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Holidays are always a welcome time for me to catch up on reading, and I recently compiled a list of past and current favorites. I receive many requests for booklists, so this is my first attempt at creating one.
I divided it into two categories: Right Brain and Left Brain.

First, I'll present the Right Brain list. If you're looking for a gift for your photographer friends, these are all superb choices. I've read and re-read each of these books year after year for artistic inspiration. They are the classics, the "Top 10" of my collection.

Right Brain Books:

1) Truth Needs No Ally: Inside Photojournalism, by Howard Chapnick

2) Let Truth Be the Prejudice: W. Eugene Smith, His Life and Photographs, by Ben Maddow, John G. Morris, and W. Eugene Smith

3) W. Eugene Smith: Shadow and Substance : The Life and Work of an American Photographer, by Jim Hughes

4) The Photographic Essay, by William Albert Allard

5) The Mennonites, by Larry Towell

6) Why People Photograph, by Robert Adams

7) On Photography, by Susan Sontag

8) Stay this Moment, by Sam Abell

9) Sam Abell:The Photographic Life, by Leah Bendavid-Val and Sam Abell

10) The Photographer's Eye, by John Szarkowski

Check back tomorrow for the Left Brain list. In the meantime, share some of your favorites with me. I'd love to add them to the list!

Rachel and I are in St. Louis, my hometown, spending the Thanksgiving holiday with my family. As most people, I rarely visit touristy sights in my own hometown. In fact, I had only been up in the St. Louis Arch once before in my entire life, until this past weekend. My sister, Sudie, brought her college friend, Pulkit, home for Thanksgiving. He had never been to the Arch, so we all took a trip, and I made this soon-to-be cult classic video. Hmm. Anyway, check it out!

Happy Thanksgiving!

When Mark and I heard that one of our wedding couples planned to spend their honeymoon building homes in New Orleans with Habitat for Humanity, we couldn't pass up the chance to document their story. Right after Malcolm and Kalshelia Lloyd's Oct. 21 wedding in Miami, we followed them to New Orleans to shoot pictures and record audio. The story was picked up by former CNN news anchor Daryn Kagan, who just last week launched a website featuring inspiring stories that support her belief that the world is full of selfless people working to make life better for others.

The story that Mark and I produced features photos from the wedding and their honeymoon, and an audio interview with Malcolm and Kalshelia.

**Click here** to view the story.

At a wedding Mark and I shot on Saturday, I was wandering through cocktail hour watching surreptitiously for hugging, laughing - those unprompted moments that are so difficult to capture because most people's natural instinct, when they see your camera, is to group together and smile directly into the lens.

At one point I was watching a guest take a picture of a group of her friends with her digital point-and-shoot. The women stood still, smiled serenely into the camera with their arms around each other's waists, and the photo was shot. The woman then put the camera down and the group immediately started cracking up over something one of them said. And I thought, this is a great moment that most people tend to miss. While it's nice to have that group shot that shows them straight-on, I think the moment that shows these women's spirit and the dynamic of their friendship is the unprompted moment of them laughing with each other, the one that comes directly after the photo the women were prepared for.

Of course I always shoot the posed group photos when asked, but I have also learned not to walk away right afterward. Because once the flash goes off and they see you've taken the picture, inevitably someone says something funny and the group will laugh together, or someone will give someone a hug. This happens in between formal photos too. The groom will give his new bride a quick kiss on the forehead, or the mother of the bride will give her daughter a proud, loving glance. These are always the moments in between. They are the moments that define a family, or a group of friends.

So here's something to try next time you find yourself in the middle of a bunch of posed pictures. Keep your camera up and anticipate the next moment. And watch -- those are the photos your clients will love the most.

One of the primary reasons we chose to start our own business was to create freedom in our lives.

In the early stages of our business, Mark wisely encouraged us to read Michael Gerber's incredible book, The E-Myth. Gerber's mantra is: "The purpose of your life is not to serve your business -- but the purpose of your business is to serve your life." When your business serves your life, you are liberated and given the freedom to truly pursue the dreams you've imagined.

Sounds great, huh?

After reading the E-Myth, I mulled over its principles for a few days and kept asking myself, "So, now what?" Achieving freedom is great. But...freedom to do what?

That deeply-rooted question haunts me daily; it challenges me more than any financial or artistic question ever could. So, this week when I had the opportunity to spend time with two photographers I admire and respect, I brought this question along with me.

Over lunch, wedding photographer David Jay talked about why it is important to anchor oneself with basic, soul-searching questions such as, "What am I doing with my life?," "Why am I here anyway?," and "What do I want to do with the freedom I'm working so hard to achieve?" David has been at the forefront of the wedding photography industry this year, selflessly sharing his message about "Creating Freedom" with photographers around the US. His message is vital to the future of the industry itself. We must learn how to build businesses that give us freedom. Otherwise, how will we ever find time to serve one another and serve the world? You can't change the world if you're too busy designing wedding albums, burning disks and slaving away in photoshop! Thankfully, David is pushing photographers to develop smart business strategies that will set them on a path to freedom.

Over dinner, documentary photographer Colin Finlay talked about how he has achieved financial freedom through photographing corporate advertising campaigns. By shooting lucrative ad projects, Colin is able to use the freedom he has earned to travel the globe, documenting human suffering. These are the photographs that Colin is truly passionate about. He believes photography is a catalyst for social change. By bearing witness to tragedy, Colin gives a voice to the voiceless. "Giving people the ability to speak through my camera is what charges me," Colin says. His latest book, Testify, is a 17-year retrospective of his documentary work. Most recently, he established a community of photographers who are creating a collective photo story of Sudan's history. The project, called "PROOF," will include a traveling exhibition of photographs. Colin exemplifies what I hope to do with the freedom I achieve through my business. He is a purpose-driven photographer, with a clear sense of calling. He is using his freedom to give something back to the world.

So, this week has been one of those surreal seasons that reminds me why I believe every life has a purpose and every person has a calling. Once you discern what that purpose and calling is, you can truly harness the freedom your business creates for you. And you can use that freedom to give back. And then, there's no limit to what you might accomplish.

"Our calling is where our deepest gladness and the world's hunger meet." — Frederich Buechner