Even after retiring, Chris Enges, 64, of Carlsborg, is finding the sky is the limit.

For more than a year, he’s pursued his newest passion videography through his business Spirit Vision Films. He splits his time between photography and videography with a large portion of his work using a drone.

“The storytelling aspect is what intrigues me,” Enges said.

“I did semi-professional photography so I’m no stranger to the art form.

“There was something about (videos) I just really loved.”

Enges did some work as a semi-professional photographer including snapping shots for Olympic Cellars Winery while working full time with the Clallam County Roads Department. But in 2012, he opted to retire early and pursue photography further.

Shortly into school at Peninsula College though, videography caught Enges’ eye.

He returned to school with help from the Veterans Affairs’ Veterans Retraining Assistance and Placement Program. He served in the U.S. Navy and was injured in North Africa in 1973 from an accident with the U.S. Navy Seabees as a heavy equipment operator.

“With their help, I intended to go back and become a better photographer,” he said. “When I got to Peninsula College I got into videography. With their three classes available Professor Renne Emiko Brock really got me inspired.”

Brock said Enges is a student she would hope for — dependable, inquisitive and supportive of his classmates.

“He has embraced my teaching method that I apply in the classroom of learning by leading,” she said. “This is to mentor and teach others as a means to more effectively learn by doing and communicating.”

Later on, he took an online business course through the VA and eventually presented what would become Spirit Vision Films. The agency offered assistance with licensing, insurance and a new camera and laptop.

“They say in the VA that only 2 percent of veterans across the U.S. create a business through the program because of all the hoops you’ve got to run through,” he said. “It took a long time but eventually I was approved.”

Brock said Peninsula College’s Digital Video program has graduated several students who have developed their own businesses or enhanced employment using videography.

“Opportunities can be established by creativity and courage to innovate by learning something new and teaming up with encouraging people,” she said.

Below, With his drone, Chris Enges captures hard to see areas such as bluffs in Dungeness that homeowners might not see as easily looking over the edge. Photo courtesy of Chris Enges

Paving the way

Positive word of mouth has carried Spirit Vision Films in its short tenure, Enges said.

Since he put together a documentary on the niche wool industry using a grant, he’s received a lot of references and was able to buy more equipment. His latest projects range from photographing vacation homes to documenting bluff erosion to surveying the Dungeness River.

For the Clallam County Roads Department he captured video of the Ward Road Bridge footings so that contractors/engineers could have a better idea of the scope of the project without visiting the site. It entails channeling the Dungeness River to one side as repairs are made to each side of the bridge.

Through Clallam County’s Department of Community Development, Enges has been documenting a before aerial survey of the Dungeness River as county officials work to remove a dike built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1964 to control flooding. It hasn’t been doing that in recent years, he said, so county officials and other agencies plan to remove most of the dike and relocate it so gravel and silt and can go to the mouth of the river. As the plan progresses, he might document the construction and if the area floods.

Drones

Enges said using his Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, UAV or drone, makes up about 60 percent of his business.

“People are interested in drone technology because of the bird’s-eye view,” he said.

But becoming a drone pilot is quite the task.

For Enges to legally fly, he received a Section 333 exemption through the Federal Aviation Administration and he must register his drone.

He’s one of 6,500 licensed drone pilots in the U.S., he says, and they are bound by a lot of rules.

He must record a flight log each time he flies with specifics such as how long and where and submit it to the FAA monthly.

On Aug. 29, he’ll take a test at a computer-assisted testing service for a permanent license.

He said it’ll cost about $300 rather than the approximate $10,000 for a pilot’s license.

“It’s going to open the floodgates for drones across the U.S.,” he said. “There are going to be tens of thousands in the U.S. flying drones commercially.”

Enges said flying drones as a hobby has been around a long time and the problem with them is there are a lot of irresponsible people out there.

“The privacy issue is a big concern for people but there are so many things I’m restricted from doing,” he said.

“I can’t fly directly over people or near airports.”

When he was doing a project for Habitat for Humanity in Port Angeles, Enges said the technology in his drone wouldn’t let him take off because it recognized that it was too close to the William R. Fairchild International Airport.

Ross Hamilton

While Enges already loves what he does, a recent side project is definitely a labor of love.

After speaking with mutual friend Brian Schroeder, Enges asked local photographer Ross Hamilton if he’d be interested in creating video tutorials about photography and being featured in a documentary.

“For me, he is probably the greatest photographer on the peninsula,” Enges said.

“I love landscape photography and his images inspired me to go find those images off the beaten path.”

Hamilton was receptive to the idea and Enges recorded him a few weeks ago; Hamilton said he enjoyed his time with Enges.

“It feels very different when you’re on the front end of the camera,” he said. “I feel more comfortable on the other side.”

“I wanted to ask him questions about his talks but also his time with Ansel Adams in California … He’s been on the scene here 40-plus years,” Enges said.

They shot video by Sequim Bay and the Dungeness Cemetery where Enges flew his drone around to highlight images Hamilton shot in those locations.

Hamilton said he feels the videos could help others.

“Photography is its own means of education and I’ve enjoyed it a long time,” Hamilton said.

“It is my desire to help anyone I can. I thought this might be an opportunity to help other photographers and aspiring photographers.”

Despite vision loss, Enges said Hamilton continues to spread inspiration by giving back to the community and to photography in general.

“He’s such an inspiration to the people around him and really anyone with a disability,” Enges said.

“When I’m done, I hope to have captured the essence of Ross Hamilton.”

No timeline is set for the finished documentary. Hamilton’s “2017 Olympic Peninsula” calendar is for sale now.

Peninsula College begins its “Media 115: Introduction to Digital Video” course in the winter, “Media Directing and Production” in the spring and “Media 215: Digital Video Projects” in the fall.

For more information about Spirit Vision Films, visit https://spiritvisionfilms.com/ or contact Enges at 460-8465 or cenges@msn.com.

Below, for his efforts at Peninsula College, Chris Enges was featured on the spring catalog at the college. Photo courtesy of Peninsula College