A bit early for this, I know. There's still a week of 2011 left... but I might as well start getting to my reflections as I have some downtime.

As I mentioned before, 2011 was the year I started out strong for Photography, but a new job I loathed adding many stresses really shut down my life. I lost interest in Photography, and quit posting stuff here. I let the  photografurs go to rot. I'm aiming to change that and become more active again in 2012.

Part of this had to due with throwing my back out in mid-summer, which took a couple of months to fully heal. I didn't get out as much, but I still managed to do a good amount of fishing, including catching wild stream trout fueling my interest in Fly Fishing. It is the one thing I was glad I could hold onto in 2011.

I joined a fly fishing club, and while most of it's members are significantly older then me and are very narrow minded politically and socially (uber uber conservative) I did manage to learn some new things.

This year I also stepped up and took a role into helping to organize  mnfurs. I ran a major one day event which sparked the drive to really get things moving again. I won't go into details past that, but will say that it has helped me become a lot more comfortable about dealing with the public relating to Furry. My parents and relatives still don't know; but when it comes to that point IF it comes to that point I am prepared to go through the awkwardness and explain it. This in itself is a major accomplishment.

I had a very short relationship that lasted a few weeks. At 29 I had my first kiss (Sad, isn't it? :/). She wanted to move a lot faster then I wanted to (I know, typically its the OTHER way around but I'm among the very few men who have their mind somewhere other then their balls) and I also started to realize while I found her attractive, I shared very few common interests.

She was the bad girl who liked rough men and Harleys and I was the introverted geek who ties flies, paints miniatures, and memorizes RPG books. Its not a combination that's very compatible.

I never told her about the "furry" part- then again it never got into a steady relationship far enough where I felt comfortable beyond just a cuddle-buddy.

It did, however feel really good for those few weeks and in SPITE of how improbable it was to last I still think about her constantly.

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All the Female "furry" gals I've met RL are either A: Taken (which accounts for 90%), B: Way Too Young (accounts for a high majority of the remainder), C: Crazy, D: Half way around the world (and I don't have the money for a long-term relationship), or E: It's complicated but needless to say it wouldn't WORK.

I'm in a fandom with a very very small percentage of straight gals who AREN'T taken AND are over the age of 21.

There is a much higher percentage of gays in Furry, and I have absolutely no issues with this; but it is true.

There are however PLENTY of straight guys left which lopside things enough that any gal who shows up is instantly pounced on by dozens, and yeah; that's not really my style. I'm too polite to "compete" for a mate and... *sigh* whatever.

Even in the general population I haven't had much luck. If I found someone who was truly special I'd find the right time and be comfortable in telling her about the Furry thing.

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I've also learned that while I have my hand in a number of clubs and organizations I have very few close friends. Few enough that if said people plan on doing something else I'm left stranded with few options for a backup plan and find myself sitting alone AT HOME on a Saturday night. I've found that I'm a very social creature and LOATHE sitting at home playing video games on nights when I'm accustomed to going out and having fun with friends.

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So a few resolutions for 2011:

Get back into photography; and this means getting outdoors more.

Keep up my passion for angling; but there are times where it would be nice to have a companion that could enjoy it with me.

Get a steady job in a field that makes me want to do something other then loathe myself and my life at the end of the day. Point in fact I will NEVER take a call center job again, no matter how desperate I get.

Make more friends beyond just "casual aquantices I see once or twice a month at a business meeting or club."

I need more people I can randomly call up and say "hey are you doing anything tonight, want to chill and play games or something"? That sorta relationship takes a LOT of time to build; but I really need to start working on it again, or risk more lonely nights where things don't work out and don't have a backup plan.

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And the last would be the most unrealistic: Find someone I can connect with beyond friendship. I'm not looking for a yiff buddy. Infact I have no interest in that at all, and I really hate how sex crazed and obsessed our society is. This makes me all the more well.... Old Fashioned and odd, and it makes my quest 100 times harder *sigh*. I just want someone could lean on for emotional support and well... just be special it's.... something I've seriously been lacking in my life. Someone who would help me open up and break down some of the social walls I still have up. And yes, it has to be a gal c.c.

It's only been the last couple of years that I've realized what I am missing. I shouldn't set my bar too high. I'm well beyond the teenager puppy love state so that the only possible way I could ever find someone would be an incredible stroke of fate. I should start buying lottery tickets. Think I have better odds there.

So I just got back from MFF. It went waay too fast and I got to see very little of the con due to the fact of how crazy busy it was in gaming this year. I got a few short breaks to eat, say hi to a few friends in the dealers room... and that was about it.

We had record attendance across the board for gaming this year; tabletops, rpgs, and Video Games all did very well and were insanely busy. May go into a few details later....

Needless to say, Kudos goes out to my gaming staff. I know you might not read this, but without you I'd probably be quite dead right now. It was an intense year. I was hoping to have a little more time to enjoy other parts of the con, but I am just so overjoyed to see just how many people enjoyed themselves this year. From 60 people showing up for Lupus from a board gaming room that was packed for a good 3/4 of the con and a 40 person audience watching/participating in You Don't Know Jack on Sunday: these are just a few specific examples.

