 Zoom. Not to be confused with the normal Galaxy 4 which is a decent phone, mind you but doesn't provide THIS). IF it ever hits the US markets it will be the first legitimate pocket camera that has phone capabilities. It has a real sensor on it, coupled with an actual telescoping lens. I'm not expecting SLR quality but an advanced point and shoot camera with full manual controls with a a smartphone built in? YES PLEASE. If it doesn't get a US release I may have to break down and buy an unlocked UK phone and hope that I can get it working on a US network... I've been waiting litterally years for this...

And because I'm bored, even if I rarely get questions asked... I guess I'll try another TMI Tuesday. Ask away!

Overwriting my previous Journal so it lessens the confusion. For all of those who tuned in and watched, thanks! I think it was a great success. Whether you were there just to look at all my photos or watch me work- I think it worked out well for both groups.

I'll probably do another one again soon. I got a good amount of photos sorted at the very least, and some editing in too. For reference my stream is:

http://www.livestream.com/yarrickphotograwuff

There may be part of the stream saved there still. Not that you want to watch 3 hours of low resolution photo editing to music soundtracks but hey. For future reference this is where it will be.

A very popular thing for artists who work on digital media is to throw up a stream so people can watch and chat with them when they draw. I tuned in for  vizza 's stream last night and it got me thinking... What about doing a stream while I'm working on editing photos in lightroom?

Many people don't realize this but many photographers, those who take their work somewhat seriously atleast ARE digital artists. They spend a good amount of time sorting through their library for photos they like and spend hours touching them up; turning a photo taken raw off a camera into a work of art. Many people don't realize that Photoshop is used by more professional photographers then it is artists. I know this is a huge shock to most.

I get asked a lot why I don't just dump photos raw off my camera online to FA the instant I get home from a con or an event. Maybe doing a stream and having people watch would help them understand why I do what I do, and both how laughably bad many of the photos I take are and why those never get edited or posted.

And also how drastic of a difference even a simple edit can make. Sure, the quality of a livestream will pale for the level of detail I am working with but you can still watch me play with adjusting things like exposure and contrast and see just how much I am able to restore from what if posted RAW would look pretty flimsy as a photograph.

And for the photographers out there, espically those who would like to learn and watch how I use Lightroom? Might be informative and give you some good tips. Also having a second perspective when sorting is nice too. I'm sure I've scanned past a lot of photos I didn't think were that great that someone else would say "thats an awesome photo, why aren't you editing that???"

Anyone interested in tuning in should I start this? I've got plenty of content to go through... fursuiting and general nature photography too. I really need to start working on my backlog...

Puppies. That is all.

This journal is filler until I have something of substance to post up. Regarding my last two journals: I appreciate everyone's honesty and guess its just one big fragged up mess no matter how you look at it. It just is. If I didn't have so many friends and family in the US I'd consider moving to Canada. Where thy have public healthcare (though its admitadely much better implemented) and no one cares. Where the biggest national crisis they've dealt with is the year the Maple Syrup reserves dropped a little *shock*

Anyways... Thanks for being honest, but it's time to move on and just hope this all blows over soon, one way or another and doesn't drag on for another year and a half...

So yeah... as figured the last post threw a rock into a hornets nest. A lot of people with similar views... a few token conservatives chimed in too. I'm okay with and was expecting that. I didn't screen any replies to my post as you noticed. But it did ruffle feathers on both sides...

For those who shared some light, thanks. I'm just incredibly frustrated right now. Taking out ANY blame/finger pointing on who caused it, a government shutdown, even a partial one is NEVER NEVER a good thing. Sure for a lot of us, its just a mere annoyance but...

Think of the thousands of people NOT receiving paychecks now or likely for a few weeks at best. Possibly months depending on how long this goes. And some who may never be able to return to Federal jobs after this is over...

When the MN State government shut down a few years ago over something just as stupid (in that case it WAS Bi-partisian and I forgot what it was even about...) a good friend of mine was laid off for a good TWO MONTHS because he had a state job that was cut during this period. He would have been laid off indefinitely had the shutdown lasted more then a week longer then it did.

I've also heard many many stories about people getting kicked out of National Parks out camping in the middle of nowhere and War Vets who were harshly escorted out of National Cemeteries and Monuments as they were trying to pay there respects so YEAH. If you think THOSE are good times... you need your head checked.

For those conservatives: I offer this crumb. I don't fully support Obama and everything he's done. The SOPA and related bills, all which were brainchilds of his administration were up there with bad ideas right along with Proposition 8 and related movements local and federally to block gay marriage that the GOP were bandwagonning behind. He also didn't handle Syria as best as he could IMO at first. Cleaned up and did the right thing eventually... threatened and not invade... but still.

