I have been an admirer of Emily Falconbridge’s camera straps for quite some time now…and when we stayed with her family in San Diego, I became the proud owner of one! Thanks Emily! Her straps are just too cool to pass up…whether you just started taking photos or you’ve been shooting your entire life, you need one of her straps. Why have a boring factory strap around your neck when you can look fabulous with one of Em’s?!

Here is what they look like around the necks some amazing women

Tara Whitney | Ali Edwards | Cathy Zielske

Emily generously donated the red and orange strap that you see above for a giveaway on this blog. Yay yay yay! So…all you have to do is come out of lurkerdom and leave me a comment. Any comment. Tell me what you are doing this weekend. Tell me how you found my blog. Tell me your favorite thing about summer…or something that no one would ever guess about you. It’s a free for all

I will choose the winner at random on July 11. Of course, it would be great if you would tell all the photographers you know about her site as well. Or, buy some extra straps for the photographers in your life. She is constantly updating and posting new and different designs, so be sure to check back often.

Let the giveaway begin…

Brett Dennen is our latest obsession (thanks Jeff and Kim!). Check him out…so gritty and folky, with a good message.

Ain’t No Reason
There ain’t no reasons things are this way
Its how they’ve always been and they intend to stay
I can’t explain why we live this way
We do it everyday
Preachers on the podiums speaking to saints
Prophets on the sidewalks begging for change
Old ladies laughing from the fire escape, cursing my name
I got a basket full of lemons and they all taste the same
A window and a pigeon with a broken wing
You can spend your whole life working for something
Just to have it taken away
People walk around pushing back their desks
Wearing pay checks like necklaces and bracelets
Talking ’bout nothing, not thinking about their
Every little heart beat, every little breath
People walk a tight rope on a razor’s edge
Carrying their hurt and hatred and weapons
It could be a bomb or a bullet or a pin
Or a thought or a word or a sentence.
There ain’t no reasons things are this way
Its how they’ve always been and they intend to stay
I don’t know why i say the things i say,
But i say them anyway.
But love will come set me free
Love will come set me free
I do believe
Love will come set me free
I know it will
Love will come set me free
Yes
Prison walls still standing tall
Some things never change at all
Keep on building prisons,
Gonna fill them all.
Keep on building bombs
Gonna drop them all
Working your fingers bare to the bone
Breaking your back, make you sell your soul
Like a lung is filled with coal, suffocating slow
The wind blows wild and i may move
But politicians lie and i’m not fooled
You don’t need no reason or a 3 piece suit
To argue the truth
The air in my skin and the world under my toes
Labor is stitched into the fabric of my toes
Chaos and commotion wherever i go
Love, i try to follow
But love will come set me free
Love will come set me free
I do believe
Love will come set me free
I know it will
Love will come set me free
Yes
There ain’t no reasons things are this way
Its how they’ve always been and they intend to stay
I can’t explain why we live this way;
We do it everyday.

Your skin is an organ. It sucks up every little bit of lotion and lather you put on it…and it goes straight into your blood stream. For those of you who haven’t made the change to “healthy” soaps, lotions, lip balms, etc…please re-think your choice. I just cannot urge you enough to make these changes! It might be hard to switch out an item you’ve been using since Jr. High…but you just can’t afford to continue using these products. Why? The U.S. has a beauty industry that is largely unregulated. Don’t believe it? Check out “Not Just a Pretty Face” by Stacy Malkan. Here is a snippet from the book:

Lead in lipstick? 1,4 dioxane in baby soap? Coal tar in shampoo? How is this possible?Simple. The $35 billion cosmetics industry is so powerful that they’ve kept themselves unregulated for decades.Not one cosmetic product has to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration before hitting the market. Incredible? Consider this:

• The European Union has banned more than 1,100 chemicals from cosmetics. The United States has banned just 10.
• Only 11% of chemicals used in cosmetics in the US have been assessed for health and safety – leaving a staggering 89% with unknown or undisclosed effects.
• More than 70% of all personal care products may contain phthalates, which are linked to birth defects and infertility.
• Many baby soaps are contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical 1,4 dioxane.

Go to Skin Deep before you purchase anything. Don’t assume that just because it’s on the shelf at the Target and it has a really cool “organic looking” package that it’s good for you and your children. Packaging is meant to be mesmerizing…they want you to buy their products. But don’t be fooled. Be a label reader! Look past the pretty bottle and really examine what you are buying.

I was looking for something tonight on the site and came across a few of these “favorites”. They might not be your favorites after you read on…

Bath and Body Works Cucumber Melon Anti-Bacterial Soap

Suave Men’s Shampoo

Blixtex Lip Balm

Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo

Do your research and choose items that have very few ingredients and that you can pronounce. That will narrow it down to just a few lines of products…so now your choices are much easier! Go for Aubrey Organics, or a line of locally homemade items (one of my favorites is Prairieland Herbs…check out their Cheek Gloss!). Better yet…learn how to make your own products and you’ll save money too!

Photo credit: Auntie P/Flickr Creative Commons

I am having so much fun reading Rae’s blog that I just had to share it with everyone. You MUST add it to your list…
Rachel, Chinua, and their children have moved to India from the U.S. and are blogging about it at Journey Mama and also in more detailed form at Fly Fishes Fly!
Journey Mama is Rachel’s blog and her writing is honest, uplifting, raw, inspiring…you will love it. Chinua is also writing on the Fly Fishes Fly blog and he has a captivating style as well. Can’t wait to see their India adventure unfold. We missed meeting them in Sacramento by just a few weeks…but had the chance to hang out with many of their friends (in different cities…how weird is the bloggy world?!).

Chinua is also a crazy amazing photographer. Check his photos out here.

Greetings from Portland. Yes…I’m still alive. Life has been on warp speed for the past month…and I’m just trying to keep my head above the water as we speed into the last leg of our tour! Thanks for your patience In the meantime, here are some fun web thingys I have come across lately:

Ever wondered what you could do with an old basketball? Check out this useful site: How Can I Recycle This?

For all you photo junkies out there…here is how you can make a headboard from a photo. I am so doing this someday when I have a real wall to put it on

Looking for some inspiration to get your digital photos out of the computer and up onto your walls? Apartment Therapy has some great ideas for hanging art, many of which include photos. I especially love the plexiglass wall project.

Need something to do while the little one is sleeping on your lap at the computer? Quiz yourself here. It’s fun.

If you’re not reading Emily’s blog, you should be. We had the joy of staying with their family in California and had such a fabulous time. She takes pretty pictures and makes amazing art.