Thank you, thank you all to the gamers who showed up at MFF this year to smash our record books and make the most sucessful year of gaming at the Con so far. I'll have much more in store for you guys next year to show my gratitude.

And now I'm going to go off to collapse to prepare for two long days of work, then I can relax for a few days *THUD*

Yeah I'll be there. As of right now, Midwest Furfest is the only fur con I go/can afford to go to. Normally, if I was just an attendee I'd sit this year out. Money is tight, and so is my financial future. But I need a break, and I'm staff at MFF so other people rely on me. I've been in worse situations... it just means some credit card debt that is going to stick around for awhile.

But all in all, it will be worth it. Its one of the few times a year when I get to contribute something back to the community.

I'm the gaming head at MFF. Its a demanding job but also fun and rewarding. Gaming at MFF is more laid back then at a gaming on- much less competitive. People who game at a non gaming con generally aren't there to win prizes or show off how "good" they are. They are just there to have fun. And watching people have fun is the most rewarding part of my job.

Needless to say, I'm pretty busy. I'll be bouncing around the gaming rooms running my tail off, especially at night. If you are planning on going to MFF and happen to stop by gaming, say hi! Also take part in our games, we always have a blast.

Video gaming is back along with our long standing board and RPG gaming traditions. There is a little something for everyone; and I will be promoting games as much as I can. I started as a GM at MFF before I was staff, and I still hold to that tradition. If people are having fun and enjoying themselves in gaming, I've found a lot of the rest falls into place.

But that's enough of my rambling. To those who are going to MFF: have fun, and I hope to see you around!

I'm still here; work and life has just been throwing me a few curveballs which have been keeping me away from FA and other things.

First off: In Jan I took a callcenter job which I became to Loathe after a few months. It got me into a downward spiral and was the major factor from my absence from FA and my break from photography. I worked in a high-volume call center for a large company. I was laid off from the job in October; which ironically was when I was reaching the breaking point from stress and may have put my two weeks in anyways. I have done a callcenter twice now. I got burned out both times. I will NEVER go back to a callcenter again, no matter how much they pay me. It made me depressed, and I ended up taking out a lot of my frustration directly on family and friends. I also gained 30lbs or so because I sat on my ass for 8 hours and went home too depressed to "work out".

Secondly, as the one post I was able to put up during the summer; I threw my back out- and therefore was physically unable to do photography for about 2 months,

But since all this, things have changed. Two weeks ago I got the job I've allways wanted which is Hands-On technical support for a smaller company. Everyone is friendly, and knows my name there allready. Altough I love the job; there are three flaws in why it may not last: One- its a contract position; as of right now I'm only there till the end of the year. Secondly it's part time. I'm getting a really good rate of pay so I'm making slightly more then I would sitting on my ass collecting money from Unemployment; however, but I am not making as much as I was at the Callcenter still (Ideally I'd like to make even a little bit more of course).

Third is its on the other side of the metro area so its a long commute. If they decide to hire me Full Time it will more then make up for that commute.

I can do this for a few months even with MFF because I've got some money coming in from independent consulting (I no longer operate my business formally, but can still take a little side cash in the interim for consulting).

Since I'm staff at MFF and still finding my place work-wise the next two months are still going to be fairly hectic for me. But overall, in a good way. My negative stress level is down WAY down.

I've had a few inspiring moments lately that lead me to think I should get back into photography. I took a nice long break from it due to stress and general businiess.

The foremost happened a few weeks ago. I just happened to have my SLR with me in a local park, and saw something pretty amazing for inside a major metro area. The lighting was perfect.

Two female deer appeared as I was putting my gear in my bag. Very quietly I took my camera back out and snapped on my telephoto. I've seen deer before, even in the cities, but what was remarkable was how close they were; and how tame they proved to be.

Slowly I moved up on them. They didn't even flinch; just kept eating. I followed them from a polite distance for close to an hour. The shutter noise didn't disturb them, nor did my presence there. Other people were in the park, and they didn't care. The closest I got was about 8 feet away, which lead to some remarkable portrait shots I need to sort through and process this winter.

Since I've been away for so long... I'm not sure what I want to do with this account yet; or even my photography in general. I found that my work may have been a little underappreciated here, but more of it is just having the time and well.. interest in posting things again. That and finding my niche as a hobby photographer. Getting back into the groove as it were. I'll figure that out at some point. I have had a few nudges lately that tell me my break from photography is over. I need to figure out what to post here.

So eventually I might post stuff again once I figure that out, as long as figure out in general what direction I want to go with my photography. What is my purpose of all of this? It's not to make money; there is FAR too much competition out there for that. So what is my reason then? Strictly for enjoyment? For something to share? For teaching others? I need to figure this out,

So I've been busy, hence the reason for not posting here in a long time.

