A few weeks ago, I accidentally set my camera bag down a little more abruptly than I meant to, and when I pulled out my camera later that day, I heard a crunching sound as I took my lens cap off. My heart sank; my beloved 50mm 1.4 lens appeared to be cracked. And then I remembered that I had a lens filter on the camera! I am so glad that soon after I bought my first DSLR 5 years ago someone recommended that I use a filter for each lens. They are inexpensive, generally anywhere from $6-20 depending on the size of your lens. While you can go the expensive route, I’ve always been very happy with my Tiffen filters. And while I thought everyone knew this trick, my sister (bderby) was visiting me at the time, and she does not own filters for her lens.

So now you know – buy a filter for your lens. It’s a cheap way to protect your expensive lenses from scratches or even breaks.

And kudos to my husband who actually fished this broken filter out of the trash, brought it to me, and said it would be a great topic for “that blog thing you sometimes do.”

I thought I’d share some websites that provide good how-to tutorials, offer photography forums, and pretty pictures.

Clickin’ Moms is a great photography forum. They provide classes, tutorials, and as much camera and lens discussion you could possible want. They are a membership forum, but it is very reasonable at $30/6 months. And if you don’t want to pay a fee, you can always check out their blog for free inspiration.

The Lens Loves provides portrait inspiration. This recent baby session is especially cute.

Inspire Me Baby provides inspiration for child photography, as well as business tips and the occasional tutorial.

Finding the Art in Life is the photography blog of Angela Crutcher, my personal favorite. And if you look far enough, you might find pictures of my two cute kiddos.

I Heart Faces is a great photography site that offers weekly challenges with different themes, and it’s always fun to stretch yourself.

And for those of you who are inspired by lifestyle photography from other moms who are just trying to document their children’s lives, then Kelle Hampton and Karen Russell are two of my favorites. Karen also offers a photography class titled Snapshots of a Good Life. I am currently enrolled in the class, and it’s amazing!

Happy Sunday!