There is always an effort made to read each and every email I receive from fellow photographers, but since there's much more effort required to respond I often don't have enough time to reply to every request. Here are some questions that I receive on a regular basis.

"What camera(s) do you use?"

At the beginning of 2008 I switched to Nikon from Canon. I was looking to upgrade my set of Canon 5Ds when I stumbled upon all the buzz surrounding the D3. From what I could gather, the D3 was superior to every camera available in terms of its low light capabilities. Because I shoot with natural light 99% of the time, I had to have it.

So for the time being, I'm using a Nikon D3. I love its ability to work in low light with limited noise. I also keep around a Nikon D300 for backup purposes and tooling around with family and friends.

"What lenses do you use?"

Since I'm new to the Nikon world, I'm still figuring out which lenses I prefer for what. What I've gathered so far:

50mm f1.4 + 85mm f1.4 - By far my most favorite and most frequently used lenses. In general, I use the 50mm for indoor portraits and the 85mm for outdoors portraits. You can't beat the ability of a f1.4 lens to capture light. Both lenses have beautiful bokeh, but the 85mm is especially exceptional in this area. I'm hoping that Nikon upgrades these two soon as even though I'm happy with them they don't quite live up to the Canon lenses I had previously (50mm f/1.2 and 85mm f/1.2).

135mm f2 - Great for outdoor portrait sessions where the subject is especially independent. I don't use this one very often. Every now and then I have a toddler who needs more space and I switch to this lens until they are ready for me to be closer or until they are worn down from all the running around! More often than not I have the opposite problem ... a toddler who won't stop crawling on me or better hugging me. I would love to see Nikon update this lens as well.

24-70mm f2.8 - IMHO, this is one of the best lenses available. It produces image quality that one would expect from a prime lens. It's that good. More and more I find myself grabbing it instead of my 50mm or 85mm.

70-200mm f2.8 - Big + bulky and rarely with me. I only still own it, because my husband asked me not to sell it. He likes to play with it in the backyard. Great for bird and chipmunk closeups.

105mm f2.8 Micro - Perfect for closeups of tiny baby hands, feet and belly buttons. Also decent for portraits, but a little slow to focus for fast toddlers.

60mm f2.8 Micro - Ok for closeups, but you have to get really close to the subject. I prefer to give a little distance using the 105mm micro. I find this lens excellent for detail portraits. I like it for infant sessions to really bring out eyes and eyelashes.

14-24mm f2.8 - Same great quality as the 24-70mm with an extra wide focal range and hardly any distortion. Perfect for travel photography and environmental portraits.

"What type of lighting do you use?"

I shoot 98% of my sessions with only natural light. No flash, no light switches flipped on. On stormy or extremely dark days, I'll pull out one of my speedlites . Sometimes I use the flash attached to my camera and other times I'll attach it to a light stand and operate it remotely using a commander.

"Can you recommend a camera?"

Not so much, I'm no expert. I use what's best for me. For a thorough recommendation I highly recommend:

Digital Photography Review
CNET Digital Camera Buying Guide

"If you could only have one lens, which would you keep?"

That's plain cruel. If someone decided to torture me like that, I would take the 24-70mm. Its the most versatile of all my lenses.

"How do you do it? aka, What's the secret to [insert topic]?"

There is no secret. I promise. If you are using your time looking for the secret to great photos think about what would happen if you used that time to take more photos. That's the secret. Take photos every day. Then, take some more. It's the only way to get better no matter what anyone else tells you. Learning photography, like anything else, takes time and lots and lots of practice.

Know how exposure works and learn how to shoot manual without your eye leaving the viewfinder. Then, once you've got it down don't be embarrassed to use the creative modes. There's a lot of unnecessary hype regarding manual these days. It's not the end all. Once you've figured out manual you've got the technical basics down and you can focus on creativity. Use the creative modes in conjunction with the exposure compensation dials instead so that your head isn't always wrapped around the details of aperture and shutter speeds. There is nothing wrong with that!

Most of my shoots of toddlers are shot in Aperture Priority mode. Why? Because we are outdoors in light that is frequently changing. As the toddler quickly moves around I don't want to miss a shot because I was changing my manual settings. I'll often use exposure compensation or spot metering to compensate any expected camera error in exposure.

Ok, I'll stop rambling.

Aside from ridiculous amounts practice, most of my photography knowledge was gleamed from books. Here's a list of my favorites ranked in order of importance:

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson
How to Photograph Your Baby by Nick Kelsh
Professional Secrets of Natural Light Portrait Photography by Douglas Allen Box
Learning to See Creatively by Bryan Peterson
The Annabel Williams Book of Wedding & Portrait Photography by A. Williams
Photo Idea Index by Jim Krause
Take Better Family Photos by Steve Bavister
Nat'l Geographic Photography Field Guide: People & Portraits by Robert Caputo

The other side of the question usually relates to Adobe Photoshop. I am a strong believer that you need to get as close to the desired final output as possible inside the camera, but sometimes it's fun or necessary to go beyond that just like a film photographer would do in the darkroom. Tools like Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture are your digital darkroom. Step inside.

The Photoshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby
Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS2 by Bruce Fraser
The Photoshop Channels Book by Scott Kelby
Adobe Photoshop CS2 for Photographers by Martin Evening

"How do you accomplish such vibrant color in your images?"

There's no easy answer. You have to start with the image before it leaves the camera. Set the exposure to achieve the desired result and then shoot RAW for the ability to make adjustments down the road. I shoot all of my images in RAW so that I have the most leeway in post production to fine tune the results to my taste.

"What organizations do you belong to?"

PPA (Professional Photographers of America) + WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) + NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals)

"What lab do you recommend?"

WHCC and ProDPI. I have used Miller's and H&H, but I find WHCC and ProDPI's quality to be superior.

"Who designed your websites?"

Bludomain designed the template used for the dawnm.com portfolio, but fresh! and chicagouncommon.com were designed by yours truly.

"Who hosts your websites?"

I started using Dreamhost in February of 2005 and haven't looked back. Their service and support is superb and their pricing can't be beat. Dreamhost comes with my whole hearted recommendation.

"Are you hiring?"

Not at this time, thank you.