I read a lot. I am one of those types who actually learns from reading…I know, odd in this day in age. Occasionally I will pick up books that seem to offer something for me to learn in their pages, sometimes it’s just because of a recommendation…and other times its on a whim.

I grabbed 100 Ways to Take Better Portrait Photographs on a whim while waiting for a friend to show up at Borders one day a few months back. I figured if nothing else it would be good to have something in the car to read when I had downtime.

Well the book wasn’t as full of learnable (is that a word?) knowledge as I had hoped, but it was full of page after page of inspirational images and techniques. On first glance the book is an easy paced guide to how to make beautiful people more beautiful in photographs. The models on ever page are simply gorgeous…from the women to the men to adorable children. I was very easily drawn in to the images and forgot the words.

But on each page you find an image and a technique that image shows.

I didn’t get a lot of technical know how from this book, but I did get a ton of inspiration from it. I honestly picked up my camera and started shooting anyone who would let me to try out some of the ideas from the book.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars, mainly for the inspirational images found inside and many of the clever techniques the book covers.

denver-zoo-23, originally uploaded by Dizzle @ 2*3 Photos.

Cute and shy always gets the girls. A brown bear poses at the Denver Zoo.

Myself and fellow photograper buddy Jenn took a few of our offspring to the Denver Zoo in Denver’s City Park for a fun outing and photography session.

I was once again testing out new equipment (the Canon 40D and Canon 55-250 stood up just fine to the rain) and just having fun with the kids.

This photo of a brown bear made me chuckle a bit as I was going through my images from the day. He posed for the camera better than some of my recent younger subjects…at least he sat still longer.

platte-river-foot-bridge, originally uploaded by Dizzle @ 2*3 Photos.

A foot bridge over the Platte River to Denver’s Riverfront Park.

Take advantage of every opportunity presented to you. I was fortunate to be able to join Efrain Cruz and Armando Martinez from Denver’s Illuminate Workshops for their free Night Shoot workshop in Denver’s Riverfront Park area Saturday night.

We all had a great time shooting at the Denver Skatepark and I especially enjoyed taking advantage of the Millenium Bridge to get some amazing night photographs of Denver.

I meet several new photographer faces and got caught up with old friends I had not seen in a while. My friend and fellow photog Sheba Wheeler made the evening fun with her first real venture out in the dark and trying to figure out her tripod.

Efrain is a great teacher, very patient and understanding and he explains things in terms that everyone gets. Photography is a lot of technical jargon, but Efrain explains it so that even my young son could understand it.

If you are looking for a good photography school in the Denver area, check out Efrain and Illuminate Workshops…you won’t be disappointed.