Winter has suddenly and quickly descended on Alaska. Not sure I'm quite ready for it, especially after spending a week in sunny Colorado visiting friends and family.

Unfortunately, a week away meant that I didn't get much blog writing done during the past few days, so this weeks's newsletter comes sans RSS feed.

That doesn't mean that I don't have some great stuff for you, though, in fact, I have quite a few items of interest to pass along.

First of all, I'd like to announce that the winner of the Going Fast With Light B&H Photo gift card contest is Oregon photographer Matt Koenig. Matt wins a $500 spending spree to the world's biggest and best photo and imaging retailer on the planet. You can check out Matt's Work at http://www.mattkoenigphotography.com/. Go ahead, send him a message and congratulate him!

The contest was a huge success, and if you were one of the people who bought Going Fast With Light, then I'd like to give you my sincere thanks. I hope it helps expand your creativity and technical artistry and confidence with off camera flash. After you've read through it, consider joining and posting some images in the Fast With Light Flickr Group.

Today I'd like to highlight a couple of earlier HDR articles by Adobe test team member and author Dan Moughamian. Dan is a frequent guest on my blog with his excellent and detailed digital imaging tips and these two posts outline great workflow options for exploring high dynamic range photography. 

HDR Quick & Easy, Method 1 - Using HDR Efex Pro

HDR Quick & Easy, Method 2 - Using Topaz Adjust 4

Also, if you're new to digital imaging and Photoshop, or if you want to expand your skills, check out this post, Which Adobe Photoshop Book is Right for You? In it, I outline four great books that can teach you Photoshop, based on your specific experience and learning style. Not everyone learns equally well from the same kind of instruction, and since these four books are written in very different styles, one of them might be right for you.

Finally, I'd like to share an awesome resource with you that has really helped me achieve success in this new, constantly evolving economy. As you know, I'm primarily a photographer. It's what I love to do more than just about anything else. You're probably the same way. 

However, in this new era, I've added writing and blogging to my overall business model; a move that has allowed my credibility, my exposure and influence, my own knowledge about photography, and my income to rise dramatically during the past couple of years. 

The main resource that I used to make that happen is an eBook called 31 Days to Build a Better Blog.

Written by ProBlogger author Darren Rouse, who makes six figures with his blogging, this book provides an excellent method that will train you to plan and write better posts that will draw readers to your own blog who will keep coming back, and it will show you how to effectively promote your blog so that it gets seen by more people that you would normally be able to reach.

The book lays out a set of simple and effective tasks that you can do each day for a month. I bought and worked through it last year and saw a 600% in readership after just a single month. Since then, my blog has taken off and opened up doors that I previously never would even have seen.

31 Days to Build a Better Blog is well worth the investment; it cost less than a cup of coffee every day for a month, and it's return will be many times that. Right now the brand new updated version of the book is 25% off, and it comes with a 60 day guarantee. You can't really go wrong with that. If you're looking to add writing to your overall photography model, or if you'd just like to ramp up your own blog and get it seen, then I'd highly recommend this eBook.

I'd like to leave you with one of my favorite shots of the week from the Outdoor Adventure Photography Flickr Group. This one's by Broderick Stearns. If you'd like me to feature your imagery, join and post in the group, and maybe I'll pick one of your shots to highlight in a future newsletter or on my Facebook page.

As always, thanks for reading and take care.

Dan