Bill Schaefer, a 30-year sales veteran of the pharmaceutical industry, is enjoying retirement. He has his wife, his children and a great hobby: taking photos.

The difference is that Schaefer is trying to make a go of photography as a post-retirement career.

To see some examples of Schaefer's photography check out the gallery above.

"It's harder than I thought it would be," Schaefer said. “It takes more time than expected, more expense than expected. All that really weed outs who really loves [photography]—you’re either in it or you’re not."

The expense and hours have paid off though—later this month Schaefer, a Carney resident, is scheduled to be among the 250 craftspeople exhibiting at the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival at the Timonium Fairgrounds. He shares the honor with only one other Parkville-Overlea area artist: Cat Holt of Claymonster Pottery.

Schaefer said that he draws most of his inspiration for photographs from nature and from his travels, which have taken him and his wife, Cheryl, across the United States and to Europe.

"I travel to shoot," Schaefer said. "When we go away, I'll come back with 1,500 photos. It will drive people nuts when we're driving along in the car and I have to tell them to stop or turn around so I can shoot."

Said Cheryl: “We try to capture moments in time. If it can bring back the essence of where we were then we’ve succeeded."

To view full galleries of Schaefer's work check out his website.