Friday Favorites

Happy, happy Friday, y’all! I cannot believe it’s the weekend already.

Why, you ask?

Because this weekend, I am doing something a little different. I am running from the Rouge-Orleans Ultramarathon – a relay race that 126.2 miles from Baton Rouge to New Orleans on the Mississippi River levee – with five other incredible ladies. And our team, Girls on the Geaux, has some wonderful sponsors who are making our journey easier… and prettier, too. Huge props to 110% Play Harder, Brooks Running, GO Sport ID, Nuun, PROBAR, 1st Choice Real Estate, Barber & Mann, Running Skirts, Drink Chia, Rex Distributing (who contributed Icelandic Glacial), Enterprise and Good Shepherd Christian Academy. Follow me on Twitter (and follow the hashtags #GirlsontheGeaux and #RO12) for updates throughout the race!

So, with that said and y’all know that this weekend is going to be an intense one for me, here are some of my favorite links of the week.

Photography

• Elizabeth Messina‘s first book, The Luminous Portrait, is available for pre-order. Holy cow, y’all. Ordering this one for myself now!
• Confession: After seeing these images of cold weather in Europe, as well as hearing my little sister’s tales of the Denver blizzard, I really like living in the Deep South. No snow? No ice? No problems.
• As you should know by now, I’m a huge fan of stories behind the photos. Chris Wilkins’ first-person account (and image!) of what happened during the story that inspired the movie, Big Miracle.
• In equipment news this week: Nikon announced the D800, a DSLR that shoots up to 36.3 megapixels. Canon revealed three new lenses.
• Detroit-based photographer Dennis Maitland dangles his legs off buildings and other scary tall places for his project Life on the Edge. Dennis is a brave man.
• Photographer Lalage Snow photographed and interviewed soldiers from 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland before, during and after they returned from Afghanistan. The photographs are haunting.
• A very interesting (and truthful read!): What John Loomis didn’t learn in photojournalism school.
• I’m a little late in sharing this, but I really liked Jim Jordan’s tips for making fantastic portraits and Sean Low’s post on self-respect in a creative business. I’m getting excited about the portrait shoots I have coming up, as well as reworking my website a little to reflect who I am a little better.

Odds & Ends

• There were many awesome SuperBowl commercials, but I particularly loved NBC’s Brotherhood of Man. Love, love, love.
• 12 times you’ve seen Ron Swanson without knowing it was Ron Swanson. You’re welcome.
• Kudos to Pham for sending this my way: “Oh, Internet” – A Love Song.
• This is about as political I’m going to get here ever: Say what you will about the President, but you have to admit he (and his staffers) has a pretty good and eclectic taste in music.
• Schtuff People Say to Photographers. It’s so true! (My personal favorite question that I hear weekly? “Can you put on your skinny lens?”)

What are some of your favorite links of the week?

Happy weekend!