Photographing surprise proposals is a remarkable experience.

It’s like a scene in a film where everything else in the entire world stops, and only the main characters are aware, moving, in love, joyful, exuberant…. All else is still-motion and only two people exist in the moment. A fantastic, otherworldly chance to feel wholly transcended….

The service department that takes care of our vehicle laughs at us every time we go in for an oil change or similar maintenance….

Yes, we were in only 30 days ago, and also yes, we’ve driven another 6,000 miles in the interim!

I love the exhilaration of being a full-time professional photographer. But I equally love the sheer joy of being on the road (again).

We’ve been from Bar Harbor, Maine to St. George, Utah, from Deadwood, South Dakota to the Outer Banks in North Carolina and from Provincetown, Massachusetts to Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado already this winter, and we’re still road trippin’ through the majority of March (he typed, smiling ear-to-ear….). We’ve explored 52 of the 62 U.S. National Parks so far (not just this year, of course!), and I’m almost positive there’s not a village I haven’t visited in the country (did all the cities and towns long ago!, so hamlets and vistas are pretty much what remain!)!!

Recharging the batteries and feeling 100% alive and excited…. It’s key for me to be the best photographer I can be. It’s also key for me as a human, to know I’ve visited every square mile possible of this one magnificent, flawed, vibrant, damaged, fascinating planet we get to walk on for only a brief moment in time….

We’re looking forward to starting photography again full-speed-ahead in a month, but, until then, with an updated oil change and a crazy pug in tow, there are more awesome places to explore!!

As we drive home from weddings, we always talk about how much we like the couple (we always like the couple!). And liking the couples makes sense…

A photography business is a bit like relationships….

When people choose to hire me — and that’s how it works: I don’t choose clients, they choose me — I always enjoy collaborating with them. There’s an undeniable compliment that they like my prior work and want to work together. They see “beauty” and they trust that I’ll handle their session similarly.

When people hire someone else, I’m always equally delighted that I don’t have to collaborate with them. I’m genuinely happy. If you’ve seen my photography and don’t want to schedule me, I wouldn’t have wanted to work with you. Why would I want to be somebody’s Plan B? Why would I want to proceed knowing you prioritized another? And why would I be disappointed if someone prefers someone else’s work?

Photographers are people, of course, and we often have a “style”, “look” or “feel” to our overall body of work. Folks who hire me already love those qualities in what I’ll offer to them. Folks who don’t hire me don’t have a “fit” with my work, so it’s meant to be that they choose someone else — I wouldn’t want the pressure of trying to be something they don’t see me as fulfilling for them.

I like how straightforward and clear the relationships are.

I tell every client that the images we’re about to shoot are as important to me as they are to them. It’s true. Because you choose me, I give you my all. I care about you, because you choose to believe in me.

It’s such a joy, honor and privilege to collaborate with good, hard-working, educated, patriotic, kind folks….

Aubrey graduated from West Point, served in the U.S. Army, earned TWO Masters’ degrees from the prestigious Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, and then launched her Edward Jones agency, to help folks with long-term financial planning.

I’m humbled to work with her, as well as the hundreds-and-hundreds of other Bloomington small-business owners who put their trust for photography in our likeminded business.

Road Trips (they deserve capitalization) go hand-in-hand with lists, debates, rankings and the like.

On this most recent Road Trip, I’ve created my Top 100 Country Songs Of All Time list. It’s topped by Dwight Yoakam’s “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere”.

Siobhán sees my choice as unworthy (she’s Dwight’s #1 fan, but doesn’t even have “ATMFN” at the top of Dwight’s list of songs!). While it’s true that each of the 100 songs in my list could be assembled in many different configurations, I’m stubbornly sticking with Dwight at the top.

Rounding out my Top Ten, dear readers, should you be interested (this of course has nothing to do with photography, but we’re Road Tripping, and thoughts do wander….) would be “Amanda” by Don Williams, “Jolene” by Dolly, “Sunday Morning Coming Down” by Kris Kristofferson, “Mule Skinner Blues” by Jimmie Rodgers, “There Stands the Glass” by Webb Pierce, “Ode to Billy Joe” by Bobbie Gentry (aside…. If “Ode” isn’t actually country, I’ll swap it's spot with Tammy Wynette’s “Til I Can Make It On My Own”), “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” by Willie Nelson, “Holding Things Together” by Merle Haggard, “Wichita Lineman” by Glen Campbell and “San Antonio Rose” by the incomparable Bob Wills….

Well, that’s 11, but who are you going to kick out of that awesome collection?!

But, at the top of the page, it absolutely looks like this…

1) “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere”

Next list…. Top 100 Destinations in the United States…. Let the debates begin….

Beethoven was as talented as any human who’s ever lived. Jonathan is as talented as any violinist who’s ever played. And I’m as lucky as any soul, having had the honor to listen, feel, and be transported by their awe-inspiring gifts….

In general terms, there’s a sizable difference between senior pictures for/of high school students compared to those for/of college students.

Often, high school senior pictures are arranged by the parents, and the student may not be as interested initially. They have a great time once the session begins, but they don’t always think that’ll be the case in advance of the actual day!

With college seniors, on the other hand, there’s a universal joy that comes forth. They love walking through campus, reminiscing about their years in Bloomington and capturing images at their favorite places. It’s a celebration. I adore being surrounded by all the corresponding positive energy.

I love having a career in which I get to smile — and feel genuine happiness from giving people beautiful images — every single day of my life.

Someone asked me recently, in preparation for a wedding, “How many pictures do you take?”

That got me thinking…

I think I shoot about 100,000 images every year. A lot. A whole lot.

To be a full-time, fully-booked, photographer, it’s going to be something right at that number.

The joy of lots of pictures is that I get to give clients (and family, and friends) many, many beautiful images, whether it’s a headshot, portrait session, wedding, corporate shoot, sports event or other…. (typical portrait sessions produce about 250-300 images). It’s fun and rewarding to give people lots of terrific shots — most in ways they’ve never before seen themselves, the scene and/or the situation.

“Hey, why don’t we ______?” and “Let’s try _______!” and “I’ve got an idea ______" and similar others are ways I start sentences every day. The entire process is exhilarating, creative, joyful and energetic.

Yes, for every action there’s a reaction, and I spend my fair share of time alone at a big desktop computer editing the 100,000 pictures. But I really love that time, too, for different reasons….

Lots of pictures. Lots of beauty. Lots of lives touched, in a universally positive, meaningful, personal way.

Wandering through my proverbial Berlin library, watching moments and then handing them back to the people I meet…