PHEW….it’s been a while since I’ve posted!!! Bad me!! I’m just a BUSY BUSY BEE right now!! SORRY!!! (yea, i know…excuses, excuses!!)

No, for real, though….I bet you have heard about this by now because I’m about 5 days behind the trends anymore (ahhh…more like 5 weeks!) but if not, I’m HAPPY to have been the one to share this COOL NEW SHOW with you!!

It’s called THE SHOT and it’s on VH1! It’s a reality TV show about FASHION PHOTOGRAPHERS and I LOVE IT!!

I HONESTLY can’t say that I’m toooo uber inspired by any of the photographers…..but they do turn out some cool stuff…and I honestly can’t say that I would do any better given the wacky challenges they are given!! It’s a very cool concept, though…and it makes you think about how you shoot…and what you would do if put in their situations! I’m even dorky enough to sit close to the TV to try and figure out what they are shooting with! HA!!! I think they switch between Canon & Nikon…but mostly Canon….and mostly fixed lenses!!

AnyWHO….CHECK THE SHOT OUT…SUNDAY’s at 10PM!!! SET YOUR TIVO!!!

A great reminder….by a man who I believe is terrific and incredibly inspiring….my friend, Mr. Dane Sanders

take a minute to enjoy this…and then take a minute to just stop.

Like any GIRL, I VERY much enjoy stumbling across PRETTY and NEAT things….and I JUST found this GREAT site that is exactly that, PRETTY and NEAT! It’s also LOADED with cool info and MUCH more!!

It’s called DESIGN AGLOW and it’s a web based design & inspiration magazine, store and website JUST for PHOTOGRAPHERS!! They do all kinds of features in their site & magazine about various photographers, lighting stuff, promo & packing stuff, studio visits, posing ideas, inspirational tips, interviews with photogs and MUCH MORE!!

They offer actions, cool mat designs, templates, marketing stuff and much more in their store!! You REALLY should check this fun and INSPIRING site out!! Their online magazine looks VERY cool and is loaded with GREAT info and TONS of EYE CANDY!!!!! CHECK IT OUT!!!

I have previously gushed about my unfailing love for PHOTOMECHANIC!! Well, friends, this program gets BETTER AND BETTER every DAY!!! They JUST released an UPDATE and somehow , that magical update just made the program FASTER than before, which I didn’t think it could get any faster! The gist of the program is file viewing, tagging, renaming, keywording, etc….but what makes is SPECIAL is that it will view hundreds of RAW files at ONE time in LIGHTING fast SPEED and allow for FASTER rough editing than ANY program out there! No kidding!! For rough editing, I open up a wedding or session in PHOTOMECHANIC and put one finger on the right arrow and one finger on the 1 button and quickly thumb through, tagging my keepers with the 1 button, giving them a color class rating.

Once I’m done, I select all of the non rated images and throw them away…and VOILA….I’m ready to send the folder over the LAVALU!! (if you are wondering what LAVALU is, do a search for it on this blog and you will get the full SCOOP!) I have tried a thousands methods of rough editing…and this is BY FAR the fastest method I have EVER tried and that is mainly because you can FLY through the images without any down time AT ALL and if you are ruthless with your editing, you can easily rough edit an entire shoot in 30 minutes. If you have PHOTOMECHANIC, go UPDATE IT and if you DO NOT have PHOTOMECHANIC, THEN GO GET IT!! Oh…and if you are JPEG shooter….then WOW…you can fly through the files even faster and apply cropping to them within PHOTOMECHANIC!! Can you tell that i LOVE this program??

While I’m not an official LIGHTROOM user, I know PLENTY of people who ARE….so this is for you guys! I heard about this SUPER cool LIGHTROOM KILLER TIPS blog!! The tips are well, KILLER!! ha!! And…if you read an earlier post, you know I took a short trip to the JPEG DARK SIDE and it was VERY TEMPTING…and IF, I said IF I were to ever CONSIDER changing…I would SURELY be using LIGHTROOM!! CHECK OUT THE KILLER TIPS!!!! You can even get it on a PODCAST!

SEAN FLANIGAN! He has been one of my favorite photographers to watch over the summer! His work is SOO stellar!! I don’t even know how he gets some of those wide, buttery, awesome DOF shots…he’s just the MAN!! LOVE his work! CHECK IT OUT!!!

I’m pretty faithful to a CERTAIN website to keep up with the LATEST & HOTTEST photo NEWS!!! Everyone knows that Rob Galbraith is the MAN when it comes to news & reviews on photo STUFF!! But, I love this NEWS site for the hottest & latest info!! It’s called ROB GALBRAITH DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY INSIGHTS!! CHECK IT OUT!!!

Hey team….

SOO SORRY that I have been sort of MIA lately! Just SOOO completely busy!!

Back to business, though….I have a new YOU SHOULD KNOW photographer!! PAUL JOHNSON!! Wow, I must be living in a hole because I’ve never heard of this guy until recently and I skimmed over his blog…..and I was VERY impressed! AWESOME work!! Check it OUT!!!

TO TALK!!!!!! I want to do a series called TELL US!!!!! I love learning and I am always studying books, magazines, blogs, websites…to hear what other people love and to learn new things!! SO….I want to hear from you guys and learn from YOU!!!!

So, HERE GOES…..

TOPIC: ****WHAT is the ONE thing you could NOT live without, when it comes to photography!?!?!?!

Tell us in the comments!!

SO…the story goes like this…I was reading JAZZIE’s happy hour interview on the BLU BLOG and how her FAV lens of the moment was the CANON USM 28mm 1.8!! Funny she should mention that, I had heard about that lens SEVERAL time in the past week or so!! (In typical LENS JUNKIE style I think to myself, “it MUST be a sign!”) So, I then look at a SHOOT that she did with that lens, when she borrowed it from someone else and my ears perked up because the images were GREAT!!!!(images featured below!) THEN…on yet another DELIGHTFUL blog, I hear how MORE people are in love with this little lens! SEE…SIGNS, I tell you!!! Soo….what’s a GIRL TO DO other than to STOP thinking about it and GO OUT and GET IT!!! Plus, LENSES are one of my FAVORITE things ever and I will admit to having a SLIGHT obsession with them!! The BEST part of this lens is how CHEAP it is!! I’m usually an L glass girl so when I went into my local distributor, Roberts, and told them what I needed, they ACTUALLY responded by saying, ARE YOU SURE? That’s NOT an L lens, YOU KNOW!!!! DUH, i said!!! If you COULD get L glass for $399 then I would be homeless (ok, maybe just living on ramen!) but with every single L lens on the planet in MY POSSESSION!!!!! Anyway…where was I? OH…THE 28!!! Ok, so below are JASMINE STAR’s IMAGES from that lens and WOW….see why I was SURE it was a sign?? So, I now own the little guy…OH and I really mean little guy…it’s the SMALLEST lens I’ve ever owned!! I love cute little things!!! I have yet to really use this lens, but I know it’s going to be great!! So, I’m sure I’ll be back soon with my NEXT lens obsession story!!

FROM the LOVELY & TALENTED, Jasmine Star: