during our recent kickin' family vacation in duck on the outer banks of north carolina, i also did some portraits of one of my youngest cousins, sydney spence. she will be a senior this year in chesapeake, virginia. we had two separate sessions, an early morning one at some shops near our beach houses and an evening one on the beach. what a great time! i have to give props to my brother, matt, for being my assistant on the morning shoot! he did a great job holding the scrim, and even suggested the chair, which turned out some of my favorite shots!

just chillin' on the boardwalk!

can someone say, model!?!?! love the freckles and her curly hair

syd's friend from home, lindsay, joined us for the week!

rachel sears was incredible as "nikki," the bird lady!

a little dance number!

... plus some tragedy

chris seems so serious, but sam was able to get him to loosen up!

my aunt karen, the bride's mother, thinks this photo is "so them!"

i knew i was in for a treat on this assignment the instant i stepped from my car. from across the street someone yelled to me, "hey cameraman!" they wanted to know why all the people in bustling downtown middletown! see, my subject that afternoon was myersville resident bernie lucas. bernie runs a blog, middletown daily photo, by taking pictures all over middletown and posting his favorites. that day he had his camera too, so to the residents of middletown, it was a big deal to have two guys walking around taking pictures. especially when one is taking pics of the other! bernie was great, i just stood back and snapped away while he worked!

i liked the juxtaposition of bernie and the items on display. 

the busy background played against bernie's attentive stance 

saturday evening i had the pleasure of shooting a hot dog eating contest for the newspaper. the contest, sponsored by the downtown frederick partnership and five guys burgers, was in downtown frederick along the carroll creek linear park.

there were two contests that evening, i took the second one, hoping more people would show up. sure enough, a crowd of about 50 waited in anticipation for the eight contestants to start eating as many dogs as they could in ten minutes. right away, i knew one contestant was going make good pictures. they only woman in the group, elena juris of dc, started to giggle even before time started.

the next four frames, taken within the first minute, show just how she felt about participating in the mother of all food-eating contests!  

she just realized what she got herself into! 

she ended up eating only 2 hot dogs, but had fun doing it! the rest of the dogs she didn't eat, which each contestant got to keep, went to some homeless folks later that evening. thanks for being such a sport, elena!

saturday morning i traveled down to the great state of virginia for a family portrait session with our friends, brian and lisa, and lisa's family. what a trip! mary ann, lisa's mom, invited my wife, molly, and my son, jackson, down to hang out with everyone while i took all the pictures. thanks so much! jackson had a blast!

the day was typical washington area summer weather, hot and muggy! with a photographer's friendly overcast sky, we tried to do as many pictures outside as possible, in between running back into the air-conditioned house to cool off! i did individual shots of all of the family, including extended family and lisa's college friend. lots of people, but everyone was great! thanks again for such a wonderful time, ackermans! 

lisa's sister, julie

wacky mike gives the guns and thumbs up! 

jason, eldest son

lisa was listing all the crazy games they played over the 4th weekend on their "staycation"!

bob and grandson aidan having a little tickle time

...and last but not least, the matriarch of the family, mary ann, explaining to the troops the next activity on the master list! 

last saturday i had the pleasure of shooting a very special wedding in northern virginia. beth and brian nussbaum's wedding was a treat especially because of how i knew the couple: the maid of honor, beth's big sister, is one of my wife's best college friends. bridgette has been a close friend for many years, and i enjoyed getting to know the rest of the blair family — especially junior bridesmaid and budding photographer alyssa — and the nussbaums as well. 

beth and brian lookED stunning ON THE LAWN of the river creek club in leesburg, virginia 

the ceremony was at our lady of hope roman catholic church in sterling, virginia 

beth's mom, carmelita, and sister, bridgette, provided lots of comic relief! 

Father of the bride, terry blair cleans up real nice!

my shadow for most of the evening, junior bridesmaid alyssa 

the men discuss the finer points of life 

brian's gift to the groomsmen: customized bobble heads! what a great IDEA. 

bridgette and her beau, elijah, get some prodding from her aunt ABOUT when they might be tying the knot. she even offered elijah her OWN ring FOR A PROPOSAL!! 

in lieu of A WEDDING CAKE, THE COUPLE CHOSE AN ICE CREAM BAR WITH ALL THE FIXINS. YUM!

ALYSSA WAS RIGHT THERE UNTIL THE END, SNAPPING AWAY! 

last week i traveled down to our nation's capital for an engagement shoot with a great young couple. ryan and kim both grew up in pa, in my hometown, doylestown. in fact, my mom and ryan's mom worked together at the elementary school where ryan and i once attended. small world!

we had planned to meet around the navy memorial on pennsylvania ave, but to my amazement, when i got there the entire block was covered in sailors in their dress whites! a stage and bleachers were all setup and it was very crowded. so we started our shoot instead near a favorite restaurant, teaism. we shot on the grand avenues and used the capitol building as our backdrop. a quick cab ride took us to union station for some fun pics, and a chance encounter with one of ryan's buddies!

ryan and kim's wedding is coming up in march, in bucks county, pa. it is going to be a blast! 

the lovely couple enjoying the view from the north side of the capitol.

they look like models...looking good guys!

strolling through union station 

we found this cute little hideaway just around the corner from the navy memorial.

well, i thought i had done it all. my time in newspaper photojournalism lasted a brief 8 years, but in that time i had had my taste of some really great new (to me at least) foods. until this past monday evening.

i had an assignment to cover the woodsboro fire carnival, and specifically their famous slippery pot pie. now i know why it is famous. this little treat is one of the tastiest things i have had in a long time while on assignment. i have always loved carnival food... elephant ears (fried dough with sugar), beef bbq, and of course, my favorite, funnel cake. but i have never had something as tasty and inviting at a carnival as the slippery pot pie. so enough said, head on down to woodsboro, md and check it out!

here it is folks, slippery pot pie!

i also had some fun that night with the setting sun and the natural glowing light it provided. the rides were mostly setup where i could not take advantage of that light, except for two. the swing ride and the "paratrooper" ride. i tried a little silhouette with the swing ride and love the result... 

nice light!

i love the lines formed by the ferris wheel behind her, plus the form of the "parachute".

monday evening i had the pleasure of taking family photos for the mccrohans: brian, lisa and aidan. my son, jackson, and aidan are only 7 months apart in age, and they love to play together. aidan was very quick to get up and take off! this little guy can move! i had to wait a few times between shots for him to be retrieved, but hey... that's kids for ya, right?

we shot at baker park in frederick at a nice little spot near carroll creek. the lighting was really cool, lots of sunlight beaming through the trees. it is always great to have nice light and such a photogenic family to work with!

what a good lookin' trio! 

whoa dad! who said the shoulder thing was a good idea? 

you guys are hilarious!!