Special thanks to Mrs. Libby Lamancusa of St. Philip's church in Laurel, MD for allowing me to photograph Camp St. Philip's 2013 - Kingdom Rock vacation bible school this month (July 2013) for a third year. Things went very smoothly. The staff and kids were great!

Thanks also to Mr. Patel of I.M. Wine in Fulton, MD for allowing me the privilege of producing images of his business for his website. Taking pictures of things that DON'T MOVE is quite different from following and chasing children around.

Practice-wise, I've been spending my free evenings taking photographs of soccer players playing at our local fields. I'm a glutton for punishment. The players are usually a mix of of mostly Hispanic men, a few Africans, and the occasional Caucasian. Gameplay usually begins after 6:45 in the evening as the sun begins her downward slide and players move in and out of sun and shade. Not fun at all, so why practice?

This type of image-making forces me to use all modes of my camera. It forces me to ask why an image failed. It forces me, for example, to work hard to commit to muscle memory those multiple camera setting changes I'll have to make when I swing from a sunlit patch of field to a shaded area where two players are [about] to battle over the ball.

I look upon my camera as not only a tool, but as my artistic instrument. Capturing a unique moment is easy for me - it's my gift. Practice allows me to learn, to fail, to try, and more over, to hone a set of best skills, and photographic techniques that I can bring to bear on each situation I encounter. I want to continually improve.