As we rush to get our last minute gifts purchased for the holidays, here is the final set in the five part series of gift ideas for the photographer. I kept the criteria simple:
Tag: contests
25 Gift Ideas for 2010: Part 4
We’ve come a long way, with Part One, Two and Three giving fifteen of my best items I keep in my gear bag and for all around technical purposes. The list continues today with Part 4 – and only one more to come before all 25 are done! So, without further ado: Continue reading “25 Gift Ideas for 2010: Part 4”
25 Gift Ideas for 2010 – Part 3
The tryptophan hasn’t quite kicked in yet, and your afternoon football game needs a break. Stretch those legs and surf along to one of these fine buys – Black Friday or any day! Continue reading “25 Gift Ideas for 2010 – Part 3”
25 Gift Ideas for 2010 – Part 2
Last week began the grand-tastic gift guide for 2010, where I shared 5 of 25 great gift ideas for the photographer in your life. I keep the criteria simple. First, I must either own or want it! Second, It must be $50 or less. To read the first five in part 1, feel free to hit the archive for it here. Otherwise, today, we continue with Part 2:
1. Wireless Trigger System: Pocket Wizards, Radio Poppers and Cybersyncs are great if you’ve got the moolah, but for those on a budget, there should be some happy medium to get reasonably reliable triggers. I had tried the Cactus triggers myself, and they were a good point of entry, but really just were too unreliable. My buddy Kerry Garrison from Camera Dojo has researched the heck out of this and knows his stuff on lighting. He’s put together a great kit that includes everything you need from transmitters to receivers, and PC Sync cables too, all for the budget-friendly $50 rate! Check out his demo video here and get your photographer a set of these. I can’t wait to get my own set!
2. Lexar Memory: Everyone could use an additional memory card, and with prices dropping rapidly, the 8GB UDMA CF cards are now within the budget-conscious range, so pick up a spare (or two) of these as we never have enough in our bags…this one is linked from B&H but pick your own vendor of preference as the deals are across the internet.
3. Black Rapid RS7 – Okay, so it’s 8 bucks over the limit, but for the portability and easing of camera holding during extended sessions, the Black rapid RS 7 is a godsend. If you don’t have one – get one, plain and simple. Visit here to buy one today!
4. Online Training – a month or two from either Kelby Training or Lynda.com is just the ticket to help the photographer in your life help themselves. Whether it’s a refresher on Photoshop, boning up on Indesign, or even learning how to set up a WordPress blog or website, these are great resources for online training. Monthly rates are $25 on average, and with the holidays approaching, you could easily find discount codes or bonus offers for signing up, so consider this valuable option. It’s all part of the mentality of helping people advance in their craft through education!
5. Light Stand – I have been procrastinating getting a second light stand for some time now and there is just no excuse. The primary is an Impact stand I got from B&H and it has served me well, so I just need to add this to my own wish list, and encourage you to add one to yours (if you don’t already have enough that is…but then again, do we ever have enough lightstands – it’s a VAL you don’t have to feed or take out for beers after a shoot!)!. Here’s my own preferred one: 10′ Impact Lightstand (Tracy, are you reading this?) I should probably note here that I am linking to the 10′ tall heavy duty one – well worth the extra investment in my opinion, but for the super budget-conscious, these can get as cheap as $20 for a light duty 6′ one!
Okay, so consider it 5.5 suggestions today. I’m sure you have your own ideas too, so feel free to throw your own suggestions in the mix. Remember, with two down and three to go, keep the ideas coming as I do have some room open for a few more! Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
25 Gift Ideas for 2010 – Part 1
We are officially into the holiday frenzy, and with Black Friday sales creeping up quickly, it’s time to start thinking of some gift ideas for the photog in your own family…or to drop subtle hints to others (if you want it for a present)! Over the next few weeks, I’ve got 25 great gift ideas to share with you. I’ve tried to keep true to some principles with these gift selections, so just to let you know, here’s my barometer for inclusion:
A. I either own it or want it! If I don’t own it, how can I say it’d be a great gift? Only if it’s something I want!
B. Let’s be realistic, the current economic trials are hitting us all hard – and throwing $100+ ideas on a gift guide is too rich for the blood of many photog-types in the trenches, so it’s gotta be cost-effective (nothing over $50)
To keep this manageable, it’s been parted out into five posts – each with 5 items. These are in no particular order, with no favoritism or affiliation to the actual products or vendors. So, without further ado:
1. Ditty Bag – My brother had some of these on our canoe trip earlier this year, and they proved invaluable in keeping my gear dry. $27 for a three-pack of dry ditty bags is a steal! From REI:
2. The Photo Mug – What can I say? I want one of these muchly. With my own expenditures being withheld to ones that are needed versus wanting, and not splurge items, I just have to hope someone in my family sees this:
3. The Battery Caddy – I know, this was in last years showcase, but that should tell you how much I love this. Mine was won in a photo contest online about three years ago and it has never left my camera bag. Brilliant idea, and worth its weight in gold! More options available than the AA clip shown here.
4. Flickr is probably one of the most recognizable photo sharing sites. With a pro account ads are banished and you are not limited in your daily uploads nearly as much. Only $25 gives the gift for a year!
5. Pocket Rocket from Think Tank. A sponsor of the Lightroom workshop, Think Tank gave us a bunch of these to include for each participant. I had to have one myself too, so out went the $17 – totally worth it!
Number 6-10 will be out soon, but I still have room on the list for some late additions, so if you’ve got some ideas, feel free to share (sharing is a good thing) either here in the comments or with me via e-mail. Happy shooting and we’ll see you tomorrow (or possibly Friday)!
Putting it all together…
A number of things have been in the hopper for a while now, and yesterday it all came to a boil with:
- Attending a Captured By The Light Seminar with David Ziser
- Launching a Drobo Giveaway Sweepstakes with Data Robotics
- Publishing the Photokina Podcast
First up, the podcast…
I had another great chat with Kerry Garrison about a week ago about when and why to upgrade your camera body. With the 60D now in the market, and Photokina just starting yesterday, there’s going to be lots of opportunities to buy. When looking at all the options of whether new features are worth the upgrade. Check it out! The show notes are more detailed, so will likely go out tomorrow separately, but wanted to let people catch it today because of a special sponsor…
Drobo 3-Day Sweepstakes Giveaway
For some time now I have been working on getting some preferred vendors in line for the monthly podcast series and the regular contest over on Flickr. One of those sponsors I have been working with is Data Robotics. I received word yesterday that some advertising dollars were still available for 3rd quarter, and if I could act fast, we could run a giveaway for Canon Blogger readers and podcast listeners.
So, the blog post for the podcast got bumped so I could add an intro there about the giveaway, (you can get all the details about the 3-Day Giveaway here.
David Ziser Denver Seminar
The other news item of note was the David Ziser seminar I attended on Monday. This is his 2010 tour, titled Captured By The Light, and I had an opportunity to assist as a volunteer for the show…taking registrations, assisting with product sales, and setup/breakdown. The seminar was probably one of the best I have attended (and I’ve taken in a few…).
The sheer quantity of material was amazing…and with the added door prizes, I can totally see the value behind this event. He had over $6000 in door prizes! In addition to the swag that was given to every attendee, including free months of memberships for things like Kelby Training, a free 1 year membership to WPPI, 20% off discounts for things like the Spyder3Pro, Animoto discounts, 4-month subscription to Professional Photographer.
It was just a great time. It was an honor to participate, and I would like to take a moment here on the blog to thank David and his staff for their down-to-earth and welcoming approach. For more information on the Captured By The Light Tour and to see if he’s coming to a city near you, check out the details here: www.capturedbythelight2010.com And if you’re not a reader of his blog, make sure you check that out too – probably one of the best resources I have in my daily feeds…you can pick that up here: Digital Pro Talk
That’s it for the double-post Tuesday – not the norm, but definitely timely enough and worthy of the additional nugget. Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
The 700 Club
This post makes it officially 700 thoughts and musings on the blog. At an average of 250 posts per year (since I don’t normally post on weekends and occasional “no blog” days), that means we are closing in on the end of three full years of blogging!
