The best blog in the opinion of Photo Construx defined this month is:

http://bertstephani.com/blog/

Bert is down to earth and real.  No smoke and mirrors, just keeping it real makes Bert top in our book!

This guy was an extreme photographer who could shoot anywhere, anytime. 

Here’s the audio for the his story

Listen to the Story

Or you can read it…

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128704761&sc=fb&cc=fp

We had a fantastic 4th, down where fireworks were legal.  My son had a great time arranging the fuses on a whole pack of smoke bombs so his Mom could do the genie dance.  Times like these reinforce that family times are the best times!

If it sits still long enough, I’ll take a picture of it!

- Mike Reynolds yesterday at a ball game while taking pictures of a flower my daughter thought was neat.  I’m sure someone else has said this in the past, but I haven’t found the source yet!

If David Hobby uses a light meter I haven’t heard as much as I should about it on his blog, http://strobist.blogspot.com/.  Bobbi Lane rocks with a light meter in this introductory video.

The brand of light meter is Sekonic

Wow, this guy is brave enough to where a bowtie on a major youtube video.  Maybe that’s exactly what I need a huge quirk to distract people from any other minor faux pas I make during a session. If I wear a brown polka dotted bowtie I’d get whooped up on. 

Lighting it up in Austin with Robert Seale from PhotoShelter.com on Vimeo.

Wow, this is an amazingly good video with a lot of technique explained.  This video is in depth and long (50 minutes) so plan on spending a good chunk of time on this lesson… it won’t be wasted.

Some really cool poppin’ landscapes are what you’ll see if you decide to follow this link to Peter Barta’s landscape gallery.

http://bartaphotography.com/Barta_Photography/Galleries/Pages/Landscape.html

The one thing I could do without is all the dark vignetting, which is a very minor distraction when compared with all the beautiful qualities.

Now that you’ve seen some really cool landscapes, don’t forget to back up your photo library!

Just got a lead on an amazing landscape/wildlife photographer, Kevin Barry.  He shoots in Black and White, color, up close and panoramic.  All with amazing style and grace.

My favorite at this point is a B&W barn:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevin_barry/4353925098/

To see his portfolio go to Flickr:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevin_barry

After you view Kevin’s portfolio, do yourself and your family a favor… back up all your digital pictures.

Not only does Allyson Kalie capture some of the most moving photographs, she has impeccable taste in music.  If you aren’t visiting her Flickr Photostream on a weekly basis, then shame on you.  I’m still amazed at the intricate self portraits.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaliegarrett