On the last day of the NFL's regular season several unlikely things had to happen for the Philadelphia Eagles to get into the playoffs. A couple of underdog teams had to do win, which they did and then the Eagles had to beat the Dallas Cowboys, which they did, convincingly.

Here it takes two (Eagles, that is) Quintin Mikell, left and Joselie Hanson, right to break up a pass intended for former Eagle and current Dallas Cowboy Terrell Owens.

Speaking of breaking things up, here safety Brian Dawkins separates Cowboy QB Tony Romo from the ball, which would be returned for a TD by DE Chris Clemons in the third quarter. I think that was the point in the game where you knew for sure the Eagles weren't going to find a way to lose this one.



So now, onto Minnesota to face the Vikings in the first round of NFC playoffs.

It's time for Season's Greetings. Choose one...or both.

Here's the long and the short of it. I spotted a window-washer at the State House Annex in Trenton, New Jersey on a freezing cold day. Security at these places in tight, but the people at the desk recognized me, so I was permitted to wander upstairs to get these angles. This was taken with a telephoto lens - the long of it.



And I got close with a wideangle for the short of it.

This eighth-grade student, (and self-proclaimed future hairdresser) Kim, Hartz, caused a stir with her (public) school administration when she colored her hair this way. Long story short, she's a good student just looking to express herself, so she can keep it, but just this once and nobody else better try it.






Warning! The content below may not be suitable for all audiences ;)





The hair story brought me back to my (Catholic) high school days. Nobody was doing color back then, but length was an issue and the boys would regulary be lined up to check that our hair wasn't over our shirt collars. I just grew my hair horizontally, rather than vertically.

The weekend is over now, but last Friday, I got to photograph Malka Dubov, wife of Rabbi Dovid Dubov, of Chabad of Mercer County, observing the Jewish tradition of lighting Shabbat candles in their home. Friends of the family, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah Holtzberg, were killed during a terror attack on the Chabad center in Bombay. Others in photo from left are Devorah Leah Dubov, 3, Rabbi Dovid Dubov, Chaya Malka Dubov, 20 and Rivka Dubov, 5. The portrait in background is of Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, who was the inspiration for Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah Holtzberg to go to Bombay, according to Rabbi Dubov. I've photographed Rabbi Dubov throughout the years on various assignments, but never before in his home and this day when he asked me if I were Jewish, I confessed "Only by association".

From left, eighteen-month-old Tyler Hupfl and his uncle, Dylan Lee,14, look over some of the live turkeys at their family's Lee Turkey Farm on Hickory Corner Rd in East Windsor, New Jersey. Happy Thanksgiving!

It's time to play another round of "You be the editor!" Two different views of a frozen fountain at Princeton University and you can only use one. Which would you choose? The horizontal is a more literal interpretation, showing the fountain more in context with the surrounding buildings. The vertical is a little more abstract, possible only because a Leslie E. Gerwin, associate director of Princeton's Program in Law and Public Affairs politely allowed me into her office to get this high angle view. Remember the newspaper has deadlines. They're holding the front page. Which one will it be?
It's kind of a trick question. If you really were the editor, the choice would be easy. You'd have known the first minute you saw them. Use whichever one fits the hole in your pre-planned layout. Doh!

Yesterday, I was privileged to document the wedding day of Jean & Paul. Jean is an endocrinologist, but, she would also be a great pediatrician. There were so many children at the wedding and they were all totally well-behaved! I worked for The Times on Sunday, but I was so anxious to get started with the photographs from Jean & Paul's wedding that I'm working on them even though the the Eagles-Giants game is on!

I got the early shift on election day. Locally, at least, voter turnout was good. It was only 7:30 am and the line at Trenton High School west stretched for the length of the the building and beyond.

This man, feeling the history of the situation, took a family portrait inside their polling place, the First Baptist Church in the south ward of the City of Trenton.

While running from polling place to place early in the morning, I came across these two women at a busy traffic intersection in Ewing Township, showing their support for Barack Obama, when a pedestrian came along.

'tis the season...for more soccer fun.

Mackenzie Shaw, 1 1/2, of Hamilton (in her imagination) rides a horse-drawn carriage made by her dad, a carpenter by trade, at a Spooktacular Halloween event held at Mercer County Park in West Windsor, New Jersey.

Soccer is not for the faint-hearted. In this high school game between Steinert and Notre Dame, one of the competitors goes "Rock, paper, scissors" on his opponent. In that game, rock beats scissors, but in soccer...ouch!

The Philadelphia Eagles are back home after a bye week, so I'm back to football, too. Eagles tight end LJ Smith, who graduated Rutgers, was leveled by a really late hit from Falcons cornerback Lawyer Malloy. The ball never made it near Smith and Malloy still took a few steps and unloaded on an unsuspecting Smith. LJ eventually got up and walked off to the locker room with a concussion, but not before Malloy was flagged for unnecessary roughness, Ya think?






