I'm very pleased to have recently added two new categories - surfing and concerts - to my photo gallery. They're both topics that I had a lot of fun shooting. They also tend to be two of the harder topics to shoot - especially concert photos.

The surfing shots are from Honolua Bay on the island of Maui and more recently Cisco Beach on the island of Nantucket. I must admit, I could watch surfing all day long, even if I didn't have a camera in hand. It's not just the mixture of grace and action, but the culture that surrounds the sport. And let's face it - any day on the beach is a good day. From here forward, I'll be looking to shoot this topic every chance I get.

The concert photos are from a fantastic benefit held each year in upstate New York called Rock for the River. It's held by a non-profit group called Save the River run by a good friend Jen Caddick. Each year, Jay Nash invites friends (mostly) from the LA area to fly over to Clayton, NY to stay at his parents' B&B, hang out, play some music and have a few cocktails. In addition to being incredibly talented, the artists are all very accessible and down to earth. They include artist such as Joe Purdy, Garrison Star, Meiko, Amber Rubarth and others. I hope to make this show a regular event on my calendar.

I'd love to continue to shoot both of these topics down the road. If anyone knows of any opportunities, let me know!

I (finally) just added a bunch of photos - some of which are from photo shoots last year. They include shots of the Wednesday night races in Annapolis, my annual trip to Chincoteague and various other individual shots.

I hope to do a better job of staying on top of adding new images from here forward. Keep checking back for new additions.

As I mentioned in my last post, I was recently asked to join the Studio 7 Artists group in Annapolis. I participated in my first Studio 7 event at the new Westin Hotel and it was a great success - lots of people and some fantastic photography.

Also, I recently cranked out a new website for the group. It can be found at www.studio7artists.com. Check out some samples of the work of this creative group.

I'm very pleased to announce that I've been asked to and have accepted an offer to join Studio 7 Artists, an extremely talented and diverse group of Annapolis artists. As a member of this group, I'll be a part of a number of shows and events in the coming months. More importantly, I'll be able to collaborate with some very creative people whose talents range from watercolor to mixed media to pottery.

Look for me to post new Studio 7 shows as they are announced.

My previous entry focused on the practice of taking time to slow down and observe the little things that make this world an amazing place. A recent article in the Washington Post further illustrates this basic point.

Writers from the Post asked world class musician Joshua Bell to set up outside a Metro stop in DC and play music, much as any street performer, or busker, would. They wanted to find out if commuters on their way to work would stop to listen to or even recognize the difference between an average street performer and a professional musician, who by the way was playing a 3.5 million dollar violin. He set up at a station near the Capitol building at nearly 8 a.m. (in the middle of rush hour) on a Friday morning and began playing extremely technical pieces, as commuters exited the Metro stop.

So what happened? As you might guess, nearly everyone who passed by didn't even acknowledge that he was even there. A few people donated money in passing, one or two stopped for a second and only one recognized him as the same musician that she had paid good money to see perform a few nights previous. Most hurried by, completely oblivious to his performance.

Surprised? Not me. What does this say about the perception of the average commuter? Hard to say, but it does point out that we're typically so focused on a task or destination, that we don't take time to notice and appreciate our surroundings. Would there have been a different result if the experiment was tried in a different setting, say, in a park or plaza? Most likely. Context is very important.

However, what it does underscore to me is that we need to learn to observe. As I mentioned in my previous post, it's a vital skill in photography - and one of the reasons I became involved in shooting photos in the first place. It's as important while in the concrete jungle as it is out in nature.

To read the article in its entirety, visit "Pearls Before Breakfast" on the Washington Post website.