What most folks don't realize is Obama is a Moderate Democrat. Take it or leave it. He's ruffled feathers on both sides of the fence. One side tends to forgive and work with him the other side has pretty much declared all out war at this point. Maybe this is why I have some respect for him. He's not a puppet. He has a backbone. He's actually tried to get things through in spite of very heavy resistance. He doesn't just sit back and wait for someone else to tell him what to do. We haven't had a president who has done this since the Regan administration. And while I don't support a lot of what Regan did he actually had a spine. Just like Obama.

So I'm burying this issue, everyone is entitled to their opinion and political views. I'm seeing a lot of views change and shift one way or another from this shutdown. Make no mistake.. this will change the course of the next election drastically.

This clarification is only going to be up for a few hours... I'll be posting something of more substance that's a little more netural or positive and having NOTHING to do with politics tomorrow. Just to be clear, I'm frustrated as a lot of people are right now about the current sorry state of things. And it takes a LOT to push my buttons in this way.

So today I had the photographer's worst nightmare happen. I failed to tighten down the neck strap on my new camera and as I was taking some quick shots at a nearby park over lunch it broke.

The camera fell. Lens first. 4 feet, onto concrete...

Remarkably, the body survived without so much as a scratch. No dents, no screen surface scratches cracks or dings. The lens on the other hand is toast. It won't focus nor extend. Even stranger is while the uv filter got banged up on the rim the filter itself did not shatter or scratch.

The other fortunate thing is the lens I destroyed was the kit lens. And I have two of these by a stroke of luck since this was the kit that was on sale for less then the body retails for.

So in short... this means my EPL-2 is not and can never be for sale. I'm stuck with it, not that its worth all that much anymore anyways. I can't part with a kit lens and sadly the kit lens is worth as much or more then the body.

Could have been much worse. I'm very thankful the body survived. I shot about 50 photos afterwards with another lens to verify the camera works; thankfully it does. The lens saved the camera...

Still... not something I want to ever repeat... and today is offically the worst day of the week because of it :/

After taking my Olympus PEN into a Vikings game and not being harassed by security; and finding it really light on the neck when walking around the state fair all day I realized how useful the PEN is as a secondary workhorse. Yes, the 60D gives me a lot faster controls and more versatility with Lenses; which is why I'll allways keep a Canon DSLR body. But its very much akin to an anchor when on my neck all day and tends to draw a lot of attention into people thinking I'm a "Professional" at times.

The only quibble I have with my current PEN is the ISO handling. The sensor from the OM-D handles high ISO much much better, and is now used in all four of Olympus' current generation of PEN cameras. So is, impressively fast drive with a much quieter shutter.

So Tonight after doing maintenance on my car I stopped by the local camera store. I fiddled around with the Olympus EPM2 and the EPL 5 at the local camera store. Was very attracted to both of them for two reasons: 8 fps mechanical shutter and low noise at High ISO (just slightly worse then my 60D which is impressive).

The EPL 5 adds a Tilting screen (just tilt, not swirvel screen which is somewhat more useful) which I find useless and a potential liability of snapping on such a small camera. Atleast with the 60D its somewhat re-inforced and the fact that I can shut it closed to protect it (which is what I do 90% of the time) makes it more useful.

The EPM2 takes away the mode dial. Which is annoying and ingenious at the same time. On a small camera, its easy to bump the wheel and change the mode. Arguably, its just as easy to bump the touchscreen, but you need to do it twice to switch modes which requires more intentional effort. And since I keep the camera on Aperture priority 75% of the time... this is not a real issue for me.

Both cameras take out the pop-up flash. Which is useful in a pinch. Both come with a very small horseshoe flash as part of the kit and I have a larger one I can use as well. Its not a deal breaker, but it does make it so I have to be ready and aware if I'm in a situation that may need a fill flash.

Both have the same basic controls otherwise as my EPL 2: a single control wheel and a 4 way arrow pad. Which again is tolerable for the camera's purpose. Yes... having two control wheels on the 60D is nice... but in a lot of situations you get away with simpler controls just fine.

I was on the fence about the price. I've been eyeing the XX-300mm lenses for the Micro 4/3 for a better Telephoto for some time... which worked out to about the same price as an upgraded body. So a slightly better zoom VS having a much cleaner sensor and a faster drive... what would you pick? 150mm is decent zoom, and on a 16mp camera cropping is possible to "zoom in" and still have a reasonable quality on a web-sized shot for many things.