Below, this is LJ Smith earlier in the game successfully stretching toward the first-down marker.

Who is this man and why is he ironing his shirt? Hint: It's his wedding day and he's the groom. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. (It was my honor to photograph the wedding of Brian & Sarah last Saturday.)



Apparently his bride, Sarah, approves.

What a weekend! I photographed the wedding of Vicki & Rob (see below) on Friday and on Sunday it was my honor to document the joining of Katie & Chris at the Washington Crossing Inn. They are clients and friends of my oldest friend, Carty. Wait, what I mean is that Carty & I have been friends longer than anybody... and since our birthdates are three days apart, I would definitely say that he's not that old. Anyway, Katie & Chris are both graduates of RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). They are both bright, of course, but I heard in the reading at their ceremony that love makes wise men of fools and fools of wise men. Hmmm...

Yesterday, I had the privilege of photographing the wedding of Rob & Vicki. There are a few special connections to this couple. My wife has worked with Rob's mom. (We were even in the same Lamaz childbirth class) and Vicki's brother and my son became very good friends in high school. I would write more, but I need to get back to work processing all the photographs!

In what was called a "must-win" game for the Eagles this week, Brian Westbrook returned after missing last week due to injury. Lorenzo Alexander, right, of the Washington Redskins, welcomes him back to the turf.

Westbrook , like the whole team, started off well. He broke into the endzone for the Eagles' first TD and earned a pat on the helmet from WR Reggie Brown.

Rookie sensation DeSean Jackson breaks into a high step as he returns a punt for a TD vs Washington Redskins halfway through the second quarter.

Philadelphia Eagles CB Asante Samuel breaks up a pass to Washington Redskins (and former Eagle) James Thrash in the third quarter. Good play. Unfortunately, Samuel was flagged on the play resulting in a first down for Washington.

The defense pressured the quarterback effectively in the 1st half. From left, Trevor Laws & Brian Dawkins sack Washington Redskins QB Jason Campbell in the 2nd quarter. Campbell hung in there, however and took control in the 2nd half, leading his team to a 23-17 victory and costing me a container of cashews.

Late in the game, the Eagles still had a chance, if they could get their offense back on the field, but QB Donovan McNabb was left waiting on the sidelines hoping in vain for another chance as the defense couldn't stop Washington in the final minutes.

I really don't like to look down on people. I love to look down on people, professionally, at least, because that means I get to go up to high places like a catwalk high above the floor at the Sovereign Bank Arena in order to photograph a rehearsal of Cirque du Soleil-Saltimbanco, which spent a few days in Trenton.

When you see these performers in full, colorful costume with the fancy lighting, what they do seems unreal, but when you see them in street clothes and in regular lighting, it seems even more unreal because one is forced to face that they are actual people doing these amazing feats of balance and strength.

Sunday, The Philadelphia Eagles played tough once again, beating the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers by the oddball score of 15-9.

QB Donovan McNabb set the franchise record for most TD passes, eclipsing Ron Jaworski.

Correll Buckhalter avoids Pittsburgh Steelers#92 James Harrison en route to a 2nd quarter TD on a pass from McNabb. This was the record-setter.

Correll seems happy with the six points.

On the first play of the second half, star running back/receiver Brian Westbrook went airborne on a 2-yd-run, but wound up hurting his ankle when his feet got tangled with "O" lineman Tra Thomas on the way back to earth.

With receiver Kevin Curtis out and Greg Lewis back, but not a factor, Hank Baskett had to pick up the slack.

The Eagles defense had 9 sacks on the day and 3 turnovers, too. Here Brian Dawkins, left, recovers a fumble he forced from Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, right, in the fourth quarter.

If you thought Correll Buckhalter was happy earlier in the game, Brian Dawkins was delerious.

I mentioned nine sacks. I'll save you some time and only show you three. This one resulted in a safety when Big Ben throw the ball into the ground as he was going down.

I like it when players show emotion on their faces.

See what I mean? We go from a grimace to a big grin. Eagles#96 Omar Gaither steps over Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger after sacking him in the 2nd quarter.

Que guapo! It wasn't me. It was the parents of 22-month-old Odir Bonilla who took a sharpie to his face to age-progress him to how he'll probably look (adding a few wrinkles) as an old man. How cute is this kid? I couldn't believe my eyes when I first spotted him looking down the street from his stroller to see the Hispanic Parade make it's way up Hamilton Avenue in Trenton, New Jersey.

Later that same day, the "Double A" New York Yankees affiliate Trenton Thunder clinched, for the second consecutive year, the Eastern League Championship, beating the Akron (OH) Aeros. That's quite an accomplishment considering it's a player development league and if a somebody too good, he's off the team, to "Single A" or he might even get the call up to the majors.