Tony Urban Photography – Senior Photo Art, Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer – Somerset, Johnstown, Greensburg

No, I’m not going to blog about the awesome 80′s slasher movie, the poster for which showed a guy nearly being impaled by a shish kabob (although that movie is awesome and I’m watching it right now), today is my birthday!  You can send cash or gifts to the address on my site.  Just kidding.  Unless you really, really want to. 

As my birthday approached, I couldn’t help but think about what an incredible life I’ve had.  I don’t mean that to sound arrogant (After all, I’m not zipping around in my Lamborghini in the south of France or anything like that), but rather in terms of being blessed in so many of the areas of life that truly matter.  While my family has experienced it’s share of tragedy, I still have the best parents.  While most of my friends were going to college or getting “real jobs”, my parents supported me while I ventured into the film industry.  I mean, how many parents would actually encourage their 18 year old son (in rural PA of all places) to try to break into the movies business?  Mine did.  And their constant support enabled me to achieve success there.

And, when I decided to stop working in film and open my photography business, they again gave their unwavering support.  Now, 5 years later, I have a “job” I truly love.  And let me tell you, one of the greatest gifts in life is being able to do something you love and make a good living at it.  I can’t imagine toiling away doing something else. I feel like photography was my destiny.

In the past year, the world has opened up to me as I traveled thousands of miles in April and October.  That doesn’t look to be slowing down either, and in a few months (or maybe in a few weeks depending on how things work out), I’ll be visiting the South East portion of the country.  And, in early 2010 I plan to take a huge coast to coast road trip across the country visiting Texas, California and countless other places in between.

I love seeing different parts of the country and hope to be able to spend more time on travel-related photography projects in the future.  Ideally, I’d like take an entire year, spending one week in every state, photographing the people I meet and the places I see.  I think it would be an incredibly exciting project, but realistically I know it would have to be spilt into multiple years, since taking a year off work wouldn’t exactly be practical. 

The freedom you experience while traveling is incredibly invigorating.  You feel like you have endless possibilities and that in no time at all you can be in another town, another city, another state or even another country.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t plan to go all Alexander Supertramp and move into a bus in the wilds of Alaska or anything (after all, that didn’t end very well), but skipping around the country without a care in the world certainly has its appeal.

So here, in the waning hours of my birthday and at the end of 2008, I just have to take a moment to remember how fortunate I am and what great people surround me.  I can’t imagine my life being much better than it has been and I’m sure the future will just bring more excitement and more adventures.  Thank you all who have helped me get to where I am and who are sharing this great life with me.

For about the past month, my Jeep has been acting up.  The first time I start it, it starts perfectly.  But if I stop and shut off the engine for 10 minutes or more, when I try to start it again it starts, then immediately stalls.  I have to constantly give it gas to keep it running.  After a minute or two, it runs fine.   Then I can shut it off, let it sit and it starts up perfectly the third time.  It’s always the second start that causes the stalling problem.

Well, almost always.  Christmas day, I actually started the Jeep, drove a couple miles and then pulled into a parking lot.  I shut off the engine, then started it again.  I thought maybe this would trick the Jeep into getting past the “second start” problem.  I guess in my mind the Jeep is a modern day, less cool version of Christine that I can communicate with and which will understand.  Alas, the Jeep was smarter.  It did start, but it saved the stalling issue for the 3rd start instead.

I know I should take it to the mechanic to have it checked out.  While there, I can have the rear hatch latch fixed.  That’s been broken for almost a year and I had to remove the plastic cover on the inside and manually pull the metal rod to open the hatch.

The Jeep is sort of a pain.  But you can drive up a mountain with it.  I think it all balances out.

I don’t have any children and I never will have children, but every year I try make a donation to Toys for Tots.  Life can be challenging at times, but those challenges should be reserved for adults whenever possible.  And the idea of a kid without some presents to open Christmas morning just seems wrong.

Every year I think that I want to buy some good childrens’ books to give to Toys for Tots, but every year I forget about it until it’s too late to order anything.  I’d really love to share some of the favorite books from my own childhood (I’m talking about YOU Bunnicula!)  Maybe one of these years I’ll remember.  Until then, Hot Wheels and dolls with have to do.

This morning I loaded up my Jeep with lights and camera equipment as I headed to the Conemaugh Township Senior Center. A few weeks ago, I had called several of the area senior centers and offered to take some free photos. Conemaugh was actually the only one that called me back, which I found mildly disappointing, but that’s neither here nor there.

Anyway, I had a great time meeting the men and women who visit the center and use it to socialize. Everyone was so friendly and sweet. Although the photos are a little more “Olan Mills” than my usual style, I needed to have something I could tackle in about 30 seconds so no one had to give up too much time. Next week I’m taking a stack of the photos to the center and from what everyone said, most of the photos will be given out as Christmas gifts.