Today I've found myself suddenly less busy after I threw my back out lifting an outboard motor with my dad last night. Yes, I forgot the "lift with your legs NOT the back" rule and am currently paying for it after 100+ lbs of engine made my back feel this rather unusual twinge, and now I can't full straighten out or walk more then a few feet without having to sit. Joy.

So yeah, called in sick for the fact I didn't think I'd be able to walk inside from the car and then to my cube; how sad is that? Things should hopefully be better tommorow so long as I take it easy and avoid stairs tonight. I've got a number of things I should do, including working on some long overdue photos from the  mnfurs bowling event two weeks ago and getting them up. Yeah... I've been slacking...

So I've just been part of a major event where I was the Event coordinator, Programming Director, Operations, Security and a lot of other roles all meshed into one. I'm talking about  mnfurs Snowpocalypse here.

I was so busy here that I never really got to even sit down and chat with people. I was more or less a blur moving through the hallways at warp speed the entire event. I must have walked the halls hundreds of times. I have blisters on the bottom of my feet to prove it.

I did recieve a number of thank yous both at the event and online. My presence on FA is all but unknown by comparison, espically for the locals but *shrug*. The thing I am really glad about is that people enjoyed thereselves and that we proved we could do something like this. We've been told you can't do this for years and now we've proven we can.

That being said... I think we really did push the envelope here. Time to stand back and really analyze this. We met all our goals, both financial wise and attendance wise. Will there be another event like this? Most likely. Bigger? Maybe someday but I wouldn't hold my breath.

That being said, I would really love to see something like this happen at the same level next year. I think with the proper training and preparation we really didn't have it should be a lot smoother for us too. More staff, a hotel with a better layout; perhaps some more notice and thought put into programming.

That being said I was really really shocked at how well programming did for us. There are conventions that have less people attend certain panels and events then we did. Its a shocking concept. All of the space we had went to good use. It never felt like any of it was deserted or empty for the peak times of the event when we had it. There are some logistical things that need to be addressed, but overall it was a huge Triumph for the group. I am really impressed we pulled it off with the sucess we had. We beat the odds here for sure :)

So... if any of you are wondering why I haven't been posting anyhting I've been busy, REALLY busy for an "event" the local group is putting on known as Snowpocalypse. I'm the lead person for the event. The event coordinator, Programming Head, Hotel Liason and *cough* "Con Head" all rolled into one and it's been.. yeah a lot of work.

Actually I can't use that word. I have to keep reminding myself "Its not a Convention" Its a one day event at a hotel where guests have booked multiple rooms that will go late into the night and has more scheduled programming in one day then several startup conventions do in an entire weekend... oh Fuuuuuuu.... *runs and hides*

Anyways... this is my first time doing staff at a high level like this. I've done low to mid-level convention staffing before, namely at MFF where I am the gaming track head. But never an event like this where its all in my paws (plus those who are brave enough to follow me). Its going to be an adventure!

So if you are in the Twin-cities/Minnesota next weekend you might want to think about coming. Its going to be an absolute blast. If you want to support a road to *cough* something "bigger" or even us being able to do the same thing next year PLEASE support this event and buy a badge! If it becomes a spectacular failure I'm going to be paying off debts on a credit card and the chances of having something like this again in Minnesota become... less likely. If it succeeds however and we break even or make money however... I'm hoping that we are able to provide something on a yearly basis at around the same time every year and.... oh my....

Anyways, come to Snowpocalypse and have a blast! I will be there! I better be there!

Two of the largest hobby photography groups in the state (one of which I'm a member of) got sponsored by Canon for a free seminar by the Canon Light Explorers. Tonight  kurst and I attended the event trudging through the snow in my old Ranger pickup which so happens to have 17" rims and 4wd. The more fuel efficent car stayed home as a result (driving down streets that were UNPLOWED downtown Minneapolis to pick him up would have been really special otherwise.)

The seminar was not what I was expecting at all. I was expecting a Canon sales pitch or at the very least a seminar of how Canon cameras handled light and/or operated. The seminar turned out to be about composition both in the rule of thirds but also thinking outside of the box which was really neat. I was very happy that it was not what I was expecting to say the least.

He had a TON of information to share and I think I learned a lot. Enough that I'll hopefully be insipired to go through photos I have backlogged from the Arizona and Chicago trips along with some stuff from both zoos I still need to process and upload as well as pictures of some of the locals at the St Paul Winter Carnival parade. I also have some family photos to work on which are... not nearly as fun *sigh*

I've also decided that I am NOT going to FCN this year in favor that I can go back to Seattle instead; I have a lot of friends in that area plus those mountain lakes and pine forests in Washington State and Oregon are simply breathtaking. I was there 5 years ago before I had my SLR and every moment wish I had a better camera. Now I have something that is... at least a little more respectable so its time to go back. Its either seeing the "scenery" around the Detroit area (yeah... I kinda want to keep my camera gear x.x) or the Scenery with a capital S in the mountains around Washington state. I just need to decide when I want to go. I have only enough vacation time for MFF and one other trip this year for sure. I might get a few random days off for shorter trips; somewhere in the midwest (Iowa, Wisconsin, IL or MO) or somewhere in the greater Minnesota area IE up north but those will be a lower priority on a long weekend sort of thing if I get a bonus day off. After seeing that a few of the example pics that were used in the seminar were in the Seattle area... yeah I really need to get back there now that I have an income this year...

