Hey, there are a few things going on right now that I wanted to bring to your attention, so here are the morning announcements for today, October 28, 2010.

In case you missed my postings on Facebook and Twitter, I’ve added several new images that you can order as prints, including a popular request, “Can We Talk?” and the newest one, “Painted River.” Simply click the Order Prints link here or in the top navigation for the site to check them out and to place your order. They make great Christmas gifts :-)

Also, the results from my self-assignment to shoot black and white photographs of the fall season in the Smoky Mountains are up on Flickr if you’d like to check them out.

Oh, and one other thing… I wrote a book.

Way back in July, I wrote a guest post on Sabrina Henry’s blog on doubt and success. In it, I mentioned that partly because of that particular success, I was working on something new—something special—and that I couldn’t talk about it until it was finalized. Well, now I can.

Today, David duChemin’s Craft & Vision web site has published my first ebook, Close to Home: Finding Great Photographs in Your Own Back Yard.

This book is for everyone who is convinced they need to travel to exotic places to find great photographs; for everyone who wants to create something out of the ordinary right at home. It’s written to help you take a step back from your normal, everyday—dare I say, boring—surroundings and find the extraordinary photographs in your city, town, and neighborhood. As I say in the book, photography is about life—and life is all around you.

Of course, no book is ever exclusively the author’s doing and I do have some people I am very grateful to for their help in making this a reality. Of course, my thanks to David duChemin and Corwin Hiebert for giving me the opportunity and, along with the Craft & Vision team, for shepherding this project—and this author—through the publishing process. Also, many thanks to Ray Ketcham, Sabrina Henry, Eli Reinholdtsen, and Jeffrey Fielding for reviewing early versions of the book and providing thoughtful and insightful feedback. Finally, my eternal gratitude to my wife, JoEllen, without whom this book would have not been possible. For nearly 30 years, she has prompted and prodded and cajoled me to get my photographs out into the world and I finally took her advice. Thank you for believing in me, even when I didn’t.

Needless to say, I am thrilled at the opportunity to get this out there; to help other photographers discover how they can find terrific images in their own neighborhoods and towns, and to perhaps inspire everyone to look a little closer at your own back yard. I hope you find it useful. Feel free to leave your feedback on the Craft & Vision web site and let me know what you think. You can also email your questions and comments to closetohome@thelightwithout.com.

Until 11:59pm PST November 1, 2010, if you use the promotional code HOME4 when you checkout, you can have the PDF version of Close to Home for only $4 OR use the code HOME20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more PDF ebooks from the Craft & Vision collection.