five on friday is dedicated to those photog’s that drop by as well as those that just love photography and like to play around with it. Hopefully this will be useful, fun, and/or just a good read:) I, in no way, know it all in the photography world but I thought this would be fun to do. If you are a photographer, share your faves in the comment section.

1. Favorite place to buy things: B&H photo! They have it all, a megastore in NYC, an awesome catalog, and an easy to browse website. I ordered a new lens this week (17-40 mm L for those that are interested. yay for wide angle!!) and it was from them. 4.95 shipping, can’t beat that!

2. Favorite item that is on my to buy/want list: Shootsac. I heart Shootsac and actually do need one but haven’t gotten one yet…well, because I’m cheap. But apparently they are worth it so I need to get on the ball. If you need ideas for a gift for me, this would be a good one:)

3. Favorite actions: I have a ton of faves but the go to for my black and white is Brenda Acuncius. My fave is the b/w 2. She rocks!

4. Fave blog to stalk: First, a sidenote. I have about 5 blogs I check/stalk regularly and never leave a comment. I am terrible about this. I have made it a point lately to start leaving comments. There is no reason not too! I heart comments and sure they do too:) One of my faves is Jasmine Star. She is inspirational and the blog is a ton of fun
to read.

5. Favorite way to give back: I am a HUGE believer in giving back…in whatever profession you have, whatever your economic situation, you can give back. Little personal things can change a person’s day…isn’t that extraordinary to really think about….how the smallest gesture like a smile can literally change someone’s day. Although I don’t do it as often as I should, I try to give back to the community as much as I can with photography. Rarely is it too much of an organized thing. I just keep my eyes open for opportunities. Back in the day I was a social worker for teens in custody. Did you know they didn’t have one picture of themselves. I love my photos from when I was younger and growing up, its keeps the memories alive, and it made me realize just how important it is to give back what God has gifted us with to those that can’t afford it. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep is an organization that was started to give back. I personally am not involved in this yet just because I am not in a place where I can handle it emotionally and don’t want to be breaking down in front of the families but have friends who are involved and it has changed there lives. It is photographers signing up to be there for a family when they lose a child at birth. It is definitely not an easy thing as a photographer to do but think of what you are giving to that family. If you are in need of a way to give back, I would recommend this organization:)

happy friday!

we are back to our fives after a brief hiatus last week! wootwoot! have a happy friday!

1. As most of you know I am leaving for Guatemala at the end of this month. We have a blog for our team…go check it out here. We are collecting bars of soap and washcloths for the trip to take down. If you would like to donate, email me at shann@shannonkelleyphotography.com . The blog has some fun meet the team things as well and will also hold some stories and such of our trip while we’re gone!

2. It’s back on! The farmers market downtown!! oh how I have missed it! Rumor is this year its going to be better than ever so we are hitting it up after my morning session on Saturday! If you are a Knoxvillian, go sometime this season…it is so fun! It’s on Wednesdays as well for those that like to relax at home on Saturdays.

3. So, back to the mission trip. I usually have the same items I take with me on a trip. I always go get a package of mens vneck tshirst that are a solid color and wear those so I can get them dirty and leave them or throw them away with no regret at the end of the trip. Before I head over and pick some up this year I’m going to try a different strategy…I’m going to go to the Karm Thrift Store and see if I can find some fun tshirts there! We’ll see how it goes. It may be like my yard saling so far this year in that I haven’t bought anything that I started out looking for but found alot of other junk that I didn’t need:)

4. We have a giant rhododendron in our front yard that annoys me most times because it is so giant that it blocks our whole front porch. Luckily it saves itself by blooming once a year:) It is out in its full glory right now so I thought I would share some pics… (with a snowball pic thrown in there! I have no idea what they are really called, we call them snowballs:) )

and here is a pic of the whole thing mid bloom. It is now in full bloom and you basically can’t see any green!

5. I have been meaning to blog this for awhile. I recently read Wide Open Spaces by Jim Palmer. If you are looking for a good book that is relative, inspirational, and awesome…then you need to read it. It puts into words how I feel about Christianity. It’s not about belief systems, traditions, or religiousity….its about all the little things that are your relationship with God. Its about looking into a sunset and feeling God. Its about enjoying the wide open spaces (pardon the pun, thought it sounded good…hehe!)