Tomorrow my blog will be down for most of the day while I move my website to a faster server. Don’t fret…I’ll be back (keep your fingers crossed Look for a regular post on Sunday!

Zoo run 2006...Obviously, I was saying something smart..;)

Have you ever had a week where it just seems like you’re playing catch-up?  Well, that would be this week for me folks, so I apologize for the delay in the blog.

Taxes: Every year I get the call from my CPA’s asking for an  itemized breakdown of my expenses as it relates to photography.  Here’s my suggestion:  get a program like Quicken,   QuickBooks or, at the very least, use a spreadsheet to track your expenses.  There are even some decent online programs that will do the trick. Remember, if you don’t track it you might be losing out on legitimate expenses.

Plug-in deals: onOnesoftware is selling its Plug-in suite 5.0 for $399.00 which is $200.00 off its normal price.  I love this plug-in.  I bought it a few years ago at a Kelby Training Lightroom class and I’ve never regretted it.   The plug-in does require Photoshop though.

Kelby Training Live: Scott Kelby is coming to Chicago April 9^th.  He’s doing a class dedicated to “Photoshop for Digital Photographers”.  I know I’ve mentioned this many times before…I’m far from being a Photoshop genius and these seminars really do help people like me take our work to the next level.  Here’s what I’m thinking:  I always go to these seminars and sit by myself, eat lunch by myself….I mean it’s a pretty sad sight! So, I’m thinking if a few of my readers are planning on attending then let’s consider hooking up for lunch during the seminar break.  Just drop me a note on my blog to let me know you’re attending and we can work out the meet up during the lunch break.

Contest: I’m struggling with some ideas for our next photo contest.  I’ve kicked around a few ideas, but I would really like to hear your suggestions.  I mean these contests are for you folks so drop by my blog and leave me a few ideas. I’ll tell you what:  for helping out, I’ll randomly pick a winner from the blog comments and send you one of those handy micro cleaning clothes like I use.  So get busy and do my work for me.

Some new eBooks to check out:

You really need to check out Bruce Percy’s Taj Mahal e-book.  It’s a beautiful book with great suggestions.  To check it out click HERE.

David duChemin has been a busy guy and he’s done a wonderful job building his photography eBook store “Craft&Vision”.  To check out some of the store’s newest titles click HERE.

Total proud papa moment (nothing to do with photography):

My nine year old daughter and I have been running together on and off for the past couple of years. Last night was one of those “wow” moments.  We ran 5.25 miles in 50 minutes (not super fast, but for a kid that’s solid) and in the last 60 yards she even raced me…the kid’s crazy!  So, I want to do a big shout out to her for doing a such a killer job and making her dad’s day.    Oh, and before you think I’m like some super soccer dad screaming at my kid from the sidelines to work harder…blah…blah..blah.  Not this guy…I don’t even follow sports…;)

Gotta run… pun intended. As I said.. it’s a crazy week.

If you found this helpful consider subscribing to my blog HERE or checking out one of my workshops HERE.

Wyoming (Canon 20D infrared, 1/800 at f/7.1, 25mm, ISO 100)

I’ve often been asked if I edit all my images immediately after taking them. The answer is yes and no. The instant gratification part of me always rushes to edit the images I have the best “gut” on…meaning those images that I feel I really connected with and nailed. I can’t wait to edit those shots, while at the same time neglecting many images that just don’t seem to meet a particular criteria at the time, or those that I’m not as excited about initially. Now that I’ve amassed a photo library approaching nearly 75,000 images, I’m finding myself going back to review my not so obvious choices. I’m not going to lie. Some of these images aren’t obvious choices for a reason…they stink! But for every 8 or 9 stinkers there’s a welcome surprise that I’ve overlooked in the past. An image, that for whatever reason, I passed over for months or years simply because I didn’t have the vision for its direction at the time. It could be an image that I originally shot in color, but now I can see how it would work as a B&W, or possibly it’s an image where I just didn’t see the right angle or crop for at the time. Regardless of the reason, it’s silly to assume that as our technique and vision change, we simply should abandoned the past. The one sure fire way to look at an image in a new light is consider playing with some preset. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people say, “Wow, it’s like looking at my images for the first time.” So here’s my assignment to you for those days when you can’t get out and shoot: Take a look at your library of images and go mining for some lost gems. Play with your presets, try a different crop, but most importantly have fun experimenting. There’s nothing like finding a new vision in an old image…

If you found this helpful consider subscribing to my blog HERE or checking out one of my workshops HERE.

Love the travel photography, photo by Kajsa Stolberg

Kajsa here for the weekend post and we’ll be starting a new poll.  The results from the last poll, “Do your photographs capture your personality” show that most people feel that their photos do capture their personality.  Great responses and explanations  – we love to hear the why’s as much as viewing the results of the polls.  Like when Darrell Branch said, “My images are all over the place… some you just like to have around just because they make you feel happy.”  From goofy to too serious it’s fun to see a person’s personality shine through their work.
This week I’m curious what kinds of photography you like to look at.  Does the microscopic view of a macro shot draw your eye, or would you much rather look at a mountain range in the distance?  Can you never get enough of portraits or black and white abstract images?  Vote for your favorite on the side panel and tell us why with a comment!

Foggy Tree (1/160th at f/8, 80mm at ISO 200)

I’ve been in Michigan the last few days attending a few meetings and visiting family.  It seems as though much of Northern Michigan has been covered in fog as the snow is slowly giving way to the Spring rains.   Ever since I was a child I’ve always been fascinated by the fog.  I love the idea how it transforms our perception of reality.  The fog truly creates opportunities for seeing things in a different light. It creates new and interesting images that might otherwise have seemed unworthy of notice.  A tree in a field is transformed into an unknown landmark to be left to anyone’s imagination. For me…the fog opens up my backyard again.  It transforms my familiar surroundings into a foreign and mysterious land and creates countless new images limited only by my imagination.