So yeah I'm pretty set on that, just need to decide on a time of year; and whether its around Rainfurest or not. While it might be nice to see another con, and most of the friends I'd be visiting have some sort of tie to the furry community... there are advantages for time sake for not doing it around the con but of its own thing. We'll see. Forefront on my mind is either late spring (May) or late summer/early fall (August or September).

And yeah, I'll post more photography here soon. I'm not dead, just been very busy adjusting to the new job over the last 3 weeks n.n

And not a moment too soon. Yesterday Phoenix got SNOW yes SNOW. An occurrence which happens maybe once every 20 years O.o. This happened AFTER I had departed the airport.

In addition, I got back before an ice storm hits the Twin Cities slated for today. Whee FUN. Its a matter of seeing if its actually going to live up to the hype or just be a meh it's nothing there was a little rain. I'm hoping its the later as I DO have a New Years eve party to go to tonight; won't attend if the roads are too icy of course.

More Arizona photos will come as soon as I get a chance to post them. Was too dead tired after driving 700 miles after the last two days to work on anything on the night my last two days.

But overall? I was VERY happy with the lens. And I got in for a short trip to Arizona, lucked out with the weather as if I was still there, it would be almost a miserable as it is in Minnesota; which is staying something.

I was also very happy and well suprised at the rental car. It was the first compact car that I could drive comfortably as I'm a big guy. Had no problems getting in and OUT of the car either. I could fit in the backseat atleast for short/mid length trips but both front seats I could spend hours in. The seats were more comfortable then the Ranger; it had as much legroom, arm room and nearly as much head room as the truck. It handled like a dream. It was a Hyundai Elantra. I was sad to let it go, but am now eyeballing one for my next car; now that my parents have agreed to let me keep the Ranger around when I choose to upgrade.

Got the last seat on the first flight to Arizona today, all flights AFTER the first plane were over booked and there was no chance to get on! I lucked out!

Its awesome, warm and sunny down here. My Christmas was a warm 76 degrees Fairenheight which is a first for me. Only did a little photography today because it's well... Christmas and I had other obligations with my grandparents and such, and I am rather pooped; was a LONG flight in a very uncomfortable small plane for someone who is 6' 4" and built like a brick.

Did get to see an awesome Christmas light display at the Mormon temple in Mesa. One of the most impressive I've seen. Was kinda rushed through by my grandpa; didn't have my tripod on me and again; tired. Got a few good shots considering the crowd and exposure conditions without the aid of a tri-pod. ISO 3200 FTW!

I also dropped my 55-250 telephoto lens today as I was fumbling with gear trying to catch some jackrabbits before they skittered off. It hit hard enough to send the filter flying off the lens ACROSS THE STREET. It took me like 30 mins to find it as I had no idea it had flown that far.

The remarkable part? The lens dropped onto pavement at a height of about 4 feet. It hit sideways. The lens glass sustained NO chips/scratches or breaks; not even the tiniest one, and I inspected both sides of the glass very carefully. The AF motor still works 100% as does the IS. I tested it afterwards of course. The filter ring DID NOT BREAK or damage the groove. And even more strange? The FILTER that flew off DID NOT break, shatter, chip or even SCRATCH. It just got dirty. I cleaned it up and was... astonished nothing broke. Another miracle; and this is why I do believe there is a higher power watching over us sometimes. Small little improbable things as this. Take it as you will. I'm not overly religious and I hate people who harp their beliefs on others... but...

Anyways... I'm worn out. Its been a LONG day, more on Adventures in AZ along with more photos later! Getting down to Arizona on the last seat getting the wide angle lens on the LAST DAY before I flew out and yeah, dropping a lens onto concrete at a fatal height without so much as damaging the filter? Truly a small miracle when all combined....

So it looks like I might be doing something crazy. Spur of the moment, as my only chance to escape winter hell before I get locked into working a full-time job.

I start on Jan 4th which still gives me a week and a half of freedom. I brought up a rather crazy idea to my parents and they are actually... open about it. I was a little shocked at this...

If I haven't mentioned before my mom is a retired employee of NWA (Now Delta Airlines) and can get me standby tickets. Standby tickets are kinda weird; but they allow me to potentially go on a flight on very short notice like this for CHEAP. Ironically the less notice I have for a standby pass the more likely I am to get a seat on a plane.

The idea is to fly out to Phoenix on CHRISTMAS DAY and then return on the 29th. It would be a medium-short 5 day trip. Not nearly as crazy as spending a week down there, but I want to be back for NYE anyways. Most of my friends have holiday plans in this period so it makes things easier for me not to have to worry about missing out on anything in Minnesota.

My mom checked the flights, and as of today they look good for leaving xmas and returning the 29th. Its a very narrow window. Tomorrow I call my grandparents and see if they could accommodate me on such short notice to spend the holiday down there with them.

The family celebration is on Christmas eve here. My parents are just planning on staying at home Christmas day. As crazy as this plan sounds... it's rather plausible as long as I get my ducks in a row tomorrow.

In addition I pulled the trigger and ordered the 10-24 lens. It is marked as getting here on Christmas eve. Since its the busiest shipping day of the year, its hard to be optimistic about actually getting it unless it gets here early on the 23rd. The bad thing is the window is so narrow I can't wait till Monday if I don't get it by then.

Christmas miracle is I'm down in Arizona with a new WIDE ANGLE LENS which would just be... oh god... such an awesome way to spend my last full week of freedom, I'll know more tomorrow if I'm making the trip; I will have my camera with me of course lens or no lens. If I do manage to somehow get the lens before said trip IF it happens, I'll be squealing for sure!

So if you see more Arizona photos posted next week from me; you'll know why ^.^

So now that I have a job forthcoming.... I'll have one more $300 check from the DAV plus some money from other last minute clients that I can well.... now not have to worry about spending on bills. It's now SPENDING CASH.

I have more then this in emergency savings plus leftover unemployment that my parents can cover my bills in December with....

That being said... It's going to be a wonderful Christmas, and I could actually buy MYSELF something as a reward. Currently I'm eyeballing this: Tamron 10-24mm Super Wide-Angle lens (From B&H). I do enough landscape photography where something like this would be useful to have in my collection. It's that or: Tamron 70-300 Telephoto VR USM (Again from B&H) which I've played around with at national camera exchange and is a pure awesome lens as well. It makes my Canon EFS 55-250 IS look like it Image Stabilization is a gimmick by comparision. Standard IS vs intellegent VR.

Its a tough call. I'm leaning towards the 10-24 as I don't have a super-wide in my collection. Then again, I really use and abuse my telephotos. So much that my old much more basic Sigma 70-300's AF motor has kicked the bucket. But I bought it used and I'm sure I took atleast 15,000 frames with it alone (it was my first true telephoto lens I owned).

I'm not dead, I've just been really busy as of late. Will be posting more photography... sometime soon.

Got over another cold, nowhere near as bad as Strep of course. This time it was a sinus cold. Unpleasant, but much less dangerous. Did NOT end up in the hospital this time, thankfully.

But in more important news, yesterday I got a job offer from 3M! It's working in their corperate helpdesk call center. So its not the most glorious position; and part of me doesn't want to go back to helldesk but at the same time; working for ONE client is not all that bad. I should be able to do it again. I had a three year break of freedom, and now it's time to get back to work in something that isn't a short term contract or a part time job. Something full-time and permant which in the long run means being able to buy new camera equipment (though it'd still be very entry level gear. Maybe a basic lens or two a year) and being able to take a trip or two outside of my standard MFF a year. I'm excited at this.

Fall has finally arrived and there's quite a chill in the air. Got some pictures of fall leaves, but not nealy as many as I could have hoped for. Now everything is dead and snow is just around the corner.

The last few days have been espically cold as we had a nasty little Alberta clipper cut in. It was the non-tropical hurricane. Weather in the high 30's and low 40's with 50-70mph winds for two days. Yeah... it wasn't fun. They shut down the Airport with only planes that needed to land in an emergency and no departures because of this extreme windstorm.

It's warmed back up into the 50's but I have no clue for how long. I really need to get out and do some nature photography or landscape photography while I still can; perhaps tomorrow before my evening plans.

Halloween I might be going to a LAN party, which should be fun. I won't get details if that is still happening till Sat however. I still need to carve that pumpkin.... I'm not all that great at pumpkin carving but its something to do. And you get to bake the seeds for a crunchy treat.

Midwest Furfest happens in just under a month. I've got most of my preparations in order... I think. Gaming is on track for the most part, but I have a few loose ends to tie up for the track before the convention this year. We are having an open Video Game room for the first time in the convention's history. New gaming track+ new hotel= yeah its a big year for us :).

People who can memorize every single fricking word of that song scare me...

That aside, I'm still here. Haven't been updating or shooting that much as of late but that will hopefully change soon. I got way behind editing photos for a volunteer event I did a few weeks ago and that sucked up most of my photo editing time as since the lighting was horrible and I should have been using one of my better lenses... yeah... the pictures for the most part turned out pretty special. I had to do a LOT of post-processing editing, more then I usually do, to get anything presentable out of them as a result.. so yeah, that sucked up a lot of my free time and left me with no ambition to do any photo editing for awhile there...

That being said, I'm DONE with that now and can go back to editing a few photos when I feel like it that are actually good shots VS having to fix 200 of them that are kinda... special for quality reasons. I really wish I could afford better glass for conditions that were less then ideal but *sighs* such is life of the unemployed....

Had an interview at 3M the other day and am waiting to hear back on that. The job search is finally landing a few hits after going dead and cold for close to two months. Allways seems to be on that kind of cycle for me, and it sucks. I'm going to Midwest Furfest because I'm obligated as staff (I'm the gaming track head) and have some money saved up but having a FT job would defiantly help me when that rolls around; just hopefully I can get the time off.... In the corporate world, getting time off is pretty easy even if you don't have vacation bagged. In Retail land getting time off in November is NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE which is why I've been avoiding looking for retail jobs for the most part as of late, aside from the fact they really don't add anything to a resume for corporate stuff either. Come after MFF and I'm still unemployed that likely changes however.

On an unrelated and random note: still trying to get out and fish as much as I can while I can. Was out last nice and caught a fun-sized carp. Twice. Same fish, fought just as hard both times. I knew it was the same fish because it had a fresh scar that was bleeding where I hooked him 5 minutes before I caught him again. Was the weirdest thing.

We've had a wierd fall so far up here. Cold at night, warm during the day, average for perhaps October but September has been a wierd month. Went from HOT to COLD almost instantly, then back to tolerable. The trees are all confused like last year; some have allready turned and some have said "Hell no, its getting warm again, you guys are CRAZY".

This being said, getting a shot of a large group of trees turning at the same time will again be very difficult this year. Every tree is doing its own thing right now. I should get out in the next week or so and try to get some nature photography. Nature photography I haven't done since May this year; I'm not really sure why I haven't done more of that over the summer. It was hot, I got sick? I worked FT for a month and a half which shot my personal time to do stuff during the day next to nothing? That being said, all of those factors are now OVER so I need to get out and start doing stuff. This is the last week I have the boat, it goes in storage soon. So after that, I'll have less of a distraction for fishing though I will still do some shore fishing until the fish stop biting come November.

I also really need to make a better effort of looking for a job. I'm still running on savings. MFF comes up in a few months and I need to be there because I'm staff and this year is a rather critical year for my department. It makes taking a retail job harder because many retail places don't like people taking time off in November because OMG HOLIDAY CRAZY!!!

I really don't want to resort to working at retail but I'm not sure what else to do. I don't have the expereince nor education to really get more then a short-term contract job in IT; and places like Best Buy and local computer shops that require less paperwork won't hire me because of my exsisting/previous small side business doing computer repair as it's a "conflict of interest". Even if I sign off saying I will halt my business during my employment its not good enough for them.

Anyone else local going? The prescription is making me feel 100% better and am pretty much back to normal now. I'm volunteering to work at the DNR booth from 3:30-7:30 and I realized I could actually make the concert afterwards. Anyone local (I know not that many people read this who are local but *shrug*) going to the wierd Al concert tommorow? PM me or something if you plan on going. It may influence my decision to go. Right now I'm still on the fence..

So no sooner then I had posted coming back to FA then I had come down with something. Started out as a cold, which turned into a fever and then back into a cold. Thought I was getting over it, and then Friday I was admitted into the hospital after having a deyhdration related seizure. Gave my parents and relatives a big scare at that. Wasn't diabetes or a heart problem, thankfully; it was just a matter of something called Strep covering up the fact that I was dehydrated and inspite of drinking more fluids it wasn't enough.

So I was put on a fluid IV, and felt a lot better after that. Something I don't want to repeat any time soon. Back home with a prescription of Antibiotics and drinking lots of water. Yesterday was hell, but the Doctor says as long as I lay low for the rest of the day today and keep on the prescriptions and fluids I should be more or less normalish come Sunday; though I have to keep on taking the antibiotics for another week afterwards to make sure the Strep doesn't come back.

This is the first time I have been plauged with a serious illness, and a very deceitful one at that. Not fun. Feeling good enough that I may put up some more photos soon enough.

So I've been away from FA and for that matter, most of the internet for awhile now. I haven't had time to really submit anything here.

Why? Biggest thing was a contract job that ended this month which consumed most of my time. When your not used to a 40 hour work week it does take most of your free time and things like Photography get put on the backburner. That being said....

I need to get back into Photography. I had my break from it, in which I did a lot of fishing instead. Fishing is a passion of mine too, and for the amount of money I spent on new gear for the lake this year I could have bought a new lens *shrugs* Both would get a lot of use for me. I haven't been buying things like Video Games, apting for stuff that I'll use and will get me outdoors instead. Photography has been on the backburner, and it shouldn't be.

Sunday I went to the MN Zoo for the first time in months, and did the first real photography I've done for a long time. Partially due to the insanely hot summer we've had, but also due to being "busy". Fall is around the corner which means cooler weather, fall colors, and the excuse to get back outside with a camera.

In other news: I've got my name for my photography studio (North Wolf Photography) registered in the state of MN as a business. Which means I can legally sell my services and works now and have some protection of copywright. Note I said some, I realize its not the insane level of copywright protection of archiving a CD of my works, but I don't need/can't afford that anyways.

I still haven't quite decided what I want to do with it yet. I haven't gotten a separate tax ID yet which would be the next step. My other small business which is registered and has a tax ID (my computer repair business) has been making a little more side money lately. Mostly from existing clients but a few new clients here and there.

