I often get asked something along the lines of “Your wife is okay with you doing this?” when I work with women that haven’t done a shoot before, or have only worked with women photographers.

This time it was asked by someone I have never worked with and they did not ask me or my wife. For some reason, they asked my mother.

Yes, my wife let’s me do this. She allows me to follow my dreams. She allows me to do what I love.

Starting at the beginning, I didn’t get into photography to shoot glamour and boudoir. The work came to me and I fell in love with it. The passion, the expression, the smiles on the client’s face while telling me how amazing she feels about herself, and that her significant other is now paying a little more attention to her. Yes, it is about making other people happy.

I feel bad that other people may have issues trusting the people they are with. My wife and I have been through our share of hard times and have moved past petty high-school jealousy issues.

The pretty girl up top is Christina. I got to work with this lovely lady at a shoot hosted by a local auto body shop (All Makes Auto). She is fantastic and I plan on working with her again this summer, if my wife lets me.

Like many other people around the country I bought a few lottery tickets a few weeks ago, back when the winner walked away with about $500 million. I thought that was enough money for anyone to do anything they wanted, I was wrong.

If only one person walked away with that cash, not the three that had to share it, they would still only have half the funds needed to own Instagram, HALF. Think about that for a minute. Millions of people were sitting around checking tiny slips of paper for 6 matching numbers so they could have all of their wildest dreams fulfilled. Not if that dream involved owning that fancy little photo app that makes everyone’s photos look like they came from the same 1970′s darkroom.

I know that I am a little late on this and the hype has come and gone, but I wanted to say a short something on Facebook’s purchase of Instagram. If you tried your hand at picking the winning MegaMillions numbers and came up short, there is still a chance. Come up with the new “IT THING” and hope facebook buys you out in their conquest of all things internet.

The lady in the above image is Natasha (LadyR) a singer/song writer I became friends with when I lived in Maryland. I wish her the best of luck in all she does, and say “thank you” for letting me work with her on several occasions. Perhaps you will see more of her in the future.

When I tell people that I’m a professional hobbyist photographer people look at me like I have three pairs of eyes and they are all different colors. ”What in the hell?”  is the response I expect goes through everyone’s mind when they hear the term “professional hobbyist.” but that is exactly what I consider myself to be. I am a professional hobbyist photographer.

Photography is my hobby and has been for as long as I can remember. As this is only a hobby, I am free to create images that I find pleasing and entertaining, shooting for the fun of shooting without restriction. The doors of creativity and expression are wide open.

As a professional photographer, the need to deliver quality images to my client consumes me. I can not allow an image to reach the eyes of the client if I do not feel as if it meets my personal quality standards. This dedication to the client and the images, not the financial gains, brands me as a professional.

While it is true that I do get paid for some of my work, I put the creation of images first. I focus on the shoot itself, not the money behind it. I am well aware that this may not be the best business model for a professional photographer. good thing I’m just a hobbyist, even if I’m professional about my hobby.

The girl up top is Jamie, a “normal every day, real world girl” that happens to be a great deal of fun to work with. I work with her often so you can expect to see more images of her on the blog.