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.