Regardless of how many times you've relied on your air conditioner this year, summer doesn't officially begin until 1:04 a.m. on June 21^st (in the Northern Hemisphere, anyhow). So we thought it would be a great time to highlight a few practical pieces of gear that come in handy when the days are long and toasty.

I wanted to be a wildlife photographer in the worst way! Having been very fortunate to spend most of my youth in the great outdoors, watching such programs as Mutual of Omaha's 'Wild Kingdom' on TV, and being influenced by my older sister (who is an amazing artist), it just seemed that it was where I should be. But I was not even 20, with the limited funds and limited gear that comes with that age. My longest lens was a 200mm, and while I accomplished enough to get the “nice photo, you should become a photographer” comment from friends, it wasn’t good enough. More importantly, my photography wasn’t growing, and the fun was becoming frustration. The commitment had to be made—in for a penny, in for a pound!

Editor's Note: This is a guest blog post from Moose Peterson

David Burnett has been an award-winning photojournalist for more than four decades. He has been named one of the "100 Most-Important People in Photography" by American Photo magazine, and is a founding member of Contact Press Images, the New York-based photojournalism agency.

David was generous enough to answer a few questions about his work and career.

All Photographs ©Shannon Richardson

Shannon Richardson is an editorial/commercial photographer based in Amarillo, Texas. His recently-published book "Route 66 American Icon" is a culmination of a six-year project documenting the iconic roadway. Shannon was generous enough to answer some questions about the project and about his work.

This is a guest post by Rex Weiner, Editor/Publisher A&I Books

You have all these terrific photos you took during the holidays, and now you want to collect them in a photo book for family and friends. It’s going to be a great gift, memorializing the precious time spent together, a keepsake for the ages to be handed down by generations to come, and so easy to do right now, using free, do-it-yourself print-on-demand online software.

This week in the news: Olympus announces a price for their latest Micro Four Thirds lens; Sony NEX users get a surprise; and Google teams up with Acer on a new laptop.

This is your B&H Photo Pulse News Roundup for November 16^th, 2012. Be sure to follow us on Twitter for the latest news as it breaks.

This week in the news: Canon announced new lenses; a new Nikon camera was announced overseas; lots of new lenses were finally given prices, and more.

This is your B&H Photo Pulse News Roundup for November 9^th, 2012. Be sure to follow us on Twitter for the latest news as it breaks.