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Although I haven’t done much with my camera gear since the hobby went on hold a few months ago, it was still a pretty exciting week for me photography wise.

Two of my photos made it into Hawaii magazines this week, my Iao Stream photo and my Haleakala Sunrise image from the ‘09 Maui Photo Festival. Here’s the scoop on how it happened.

Iao Stream in Hawaii Magazine

I had originally submitted this photo to Hawaii Magazine for their Photo of the Week feature about a year ago. Thinking nothing of it since then, I was contacted by the magazine last month for a print-friendly version to run in their Your Hawai’i section of the July/August edition. I certainly couldn’t pass up on that opportunity.

Sunrise Silhouette in Maui No Ka ‘Oi Magazine

Already knowing about the photo printed in Hawaii Magazine, I was pleasantly surprised the following day when the July/August issue of Maui No Ka ‘Oi magazine arrived at our door. Featured in the magazine’s Talk Story section was a full page article on the upcoming Maui Photo Festival in August. Since this photo won the best portrait award in the inaugural event last year, I was invited to sign a photo release so it could be used by the event organizers for promotions and the like. And there you have it.

Well, if you see my little bunny friend here, you know something’s up.

As hard for it is for me to say this out loud, but it has come to the point where this amazing hobby of mine has to go on the backburner for awhile.

There are numerous factors playing into this very difficult decision – some positive, others negative – but I’m choosing not to dig into those right now. At the end of the day, my current workload and other demands on my time have left me very little opportunity to shoot new images. And even when I do get to break open the camera bag, I’m left with even less time to work with them in post and share them with everyone here.

Missing Maui

The other big impact this has on my overall happiness is that I’ll have to pass on the Maui Photo Festival this year – which is very unfortunate since I’ve been looking forward to returning ever since we got on the plane to go home after the ‘09 event.

I wish everyone involved with the MPF this year and those either returning or attending for the first time this year all the best – I really want to be there with you, and look forward to seeing the great shots and hearing about the wonderful experiences you’ll be having once it has come and passed.

What Now?

I don’t want to say this is the end of everything, so if you are so inclined, please bear with me as I work out my priorities elsewhere.  While I won’t be posting new images very often for the foreseeable future, I will try to add new content from time to time.  Whether it’s links to other photographers on Facebook or interesting articles or topics I come across, I’m hoping to keep this little site going so that when the time comes that I’m able to recommit myself, I can get going again rather quickly.

Many Thanks

I would like to extend a collective Thank You to everyone I’ve interacted with online or in real life as it relates to photography.  The last year and a half of really taking this hobby seriously has brought me so much joy, and networking and meeting other photographers has been a major part of that.

In a way, that interaction with my photography peers may be something that I’ll miss the most.  That, and the trips to Maui.

Happy shooting everyone, and keep those great images coming.  I look forward to rejoining you all someday.

– Kris

For me, photography is truly wonderful hobby to have. But at the end of the day, and at least for now, it really is just a hobby.

When it comes down to it, I still have to pay the bills and when work gets demanding like it has been lately, my hobbies and the other fun things I’d rather be doing instead fall by the wayside. These days, it seems wrong to be complaining about having a job, and that’s not what I’m doing. I’ve come to terms that work comes first, second, and sometimes third, it just has to get done.

What’s rough, though, is when I get on a roll with my photography efforts whether I’m going out shooting or in the digital darkroom or the many great things online you can do with photography these days. It’s rough when I have all that momentum and then have to put things on hold for days or weeks at a time. It’s kind of a bummer.

Getting Caught Up

Like many things in life, this stuff comes in waves, and over the years I’ve been getting better at knowing when they’re coming and when they start to settle down.  This week might be one of those weeks where things start to fall off and I can try to get caught up.

Plus, one of the benefits I’ve come to enjoy in the past few years is having the entire week of Christmas off as a company holiday. There’s more than enough things I can be doing photography-wise during that week, and it’s going do depend on whether we get a lot of snow (so I can go out and shoot more) or if I’ll be revisiting my ever growing task list when it comes to the darkroom or the blog here.

Thoughts?

I like the fact that the various contacts of mine are a good mix of professional photographs and part-time hobbyists like myself.  I’m sure there are aspects of this from both sides of that spectrum, and I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts or experiences you might have had in your photographic efforts.

– Kris

Flipping through more photos from our Door County trips for a holiday gift we’re putting together for a relative, and I came across these images.

They’re from our first visit to Sturgeon Bay back in Sept. ‘08 and were taken during their annual Harvest Festival. It was neat walking around and seeing all the booths and people from all across the county coming for this get together.

But when it was time to eat, we picked up a little lunch and found ourselves an open stretch of curb to sit. As we sat and ate lunch, I looked around at things around me, and in between bites I picked up our little Canon SD890 and snapped a few photos.

A Different Point of View

You often hear and read a lot about how perspective is a powerful tool in photography. And while these aren’t dramatic compositions by any means, they are a neat view of what you can do sitting on your bum.

Just beware of slobbering dogs.