Jules Café April Winner!

First and foremost we must give a big thank you to Tamrac for their generous donation of a gorgeous Adventure Messenger 4 for April’s monthly contest! Keep reading to find our winner!

One of the reasons why Jules Café hosts a contest every month is to encourage readers to come back and visit the site. Jules Café has fresh, new content all the time, and it is built to help you, the photographer learn, grow, and share!

Look in the Grow section to find information about lighting, shooting, and equipment. The Learn section will have articles about business, marketing, networking, conventions, and workshops. You can find inspirational interviews and information about photography contests, charity work, and other fun tidbits in the Share section.

So grab a cup of coffee, curl up in a chair with your laptop, and dive in to Jules Cafe. In fact, don’t miss our inspirational Coffee Break series featuring both well-known photographers and those-to-watch who have given much to the industry, and contribute to the Learn Grown Share motto of Jules Cafe. Next week’s article will feature the lovely and talented Justine Ungaro.

Because April’s prize was a bag designed to hold equipment, I asked our readers to leave a comment about which piece of equipment was their favorite and why. The parameters of the question left it open to be anything at all that made life as a photographer better or easier.

Here were some of our favorite answers. Read below to get some GREAT ideas of equipment that has made other photographer’s lives easier. To see all of the answers, go to last months’ contest and check out all the comments:

Lisa Llarena says:
Since you specifically mentioned equipment that goes in the bag, I’d have to say my lens pen. It keeps everything else in the bag clean and ready for action. It gets the smudgy fingerprints off (yes, I’ve been known to space out and change lenses without having the caps on) and my sanity intact.

Corey Hage says:
Right now I would have to say my favorite piece of equipment is my 4GB SD Plus Card. I can shoot to it and then take it out and plug it right into my USB port and download the images, no card reader needed!!! It is the greatest time saver not only at the reception when making the slideshow but also when you have small shoots to do. No need to carry card readers and take up space in my gear bag. It is a must have if you shoot with the 1D series.
For those interested, here it is….

Terra Dawn says:
I would have to say Matt Kloskowski’s “Killer Lightroom Tips”. I, like most photogs, am constantly working towards learning new techniques and technologies (that’s we we all hang out at Jules Cafe!!). His blog has weekly action downloads and techniques to use in lightroom. Luuuurve this man’s blog. He’s helped me grow leaps and bounds in my post processing. (If you’re looking for an answer that involves actual equipment..lol….I am going to say my Shootsac. It’s colorful…incredibly helpful…and makes me happy.

Jessica Conroy says:
My favorite piece of equipment would have to be my camera slinger!
No more back pain with weddings. I now can shoot with two cameras and not have pain anymore.

And now what you’ve all been waiting for: Our April Winner is Cherie-Lynn Buchanan of CL Buchanan Photography! Cherie-Lynn, congratulations on your Tamrac bag!

Cherie-Lynn says:
Picking just one piece is hard, I try to love them all equally. My absolute fav has got to be my 50mm 1.4 (please don’t tell my 85 or 24). It is almost always on my camera and everything/body i shoot with it just seems to be better. The other thing I love is my Jill-E bag and my Shootsac. It’s nice that someone is bringing fun to women’s camera bags. Then there’s my iPhone just plain coolness. OK back to my first one my 50mm lens, yeah that’s my favorite.