To the readers who have been there with me since the beginning, I’d like to say thanks for all your patience as I’ve walked through several fires of growing pains. I’ve come to the realization that the more you write, the greater the chance you have to sound like either a fool, or a pure and simple $%^&. Hopefully I’ve minimized both of these occurrences enough to warrant another 700 posts!
There’s a couple things coming up on the horizon that are quite exciting, and a few fire irons already nice and hot (see contest #1 and contest #2 going on right now)! The biggest change is coming at the end of the month when CB gets a pretty serious face lift. Other upcoming things of interest include a podcast with none other than Martin Bailey on Monday, the 3rd Annual World Wide Photowalk in July, and the 2nd release of the 49 Photo Tips download! (The first is still available here…) All this is accompanied by the regular news, reviews, and photography experiences/insights that I share with you here daily. So, you’d think that with all that, there’s be nothing else of a “big news” item to announce at this time. After all, it’s just Friday, right?
Well, not to disappoint, but there is some news to share with you today on post #700! This is not only news, it’s pretty big news! In fact, it’s not just pretty big news – it’s super huge! Are you sitting down? Are you ready for this? (Cue “Jock Jams“…for those of you that did not experience the early 90’s, the link may be a #lame one…)
Actually, I’d better not just quite yet. But, I can let you know that Anaheim, Salt Lake City, Denver, Minneapolis, Seattle and Portland all have something in common (they make a nice circle…don’t ya think? 🙂 )…
More tk…happy friday and have a great weekend all! Get out and shoot ya some! 🙂
Photo Montage Tuesday
Normally, I start the week with either a hardware review, a software review, or something along those lines, but there’s a couple things that have bumped the traditional schedule. So, check these tidbits out to start the week:
First off, Scott Kelby has announced the 3rd Annual Worldwide Photo Walk! It’s a pretty big deal now as there are some major sponsors that contribute prizes to this, and it’s just a super cool time. There are usually a couple that start up for the Denver area, and if you’ll be around, let me know and I can post which group I’ll be in so you can join (or avoid) as needed! 🙂
Next up, I am having a couple really exciting podcasts coming up in future weeks, so my one that I recorded over the weekend will never see the light of day – it was a solo run, so not as much fun as, perhaps talking to Rob Sylvan (Also a NAPP Helpdesk writer) or Martin Bailey! They are coming up soon, and we’re recording soon, so get your questions in via comments, email, or the free 800 line: 866-809-8663!
In other blog news, you may notice three new sponsors in the sidebar: Adobe, NAPP, and Red River Paper!
- Adobe – So, if you’re trial version of CS5 is almost up – order the full version here and you can still take advantage of great savings. Just come through the side panel link here to get the same pricing as elsewhere, and when you do, you’ll be helping me keep costs to a minimum on the blog and podcast!
- NAPP – For the NAPP link – you can sign up for a membership through this affiliate link and get lots of special bonuses, and the referral also helps to keep costs down too…(I think you get like 2 additional months free or something like that).
- Red River Paper – These guys are terrific – not only have they donated prizes in the past to monthly giveaways, but their continued support and service to both myself and readers/lilsteners is now available through the affiliate link in the sidebar. Enjoy (especially their latest Pearl Metallic paper – totally rocks!)!
Finally, speaking of contests, the May giveaway entry deadline has passed and the winner of the free copy of PTGui Pano Software is: AlinNZ! Congrats to him and to Alin – if you contact me via email, I’ll get you in touch with PTGui to have them send your license key to unlock the software! Great photo, and thanks to all for participating!
