Wow, can I just say how flattered I am! This is Stacey Johnson... and I was a little curious as to the spike in views of my blog (I check the stats every couple of weeks or so... and it's usually only about 10+ people viewing each day! LOL) The major source of this spike is from this post;)
I absolutely LOVE photography... and I can't express how thrilled I was to hear these kind words!!
I'd be happy to answer any questions you have...
I almost always shoot wide open... (maybe to a fault?) I love the feel of a photo when one can draw your eye to the specific detail you want by having that in focus and the rest of the picture out of focus... I do not add any blur post-process.. that part is done in camera;)
I shoot with a plain old Rebel xti (although I'm hopefully purchasing a 5d tis weekend!!) and up until just a couple of months ago... I only used my nifty-fifty (50mm 1.8... honestly the best bang for your buck if you don't want to spend too much money, you can pick one up new for just over $100) and my Tamron 28-75. I have to say though that about 90% of my photos were done with my 50.
Lighting is very important... I learned a lot from the photography forum over at TwoPeasInaBucket.com
A while back they had a lighting "challenge" they were doing... where some very talented photographers took their time to explain the different effects you can achieve with different lighting scenarios.
I think I might have seen a new one just start up not too long ago. I'd for sure recommend checking that forum out... You'll love it!
Anywho... again, thank you for your kind words... you have completely made my day!
Stacey