While at times my blog has dropped a few pegs in the daily pecking order of demands on my attention and immediacy of my prioritization, it has continued to be a vehicle for networking and international friend making.   The connections and conversations have proven to exceed my expectations and I wanted to take a moment to thank the folks who have helped not only promote my ramblings, but help me grow as a photographer and fledgling digital artist…

From Eric at Photography Bay and Steve Huff, to Jimmy and Jeff at Alien Skin, my good friend, very talented photo-blogger (and sometimes photographic business partner) Shelby, Alisdair at Cooking with Apples, the fine folks at HDRSoft, Thomas at Presetpond.com, Everimaging and Ashley at Topaz Labs to the team at Kubota, (the development crew on Tiffen’s Dfx3 plugin, which I am currently in the process of reviewing)  and of course my good friends at Lensbaby as well as Ale from 43rumors.com, I have been thrilled and lucky to get to play around with and review the amazing products that these folks work hard to develop and bring to market, or submit my articles which have garnered quite a bit of feedback, conversation and experience.  It’s easy to see the ads in magazines as faceless companies trying to push their newest software or hardware on us, but through the many conversations I’ve had over the last year and a half or so, I realize that so many of these companies that bring cutting edge tools to us are small, innovative groups that strive to provide tools that they themselves want to use and share.  They appreciate feed back and many make themselves available to their customers.  I don’t make money from my blog.  It is merely a way for me to use the tools that keep me excited, and write about photography, my passion.  In my real job, I help run a small, family operated business in which we develop, manufacture and market our wares.  The service of and passion for our product is at the forefront of every decision we make.  Quality and customer satisfaction is king.  Customer service has in many industries become an automated phone tree, or FAQ page buried on a website, but in my experience with the people and companies linked above, service has maintained itself as a priority and it is in this vein of sharing and service that I want to extend my appreciation.  I want to take time to share with those of you who’ve not yet stumbled upon my friend’s Inna and Pablito’s blog House of Bokeh, their very own passion project.  The web is filled with amazing individuals who share their expertise and look to network likeminded people so that we may all benefit.  House of Bokeh is a tireless blog that shares tips, tricks and tutorials from a large community of photographers who enjoy learning from each other while sharing personal experiences.

If I may, I’d like to suggest you have a look at a couple of the (many, many usefult) articles that House of Bokeh has put together which I’ve found to be enjoyable and very informative.  Take a quick break from work, bookmark the site to go back to when you’re in need of that little inspirational, creative push.  I’m happy to have friends like this who selflessly network and share their expertise.  It is exactly what I started trying to do with my blog here.  Here are a few reads I’d suggest to get started:

Smoke and Mirrors tutorial by Rob Webb

Waterdrop Photography by Dan Borg

Painting the Photograph by Pablito

Building Bokeh in Photoshop by Pablito

Live, learn, shoot, share and tell Inna and Pablito I say hi!

Happy shooting all,

Tyson