It would be nice to be able to make a little extra on prints or services to fund my photography which is a hobby I honestly can't afford to invest into right now. I'm just not as sure in such a flooded market.

Everyone and their dog with a digital camera wants to sell photography prints, and this is both over the internet and locally. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to use the contact I have at a gift store in AZ to try and sell some prints down there; but it would help me more if I actually lived in AZ. Otherwise at best I have a week a year of which I could draw new content from.

But in short, as I get back into photography expect me to post more on FA. I know I'm probably the least popular photographer on FA as it stands still but eh *shrugs* as long as even one person enjoys my work I suppose it's worth posting again :)

Life has been going 100mph, and I haven't had much time for photography, at least the hobby kind as of late. Went up North for a long fishing trip, but did far more fishing then photography, and have been doing a lot more angling as of late instead of the click click.

Also, I got a 3-4 week contract job, which is Full Time and eats away most of my time now. I should be back and taking/uploading photos sometime in Mid-late July. But right now, things are on Hiatus for the most part. Starting a second business, working, and fishing; I've been keeping busy.

I am doing my first client for my Photography business and shooting a Family Reunion on Friday. Borrowing a TTL flash from a friend so I have more predictable shots, as it will be pretty much all flash indoor photography hell, much like the event I volunteered to do back in late April.

I'll be back, I promise. I haven't disappeared. Expect more stuff come the second half of July from me!

So my parents want me to start doing photography as a business, and they've offered to pay my initial startup fees. Of course, this would mean going into it with Entry level gear but *shrugs*

More or less they want me to sell prints, and when opportunities arise shoot events. I won't do Weddings. Way too much "Were taking you to court because you RUINED our SPECIAL DAY till the END OF TIME!!!" drama. Plus there are a ton of people out there who do nothing but weddings so the competition is pretty fierce. *shrugs* let them keep it as far as I'm concerened.

So if you haven't seen me post anything in awhile, its because I've been busy trying to do research, put together a business plan, and all that fun stuff. I also need to figure what to do for my website to make it more commercial and professional looking....

More or less if I get my "studio" incorporated I'll try a number of different things, ranging from Stock photography, prints, gifts and cards (My aunt owns a floral shop and my Grandparents know someone that co-owns a gift store in Apache Junction, Arizona. Hmmm... "business trip" :) ) to doing some events and maybe photo restoration. Dunno. The competition for Photography is pretty damn hot right now. Every yahoo with a Digital SLR wants to try to make money off of it.... if only I had been about 10-20 years older and could have gotten into this when all there was was film and Photography was this big, scary monster only the select few would battle professionally.....

Honestly, I expect it to be a side business much like my computer repair is. I can't make a living off of it, but its some extra income which is helpful atleast. Even if this makes only a few hundred a year at best it would help me pay off such an expensive hobby, since my income otherwise is... pretty non-exsistant right now. We'll see....

So last weekend I went the furthest north I have ever been, to the Gunflint trail just several miles from the border of the US and Canada up in extreme northern Minnesota. Needless to say I got a lot of photos, and had the chance to do some shooting with two of my friends who are mildly interested in photography as well.

I took not as many photos as I could have due to a two hour oddesy keeping the canoe on top of my friend's car on the way back to Grand Marais; and some time spent fishing uneventful fishing for trout. Looking back I wish I would have had the SLR with me instead of the rods, but I had my pocket camera with atleast and managed to get a few pics while I was hiking the trails along the river with that instead. Getting the shot with a pocket camera and having to deal with some distortion and not be the quality of images taken with the SLR is much better then not getting the shot at all.

So I've got a good number of pics to share! And I still have a backlog of Metro wildlife photos to post as well... ranging from Robins to Chipmunks, Pigeons, Seagulls, Deer and some other things for my animal quotient.

My current employment situation for the foreseeable future limits my travel to the state, MAYBE to the midwest. But there is just so much to see in Minnesota. From Rochester to Duluth so much wildlife, so much variety... a lifetime of things to see here. So while I may never get to travel to exotic places like Europe, South America, Asia, or Africa in my lifetime, I am enjoying just being able to see the little things in my backyard. Whether that is 5 minutes or 4 hours away from home; I have a car, have a camera. Will travel.

clickclickclickclick That's what's been going on lately. I've allready taken over 10,000 images in 2010; granted some of these are from my pocket camera, but most are from my T1i. Yeah I'm sure that camera will die an early death in a few years. Thank god it's more durable then the Xti for mirror/sensor life; but I have a good feeling I'll be killing it off long before most people would kill it. Thank god the XTi still works, and hopefully I'll have money for a new body on that fateful day...

But for now, I'm not worrying about it. Photography is an excuse to get excersize, and to get into shape. And its been so nice this year so far, we've had an unusually warm and DRY spring so far, so I've had lots of clear days for photo ops.