So... something came along and pushed me over the edge to take a risk. I found an EPM-2 on Amazon for $150 cheaper then retail. This put it $250 cheaper then a EPL 5 and I'm sorry... a tilt screen and mode dial are NOT worth $250 n.n

So yeah... I pulled the trigger and bought it n.n I'm sure I'll be oogling over it when it arrives. And I just had my computer halfway paid off... guess that money is back on credit card then...

On the plus side... because I bought this the reason for me to ponder upgrading the 60D is a lot less. The two cameras compliment each other. The PEN has a faster drive which is sad; but in situations I need that extra oomph on shutter speed I can use the PEN for the moment, weird as it sounds...

And since the EPM2 has slightly different controls then the EPL-2 I won't be selling the EPL-2 just yet. At some point, I probably will. The EPL-2 has been an awesome camera. I still like it. The fact that it has a popup flash and a mode dial give it some survivability until I fully embrace the newer PEN.

At this point the PEN will be the camera I take with me to any con I am not working as photography staff at. Its simply so much easier to carry around all day and not worry about it being there. Same goes for any place I don't want to draw a lot of attention at like Street Photography and Sports games. Its funny that while it is clearly much different then a pocket camera (it has changeable lenses, some of which like the xx-300 can be quite long) people don't see it nearly as threatining. Show up with a PEN- and Professional photographers snicker and laugh at you. The general public think you're just a tourist.

And honestly... I have no qualms about either view. It makes my hobby all the more casual and relaxing when you don't need to get into a penis race with another photographer or sit and explain yourself to a security guard that you are not trying to make money on the side. I love my Canon but...

The PEN cameras will always have a home in the house of Yarrick :3

My number one pet peeve about a chunk of "extreme hobbiest" and professional photographers is those who are camera snobs. Photography for me is something fun, something enjoyable. Being around camera snobs in some of the Photography clubs I've been in nearly made me hang up my camera for good a few years ago because I was so sick of the "You can only shoot/get good photos if you use X camera brand here and X glass and shoot below X iso on a tripod when the moon is in the seventh... YEAH THOSE PEOPLE.

Also... the same sort that will belittle you if you show up taking photos with "inferior gear" and OH MY GOD start taking photos of the same subject as they are! I was at the Landscape Arboretium today and just had my Olympus PEN with me. My friend wanted to do some photography and the PEN was packed and ready to go and it was a nice small bag. He wasn't specific about where we were going to go and he only shoots with a pocket camera; so PEN was enough for this trip.

The PEN gets good photos. Some of my favorite shots on my gallery were taken on it INCLUDING the more recent tent and stars long exposure shot. I won't belittle it in the least. But said snobs were there with huge massive tripods in some cases knocking over plants so they could get a "better shot" by plopping down their tripods into the middle of a garden. It was close to closing time so most of the staff were in other places as the rouge "professionals" were going around with their gear with little regard for anyone else.

As I pulled out my PEN and took nothing but handheld shots with it, and my friend with his pocket camera; we both got snickers, headshakes and very unfriendly looking leers from a good number of the photo snobs we ran into. I don't get it. I don't understand. Photography is supposed to be a fun activity; why are you not having fun? Why should you care what other people around you are doing unless they purposely block your shots? And I'm considerate. If you have a lens pointed in a particular direction I'll dodge out of the way.

There are some cameras I've had quality issues with. There are a lot of pocket cameras with cheap plastic opics and dirty sensors. I will never TOUCH a smartphone and consider it a camera. This being said... I've pulled some damn fine shots off of my newest pocket camera, Olympus PEN and my 60D as well. And I've had people belittle me on the 60D too. And the fact that I shoot with Tamron glass. AKA why am I not shooting with a 5D Mark III and L series glass? Not everyone has an infinite source of disposable income for one....

I'm sorry... but look through my gallery. I've got some pretty damn fine shots with what I have. I've seen a few of these purists photography: and some of them have nice stuff. Some of them... Not so much...

But for me: I enjoy looking at photos as much as I take them. If something catches my eye my first reaction is not to look at the metadata and see what it was shot with and if its not what I was expecting it to be suddenly reverse my opinion of the photo. That is just plain childish.

I enjoy taking photos and having fun. Its not a race. Its NOT a competition. There is a small chance I may start up a studio this Fall (that is another discussion for another time) and if I do... I won't be a snob.

I've had a number of people say they enjoy my work to me in person and for me, this is more then enough to make me happy and keep me going.

Photography should not be a wang contest. It should be about the photographer, and the photos he or she can take that captures our imagination. Because you have the best gear, this does NOT make you a photographer.

Patience, capturing the moment and being able to ENJOY your art. This is what makes someone a PHOTOGRAPHER.