Jess turned 27 the last week of January. My birthday present to her was an Ocean City vacation. I find it hard not to feel like a tourist in the summer, but Ocean City in the off-season is different. It feels like a secret.

The O.C. is this big, built-up place, meant to house the rowdy masses, but in the winter it's all for us.

I think of Ocean City in the winter as a place to truly relax. Stay in your hotel room. Order room service. We went during a snowstorm, so all the conveniences a resort hotel offers made even more sense. Silly us, we checked in after eating dinner.

Our suite -- yes we stayed in a suite! -- at the Princess Royale cost $120 a night, including all those sneaky fees and taxes. I asked the maître d' what our ocean-front room would cost in the summer. The answer: $350 (not including the taxes and fees).

That's one of the great things about off-season O.C. It's cheap. You can enjoy the resort-quality rooms for a third of the price. And perhaps the point is to hole up. But let's get real. If you're going to Ocean City, you must experience the ocean in some way, right? So, go ocean front!

The first thing we did after dropping our bags was open the curtains. They stayed open until we left. Our view of the snow-mixed beach at night was amazing, and haunting. I set my alarm to wake me up so I could experience (and photograph) the sunrise. Orange light saturated our room. It was glorious!

At home, we share a full-sized bed. Jess and I are both 5 foot 10. So, there's not a lot of wiggle room. And apparently, I'm prone to stealing the covers. But that weekend, we slept in a king. And not just any king, one of those foam beds the astronauts use. Let's put it this way, either I didn't snore that night, or Jess was that soundly asleep.

At home, we're conservative with the thermostat, but you better believe we cranked the heat.

If I weren't combining our getaway with work, I doubt we would've left the hotel room, which had a full-sized kitchen and a separate living room. Alas, I had to shoot.

Understandably, Jess wasn't interested in standing with me while I photographed in the snow. So, when I went outside to take some night photos, Jess watched a movie on the flat-screen TV.

The restaurant selection is notably slimmer in January. And the snowstorm prompted several locations to close due to the weather. But I don't think variety is the reason for an off-season getaway. The draw for me is the lack of things to do. When Jess and I have gone to Ocean City in the summer, I've felt over-stimulated.

Don't get me wrong, summertime O.C. is fun. There's tons of stuff to do. And lots of ways to spend money.

But in the summer, I don't need, nor can I afford, a fancy ocean-front suite. If I'm summering right, I'll barely spend any time in the room. It's there to store my stuff, and give me a place to sleep. Why watch the flat-screen TV when I can play in the ocean? Why order room service when there's Thrasher's boardwalk fries.

But because the tourist traps aren't yet set, it was easy for us to do our own thing at our own pace.

The famed boardwalk -- a summertime crayon box of souvenirs and kitsch -- was beautifully sparse. Mid-morning, most of the cube-like storefronts were grayed out by their metal pull-down doors. The only lines forming were birds trying to get scraps of bread from a family.

One thing stayed the same, though: people were playing. Granted, snowfall seems to bring out the kid in most, but should you bring your dog to the inlet, you can frolic with Fido (unleashed) on the beach. If there's still snow on the ground, you can start a snowball fight, or walk, hands held, down the beach.

Of course, the Boardwalk isn't completely inactive. Some shops stay open year-round. We bought carmel corn for the ride home.

About the photos

I'm a photographer by trade, but that doesn't mean I'm a snob about making touristy photos of Jess. My favorite photo from the whole trip is when she ambushed me with a snowball. My camera's autofocus, apt to follow bright spots, locked on the sparkling snow-dust cascading in the foreground, after it hit my face. She was kicked out of focus, but her joyous expression and body language carry the image. Technically, it's all wrong, but it feels magical.

Which brings me to a point about my approach. When making my "assignment" photos, I wanted to entice a feeling from you, dear readers, rather than merely "show" you the places we went. Ocean City is quiet in the winter, and it feels more spacious than the summer. So I consciously made landscapes that reflected those feelings. I looked for areas of Ocean City that would otherwise be bustling in the summer and showcased them in the winter's desolation. The photos made at night, I think, are particularly haunting and beautiful.

I don't want to discount the touristy snaps. I think those photos are important for understanding the winter experience, too. As a photographer, I'm always looking around, making mental compositions, watching for life's moments and checking out interesting people. So, of course, during our summer trips to the OC, my head rotates 360 degrees.

But the relative lack of stimulation on this trip allowed me to make Jess my star. She's not camera-shy, but shooting her over that weekend felt easier and more fun that it does during our regular home routine. I guess vacation photos are supposed to feel that way.

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