Click the photo to be taken to his photo stream and comment on his excellent body of work there as well. Congrats, and for those interested in the June contest – the news is posted on the Flickr site with all the details, so head there for more info. I’ll go into more details on it later this week, so keep on feedin’ on the blog! Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
A Look Ahead…
Just a few news nuggets today of some things that have been going on and simmering on the proverbial stove for the past few weeks. Many of these are now starting to bubble up to the surface, so here’s a little hint as to what I’ve been up to, and what is ahead for the blog and podcast… Continue reading “A Look Ahead…”
Contests and Giveaway News
Lots to cover today, so rather than banter, let’s get to the news about all the contest stuff going on:
The Comment Contest
Talk about a huge success – had enough feedback and ideas in this one post to really get some great creative ideas in play for the coming months for the blog – after the re-design! Some lucky winner will be announced tomorrow (I am writing this on Sunday, while comments are still being accepted, so a winner cannot be announced right now.)
Win a Wacom Giveaway
The Learning Digital Photography giveaway thread over on Flickr has seen quite an uptick in submissions in the last week. As the deadline approached, more people started getting their “fun” themed shots in, and there’s a lot of creative and fun photos in there. It’s going to be tough to decide this one for sure. Have you got your image submissions in yet? If not, today is the last day to enter, and like the lottery, you can’t win if you don’t play! You have until midnight tonight (Mountain Time), so it’s now or never!
The September Giveaway – Think in Color!
Announced briefly and teased on post #500, September’s contest is a pretty big one. Two significant items are up for grabs this month. First up, the winner of this contest will receive a Think Tank Multimedia Bag System (5 bags total). For more information on this latest bag system to hit the shelves from ThinkTank Photo, you can read the review I did here, or visit their website for the specifics here. The retail value of this set of bags is easily $350!
Second, Topaz Labs has offered up their plugin suite of actions for Photoshop to the winner of the September giveaway. You may recall my review of the Topaz Labs Adjustment plugin here on the blog, and more of the Topaz plugins will be reviewed here during September, so stay tuned to see all the cool stuff this set can do. The retail value of this software set is valued at $150 for the Adjustment, Denoise, Simplify, Detail, Clean and DeJPEG plugins.
So, let’s see – $350 in bags, and $150 in software = $500 in giveaway items for the September run. That’s a lotta loot! This means the setup will be a little more competitive than last months. Here’s a rundown of the guidelines:
- Longest side of the image should be between 600-800pixels. This makes for consistency in galleries, and also for equal view-ability in the judging phase.
- One photo per person, submitted through the Flickr thread, which will be created tonight at midnight.
- Photos must be taken within 30 days of the contest start date. So, if you have something you took just last month, that is acceptable, but earlier archives will not be accepted.
- All images must be work-safe/family-friendly.
- This go around, the theme is: Think in Colors (for ThinkTank and the color Topaz). Incorporate the theme of the giveaway somehow into your photos.
- Since we’re talking Photoshop and plugins, it makes sense to also note that image editing is permitted, so go ahead and punish those pixels!
- Image submissions will be accepted starting September 1st, and will continue through Sat. Sept. 26th.
The other cool thing about the Thinktank/Topaz Labs giveaway is that the folks at Topaz Labs have offered to the winner that their photo be displayed on Topaz Labs website (along with photo credit given, naturally). This is, of course, totally optional, but definitely a cool feather to have in ones’ cap. The caveat here is that the submitting photographer would have to be at least 18 years old.
Phew – that is a lot of contest news! In one sidenote about the blog, a little administrative note that the B&H Photo affiliate link is back, so if you are thinking of purchasing some gear through B&H, if you use the link above, though your price stays the same, B&H will send a few cents back this way to help offset the expense of hosting. (It literally is just a few cents per purchase, so go ahead and spend a fortune!) 🙂 So much for a hardware review today…I’ll be back tomorrow with the last post for August, and the announcement of the Comment Contest winner! In the meantime, happy shooting!