The flower girl - always a popular subject for wedding photographers, and for good reason. They are cute, and are so happy to be wearing a princess dress and lady-like shoes... they love having their photo taken, and give great smiles. OK so I've only ever photographed one flower girl, and here she is, collecting the petals she scattered, in the waning afternoon rays from the sun disappearing into the Pacific.

Wedding photography went well. I'm at a point where I know how to handle all sorts of lighting conditions, and know which lens to whip out for what situation. It is nice having that confidence; I don't get stressed out like I used to. And knowing how to apply photoshop tricks to photos I can't optimize while shooting - that helps a lot too.

I still don't intend to specialize in weddings; they are exhausting, and I like the variety of doing all sorts of family-related photos - babies, engagements, parties, etc. But I'll do them for friends and other mellow people. I have been talking about wedding photographers with friends - there are often lots of complaints, mostly to do with cost. It's true - Wedding Photography specialists are very pricey. While I do understand the equipment cost, the skill, the time spent editing... but several thousands of dollars?

And sometimes - that doesn't even include the rights to the photos - couples can only buy prints from the photographer. I think that's extremely unfriendly. The digital files will be sitting around collecting dust on a external hard drive or back up DVD, never to be given another glance by the photographer. Why not just give em to the wedded couple? I guess the answer is To Make More Money. OK, so it's art, the artist has the rights etc etc... but as a artist and photographer and friend to engaged and recently married people, that practice just makes me mad. I can rant about it for a long time.

For that reason and more, perhaps I can find a niche in the mellow, affordable and fair wedding photography market.