By MATT DECEMBER

Chris Schlaf was laid off from a job with General Motors last year after more than a decade as a designer.

The Washington Township man, married with three young daughters, decided that while the automotive job market continues to look poor he would attempt to make a living as a photographer, a skill he had developed as a hobby.

When Schlaf was laid off in September he said he decided to try and use his favorite hobby as a career taking portrait shots, photographing weddings and selling photos of his favorite subject - nature.

"I started to sell (my photos)," he said. "I never really pushed myself before. I did it because I liked to do it. It was pretty much just self-gratification."

Schlaf said he is also thinking about teaching photography classes in the near future.

"I want to get started by talking basic camera stuff and after that, moving out into the field and showing different things," he said. "I'm still trying to gauge interest in the community."

Schlaf, who said he is starting to find success as a photographer, hopes he can still get back into the workforce one day despite his love of photography.

"I want to do this and have my normal job," he said.

Schlaf said he had always been interested in photography, but it wasn't until digital photography started to become more mainstream that he purchased a digital camera.

"About 10 years ago I bought a fancy version of a snap-and-shoot digital camera," he said. "I started to notice that some pictures looked better than others and I just started to experiment. I became obsessed with it."

Schlaf said he spends hours on his more than 1 acre of land in Washington Township, which contains a large pond and a wooded area.

"About 90 percent of my photos come from my yard," he said. "There are all sorts of critters back there. I probably spend 8 or 10 hours a week doing bug photos and at least another 10 hours doing bird photos."

Schlaf said he will take hundreds of photos on any particular outing and then spend hours processing them on the computer, narrowing them down and using photo processing software to improve the photos as much as possible.

"I find Photoshop to be as much fun as the photography," he said.

Schlaf has always loved nature and said that as a kid, his home was always filled with animals.

"I used to have snakes and spiders, crayfish, turtles, frogs - anything I could catch," he said. "I always had an interest in nature. This has kind of given me a chance to be a kid again."

In the meantime though, as he waits for the job market to improve, Schlaf said he will continue to fill his days with birds, bugs and brides.

For more information on Schlaf, his work or commissioning him, visit his Web site at www.Pauseintime.com or e-mail him at christopher.schlaf@comcast.net