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Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Time to Catch Up

It has been almost 2 months since my last post. Let me just say that a lot has happened the past couple months. First off, I started a photography company, Stengel Photography, LLC. I am still trying to find my niche, so I do not have a specialty and would be very interested in taking photos for your special occasion. I never realized how much paperwork and headache there could be in the process. Thanks to my accountant and people able to answer questions within each agency I had to deal with, it remained a fairly smooth process.

The first photo shoot I completed after turning professional was for Kari's family. We had a blast going to a local playground to take their family portraits. There are some really cute shots. Kids, while challenging, can be so much fun to work with. They definitely made my job of capturing natural and fun expressions easier.

I found myself in Atlanta for Thanksgiving visiting my sister and brother-in-law. We explored in a local nature preserve (more photos to come from that) and enjoyed an awesome dinner over at the Nacke's on Thanksgiving day. I was only planning on taking family portraits for my family; however, I ended up getting recruited taking the family photos for the rest of the families there as well. It was a blast and led to some great photos.


Following my return from Atlanta, my roommate, Matt, and I continued our sneaky ways to help him make the final preparations for his big day. On November 30th, he proposed to his now fiancee, Sarah. I was there to take photos to record the day for them. It was absolute privilege! I look forward to helping them take some more staged photos to add to their live action shots!


December led to another new experience for myself and my company. I assisted another great photographer, Blake Dieringer, with a wedding. I had never shot photos for a wedding before. Saying that I learned a lot would be an understatement. It was an awesome experience to take photos throughout the day. The shots look great too!

The last update I want to briefly touch upon is our most recent excursion down to check out the Cursed Pyramid Ruins. I know what you are thinking. What are the Cursed Pyramid Ruins? Or perhaps, why were you guys in Egypt? Great questions! The Cursed Pyramid Ruins are located halfway between Bloomington and Bedford in Indiana. Along the way, we found some great icicles hanging off of the rocks that I-37 cut through as it traverses south. They were absolutely massive! We had to stop and take a few pictures.

Needmore, IN, is a really small town with a single road leading off of I-37. We were fortunate that we did not zip right through the uncontrolled intersection. The road snaked through this small Indiana town until it reached a dead end at one of the largest limestone quarries I have ever seen. It was gigantic! With the Cursed Pyramid Ruins being an abandoned attraction, there is no address or landmark to go off of to find it. We wandered around the area for as long as we could handle the cold without finding the ruins. While we were bummed, our journey was not a complete loss. We found a really cool cemetery completely surrounded by the limestone quarry that provided some awesome photo opportunities. We also decided to come back on a warmer day and hike around more to find the ruins. We know they are out there somewhere!