It's always great to see old friends. Every few years, my college roommates and I get together for a week or so of visiting. Raina flew in from Washington state, and I traveled up to Harrisburg, where we met Sonja.

We met our friend Jenny at a diner to catch up.

Jerrold, Sonja's friend, wandered around Harrisburg with me and took photos of us meandering.

We wound our way through alleys and around abandoned buildings, overrun by plant life.

We passed by a dumpster where we found this amazingly decrepit couch. The sky was overcast and dramatic; the dampness really brought out the colors in this shot; perfect natural lighting.

We finished the evening off at a sushi restaurant, with an enormous selection and lovely wine.

After sushi, Sonja's band Smoke the Groove tore up an art opening. This shot, while a little noisy, has a lot of color that I really like.

I love what I do. I love what I do. I LOVE what I do.

And it's great to get paid for what I do! But every photographer, at some point, will be asked, "Why do you charge so much?"

It comes down to a few simple things: costs associated with equipment, services, and running a business, and the time required to execute a skillful photographic product.

I have the fortune to be able to play with a lot of expensive equipment and software: fancy cameras, fancy computers, and fancy photo-editing tools are a joy to work with. But those fancy tools come with a hefty price tag that must be insured, replaced, and upgraded periodically.

Prints and other photographic products may be cheaply found at your local grocery store, but getting archival paper, color-correcting services, and quality display products will run higher than that.

And I take pride in my work; every photograph that I turn over to a client has been "touched" by me; I color-correct, lightly retouch, and edit my work so that you get beautifully documented moments. That takes time: for every hour that I photograph, at least another one to two hours is spent on the computer editing and perfecting the final product.

Michelle Burke, an Oregon-based photographer, wrote an excellent article, breaking down the costs and work associated with photographing a wedding. She sums it up well like so:

"Rarely will a photographer accumulate great wealth from wedding photography. Not without writing books, conducting seminars and inventing new gadgets, and even then, well. But every full-time professional wedding photographer, in order to continue to do what she loves, must be realistic in her pricing so that she can remain competetive in skill, customer service and workflow."

I didn't get into this business to make buckets of money. I got into this business because I LOVE what I do and the people I get to work with.

For further reading, Professional Child Photographer offers a consumer's guide to the costs of custom photography.

I'm happy to announce that I won an award!

This photo won 17th place in WPJA's Artistic Guild quarterly contest. Follow the link, click on "Engagement Portrait" at the bottom, and you'll find my little shot among some of the most admirable photographers around! I'm so honored.

My favorite part about these contests is that you get to see the judge's comments. Knowing why the judges chose a particular photograph gives so much insight into what makes a great shot. I look forward to trying to better my work so that in the future I can create more award-winning work!

This past weekend, I had a table lined up at the Britton Events bridal expo in Columbia, MD.

My table was a rather small affair, featuring the new folios, brag books and prints that I really loved.

Best of all, it enabled me to feature my latest treasure: the sample album!

Not to mention mini-folios!

I'm really looking forward to this year's wedding season.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to attend to little baby Peter...

A preemie at birth, and newly adopted, Peter is adjusting well, and growing fast.

You can tell that he's tiny; he fits beautifully in his mother's hands.

I love his beautiful eyes, and his cute little underbite (that you can see in the first shot). His gruntings were the music to accompany the portrait session.

This portrait was taken four years ago.

Four years ago I was newly married. Four years ago I worked mainly in film, and loved the grain from 1600 speed film so much I'd buy it by the case so I could shoot in the dark. Four years ago I graduated college. Four years ago my grandmother was still alive.

Amazing what time does to your life!

This past Saturday, I trekked my way up to New Jersey for the wedding of a college friend of mine.

Melody and Christopher had their legal marriage on the Wednesday before their wedding date, so that their Saturday ceremony was a casual gathering of friends and family for a handfasting.

Most everyone brought various kinds of ribbon with which to tie the couples' hands together. Each person had something different to say; some sang a song, some wrote or recited poems, others had well wishes, verses from the Bible, or some other blessing to bestow on the happy two.

Afterwards, Melody and Christopher and I escaped out behind the church hall to take photographs in the woodsy area nearby. Melody specially requested that I incorporate the fallen birch tree somehow; "I love birch," she said, "The bark is just so lovely."

It's plain to see that she and Christopher will be happy for a long, long time. They are so at ease with each other, and made conversation with grace and comfort while I photographed.

The two of them are returning to Ireland (Christopher's native land), where a small house with a bright red door awaits them. I wish them the best.