I take a lot of photos since there are so many subjects that interest me. Pretty much everything BUT Portraiture; which is why I likely couldn't make it professionally. I worked at a portrait studio for 3 months... but you know what? I'm really NOT interested AT ALL in taking pictures of people. If they are in the background, fine. But only as a small second factor and not as the main focus of the photo.

The exception to the rule is Silhouettes. I don't have the chance to take Silhouette photography that much, and that's the one type of photography I'm interested in that can have human portraiture aspects to it. I like the abstractness of it that you can't identify your model. Something I need to play more with.

I won't post portraiture on here; while some of my landscape photos may have people in them, I make sure to make it a point where they are not the main focus.

Also while I'm at it, I created a Photography group:  photografurs Feel free to watch/join. Of course, I didn't know about  photographyfurs and the  photofurs group seems really DEAD. But I figure as long as were active and do different stuff, FA is plenty big enough to support two photography groups. I linked to the other active group on the frontpage of mine, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens...

But I've got so much content from THIS YEAR allready, forget about seeing anything from 2009, unless I get really, really bored. Otherwise I'm struggling just to keep posting current content. I need a few weeks of "Normal April Weather" IE it's the Monsoon in Minnesota, and then; maybe then I can get caught up n.n

The 70-210mm F4 lens is turning out to be a very cool lens. While I already have a number of zoom lenses that cover that range in terms of focal length (28-200, 70,300, 55-250 and now the 70-210) the 70-210 is the predecessor to a Canon L series lens (the 70-200 F4 lens) and as such, is the closest I have to L grade glass in my kit.

What does this all mean? Like my 50mm lens, it has the same aperture throughout the entire focal length. The aperture is the size of the "opening" the lens has to let in light. Think of it like the opening of a pupil of an eye. Most standard zoom lenses this opening shrinks as the lens is extended. The higher quality lenses generally have a fixed apeture.

While this lens lacks as wide of a focal length as even my 55-250mm lens, along with Image Stabilization it is a little faster, meaning I can run at almost a full stop faster at 210 mm.

I had a chance to test it out on Nature photography yesterday, and as you can see from the last two pictures the results are impressive. At F4 there is very little distortion, IE the subject is in focus without blurring on the edges and the background is what you'd expect at a lower aperture, creamy and blurred out causing a very unique effect useful for portrait and nature photography.

This doesn't mean of course I'll stop using my other lenses in favor for primes, this lens has its uses. Its a poor choice for landscape photography for example, and doesn't have the range of the 70-300mm, but is excellent for nature and portrait photography. Two perfect examples have been posted from what I took with it yesterday.

The Bokeh is what the "out of focus" area of the photo, generally most noticeable in portrait, still-life and macro photography. Every lens handles this Bokeh differently, but the 70-210 is by far the most consistent and even of the lenses I own.

You can't argue with this fact. Free lenses just rock. A very rare opportunity for me.

My uncle had in storage an old 1990's Canon film EOS camera. All Canon EOS mount lenses work on the digital bodies too, and he said they were just sitting there collecting dust.

I already have a newer film EOS rebel so I had no use for the body. He wanted to keep it around "just in case" and in which case I told him feel free to let me know and I will give him his lenses back. He had 3 lenses, 1 of which I already have and that was the 50mm F 1.8. He also had a 430 EZ flash which like my 580 EZ will ONLY work in full manual modes on a DSLR so he kept that as well.

What I ended up getting were two lenses, one of which is meh... its a film kit lens and the other is much more interesting. No L glass of course, if they had been L series lenses I think he would have had to revive me off the floor *faint*

The two lenses are the older Canon EF 28-70 3.5-4.5 and the Discontinued 28-210 F4 prime Non-L series. Of course the second one is the INTERESTING one. Its a non L version of the very popular 70-200 F4 L series lens and the predecessor to said lens. It's a prime lens, meaning it can operate at an f stop of 4.0 throughout its entire range making it the "fastest" zoom lens I own now (not to be confused with how fast the AF motor as it is SLOWER then my 55-250. Its a great lens to MF with, but the AF drive is still plenty usable in good light).

My 55-250 has Image Stabilization which in some instances is more useful then a SLIGHT 2/3rds f stop increase... but it should be a great addition to my collection and defiantly has it's uses. The lower f/stop means it can also do more artistic/ DOF shots at 200mm then either my 55-250 or 70-300 can do at that point. It is a great lens for things like portraiture and flower photography, though it doesn't have nearly as close of a macro range as my 70-300 does; which still makes that lens useful to me in addition to being compatible with the 1.4x multiplier (the 55-250 is NOT compatible with it)

As a prime lens like the 50mm it also is more consistent with things like light bleeding and theoretically can produce sharper images.

But any way you look at it; free glass is the best kind ^^ I'm not opposed to used gear and hand-me-downs, if it does the job who cares if its white and has a red ring around it? While L series glass would be a nice thing to have... I've decided it won't likely happen in my lifetime. And I'm fine with that. There are a lot of INTERESTING and cool lenses out there, especially when you dip into the older and OOP stuff. Many of which were re branded and slightly improved so they could be sold for 3x the price, such as the 70-200 F4 L.