Wow! I can’t believe this is the last week of October already. This month has blown by almost as quickly as the colorful leaves have been dropping off the trees around the neighborhood. And at the end of the day, the only thing changing is the date on the calendar.

I took October off from shooting high school sports to give me time to focus on some other photographic and personal projects. I made some progress in some areas and didn’t move forward in other areas. Such is life!

The past ten days have been the most fulfilling. I took a week off from the day job to coincide with my kids’ Fall Break from school. So they came and stayed with Laura and I for nine full days. As can be expected, it was an adjustment for all of us as we get used to being around each other 24/7 for the first time since their summer vacation. Some old habits crept up and created some unnecessary tension around the house, but such is life with children. 

I did get out and do a couple of photo sessions during this blogging hiatus. The first was a test with a local Realtor to see if I would be a good fit to work with her to photograph the various properties she will be listing in the Indianapolis metro area. It was a learning experience for both of us, but I generated a number of images that I liked from the near-empty house.

The second session I had was a baby shower in scenic Nashville, Indiana last weekend. For those of you unfamiliar with the scenic rolling hills of southern Indiana, Nashville is home to numerous artisans, shops of all kinds, and Brown County State Park which is generally considered the park with the best views of fall foliage in the state. I was fortunate that my GPS routed me around the town and along some back roads so I didn’t get caught behind the plethora of motorhomes and motorcycles which have the potential of backing up traffic for miles on end during this time of year. 

At home, I even began the long-overdue process of going through the hundreds upon hundreds of negative/slide sleeves that I have been moving from one place to another from my days of shooting film. I’m going through and scanning and archiving the high-quality (AKA keeper) images and discarding those which are either no longer relevant or just downright stink. So far, a lot of the images I have been looking back are ones from my college days at Indiana University; it’s amazing to see how far I have developed as a photographer since then.

I won’t admit to knowing it all—in fact, I know I still have a lot to learn. Photography is an art form which takes a lifetime to “master” and I am nowhere close to the end of my lifetime (I hope!). To that end, I have also been taking time to learn via webcasts, books and magazines to continue to broaden my photographic knowledge. In a little while, I will also be taking the time to begin planning out the schedule for the post-processing group training I do for my local camera club. (And by teaching, I am also learning.)

With two months left in the calendar year, I am going to gear up to return to the hardwood court as high school basketball kicks off here in the Hoosier state and start shooting again. I’m also going to finish getting my equipment unpacked and organized after the move and be ready to hit the ground running in 2016!