While washing dishes the other day (a lengthy task, as we do not have the luxury of a dishwasher), I reflected on the unspoken principles of food that I have nurtured for goodness knows how long. I write them here because they interest me, and I'm curious if others have similar principles by which they conduct themselves and their kitchens.

1. Food Tastes Better When Prepared by Others

This is a general truism, and I think it stems from a heightened sense of eagerness and anticipation when you get together as a group to share a meal. Possibility and mystery reside in the occasion, especially if one is eating out. What will I choose to eat? What will others choose? What will we talk about?

These questions can, of course, be a source of anxiety on a first date or the first time you bring home a significant other. But for the most part when you indulge in the luxury of having your food prepared by another, the ease, relaxation, and anticipation it encourages heighten the enjoyment of the meal.

Even when one participates in preparing food at another person's house, a sense of mystery remains. You are communing with the person, with their unfamiliar kitchen, and entering into a world that closely touches on the way they sustain their existence.

2. Coffee: Not Just Another Caffeinated Beverage.

Coffee is a complicated beverage surrounded by an almost magical ritual--pouring hot water over roasted beans hardly seems like an activity that could provide comfort or excitement. Yet for me, it does.

What I enjoy so very much about coffee (and even tea) is the gentle but daring combination of flavors that can be brought about through different roasts, adding varying quantities of sugar

Some may abuse coffee for its caffeine content. That is understandable, but in no way detracts from coffee's sophistication or dignity.

Therefore my working principle is that coffee is among those items (like good-quality shoes) that you should never skimp on.

3. Satisfy Chocolate Cravings with Darker Varieties

Never one to pass up an opportunity to consume more chocolate, I confess to being rather rabidly addicted to the bittersweet varieties. Those who stand united with me in craving chocolate should heed this principle: it is wiser to consumer darker varieties instead of "milk" chocolate, because it's the cacao you're craving, not the sugar.

The weather here in Baltimore has been swinging more wildly than a moody teenager. Last week temperatures were balmy and spring-like; even some of the local forsythia bushes were tricked into budding.

But yesterday we had ear-biting cold, light drifting snow, and icy stoops. "Winter storm warning," said the radio.

Today the snow is melting. The sky is cloudy but the temperature is warm. Everything is early-morning damp. It will be spring soon.

The above photograph is of a homemade windchime made from salvaged chimes, twine, and a chopstick.

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.

Lately the weather here in Baltimore has fluctuated between Extremely Awesome and Very Blah. Today, unfortunately, it is the latter.

But cloudy days have a quiet mystery about them. I feel less energetic when the sun's not out, but sometimes an overcast sky can remind me to slow down, to be more observant of my surroundings; with no dramatic shadows to create high-contrast imagery, one has to find other ways to make a photograph interesting.

This particular image was taken while wandering around with a friend on a cloudy day. I noticed the newspaper, shredded and clinging to the fence. As I passed by, the bike lock, grill, and newspaper aligned like an astrological event.

I like it when things like that happen; incidental objects creating an interesting pattern.

Last Tuesday evening, National Fatherhood Initiative hosted its Fatherhood Awards Gala in Washington, D.C.

I've photographed this event since 2005, and always enjoyed myself. Photographing an event like that presents a technical challenge and unique pressures, similar to that of a wedding: low light, active subjects, and a one-time-only chance to catch the moment.

Taking pictures of people while giving speeches presents a unique challenge: you want to catch the person talking, but not in a part of a sentence where their mouth appears odd or makes them look awkward. And some folks have more dynamic speaking faces than others, which you want to exploit whenever possible. This requires listening to what they're saying, and also reading their body language to anticipate when they might next move their hand a certain way, or even turn their head towards or away from the camera.

Event photography, for me, is people-watching on steroids.

For those who are interested, you can view a small gallery of the photographs, and see for yourself!