kicking it old skool

What a busy month. Now that it’s all over, I think I should take a sec to jot down a few items…

First and foremost, I have come to the realisation that I absolutely love autumn. I don’t ever recall loving it so much in S.A though, but I may have been too self-absorbed or distracted. I know I love summers there, beach, sun, surf. Can’t be beat. But the British autumn holds something very special. I actually did do my tour of Holland Park, as planned and was rewarded with many beautiful and memorable shots. I’m very happy that I dragged my fiancée along. Well, I say dragged, but she was very keen to join me :) She calls it her “office” since she personal trains most of her more affluent clientele there.

Apart from the full gamut of colours and shades of the season I love the energy of the place. Everyone is dressed warm, although the air isn’t that cold or warm. It’s just right. Light breezes send leaves cascading everywhere and I’ve caught myself more than a few times just stopping and staring, wide grin on my face.

Movember was on again, that charity for prostate cancer where gentlemen are encouraged to grow a killer 'tache and rake in some sponsorshops. The 'tache's where glorious!

My adventures in photography have found many new avenues of play too. It all kicked off with Halloween, which is technically the start of November, all the way through to last Saturday. I’ve been shooting bands and parties non stop the whole month. Met so many interesting folks in the industry, rubbed elbows with various bands and groupies and just had an absolute blast. I’m getting really good at post processing and quick turn around for clients too, which is an art form in itself. And in between backing everything up to DVD (gotta have backups!) and my “day job” I’ve not spent enough time with updating my photo site and getting some of these pics out to the contacts I’ve made. It’s on the to-do list for December.

There are some very nice opportunities on the horizon also. I’ve had an offer to be the official photographer for one of the event management companies. This will include a week trip to Ibiza, of course. And I mean, who can say no to that? There’s also a rumour of a press pass up for grabs for the Seether concert in January… and I would pretty much give my first born for it. Holding thumbs.

I try not to dwell on these things. I kinda feel like Wile-e Coyote after he runs off a cliff, hanging in mid air. He’s perfectly fine until he actually looks down… and then, you know, bad things happen. Things are just flowing really well right now; I don’t want to break the momentum.

I’m doing my best to not look down.

I’ve also met an interesting fellow who specialises in studio photography. This is one of the areas where my skills are seriously lacking. It’s the directing of a model that still mystifies me; what to say etc. I guess it helps if you know what you want. Which I don’t, come to think of it. I’ve made a note to meet up with him for a bit of knowledge transfer.

Work, or “the day job” has been just dandy, even amid the financial crises and so forth. I’m still very happy where I am and look forward to being here for a while.

Games wise, I’ve coped as best I could. Finished up Dead Space, getting into Fallout 3, although it crashes every 15 minutes. Quite Annoying. I’m holding out till after Xmas to buy anything for the 360. Not too fussed, I actually reckon I’ll play most of the games on my (very long) list after they’ve been reduced i.e. bargain binned. That’s because I’ve been reading the most gripping sci-fi novel to date, Hyperion. It’s a, um, “Quantilogy” (spell checker doesn’t reckon that word exists). I’m on the 4th book already. I’m hoping I’ll finish it soon so that I can know the ending and finally be released from its vice-like grip on my time.

Ah, another thing: my friends are pregnant. I’m gonna be an uncle. That’s really cool! Can’t wait to do a baby photo shoot :)

That’s it. In keeping with the Looney tunes reference, I present to you the venerable Porky Pig: “Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Thats all folks!”

[G], out

what if I say that i'll never surrender