Last night I went to a Pictage User Group meeting (PUG-silly) and got to meet the wonderful Joe Buissink! What a charming man, and a great photographer. To say he’s probably one of the top 10 wedding shooters in the world is no exaggeration. He has the kind of career many of us envy, with many celebrity weddings to his credit. But he is about a lot more than just weddings.

He showed us images from a book he is doing called “Autism Heros“, which is about families living with autism.

Mr. Buissink has two autistic boys of his own, and to say that this project is close to his heart is an understatement-it IS his heart. The images were beautiful and moving. You could see his passion for this project as well as his own devotion to his children. His desire and need to give something back was very inspiring.

It was also interesting to me how doing something other than just weddings keeps the fire burning to keep on doing weddings. No one want to get stuck in a rut with any project, and weddings can be repetitive. By doing something totally different, you come back to your work with a fresh eye. And that is what every bride and groom wants, a photographer with a fresh perspective.

So thank you for an enjoyable evening, Pictage and Mr. Buissink. Hope to do it again soon.

It’s appropriate that my first post comes on the day the state of California makes same-sex marriage illegal, AGAIN! First of all, I don’t see why the voters of this state should have any say in why anyone should or should not get married.

Any adult who is in love should be allowed to marry whoever they want to. And yes, the union may not last, but that is not really the point. The fact that the voters of California seem to think they know how complete strangers should be living their lives is totally absurd.

At the weddings I have had the privilege to photograph, is really is the happiest day of the bride and groom’s life. Everyone should be allowed to have that day. I know that people are going to judge my opinion, and that’s fine. You don’t have to agree with me. But maybe we should think about what the world would be like if every major life decision, like getting married, having kids, or getting a divorce, was left to the voters. I would not want anyone to vote on my life decisions — I don’t even want to hear my mom’s opinion, most of the time!

So let’s see what happens next. I for one think that this is a law that should not even exist, much less be voted on. I hope that California wakes up to this fact soon. Weddings are for everyone, and should not be illegal!