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: Gift Guide
I'm going on Auto Pilot
After some serious burning of the night oil, I’ve got the last Newsletter of the year ready for release – if you want to get it, the push goes out at 10:30am eastern time. This means subscribers will also get a sneak peak of the final 5 items on the 25 for $50 gift guide list for 2010. That final list will be released here on the blog tomorrow with full photos and write-ups of each, so if you miss the newsletter, be sure to stop in on Wed. for that.
The final podcast for 2010 is recorded and in the gates, ready to be run on Thursday too, so this is going to be a week with lots of multimedia and distributions for everyone to download and enjoy as we head into the holiday season. On that note, I’ll be enjoying the rest of this week off (so no blog post on Friday), and hopefully get the rest of my own family and friends shopping completed in short order. What is it – ten shopping days left? If you’ve not started yet, time’s a wastin!
And, oh yeah, one last item to note…Lightroom has had it’s latest update to 3.3, and Camera Raw (for CS5 users) to 6.5! You can grab the downloads here for Lightroom, and on the Raw Converter the downloads are Windows and Mac specific.
So, on that note, I am going to let the powers of scheduled posts and media distribution do their work while I catch up on a few Z’s and other things! I will check in periodically for comments, questions, and other feedback items, but for the rest of the week, this baby’s on auto-pilot! Happy shooting, and we’ll see you next week…..unless of course anyone has any questionszzzzzzzzzzzzzzz?
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)!
Last Minute Gift Guide
Is your shopping done? Mine isn’t – I am going to be braving the stores tomorrow for some last minute ideas I had that popped in my head over the weekend. Unfortunately for Tracy, she is not a photographer, so camera-related items are not really an option. But, if you are running out of time and ideas, rest assured, I’ve got a few more here for you today. Fair warning though, because when you’ve waited this long to shop, the sticker prices for items are generally in the higher end rather than the lower end. (You may recall that I did a list of 25 for under $25 a few weeks ago.) So, without further ado, here’s the final recommendations for this holiday season…
1. Membership: Being a member of organizations has perks, and there are several out there that can help different types of photographers for different reasons, but three that I would highly recommend are membership to NAPP (of which I am a member – $99/year), PPA, ($194/yr) and ASMP ($140/yr). If these are a little out of your league – a Flickr Pro membership is only $25, and gives you access to lots of things that aren’t available in the free version.
2. Prints and Framing: I’ve talked up Mpix before, and would highly recommend them as a printing outfit for anyone, but regardless of your preferences, giving prints as gifts is always appreciated, especially when accentuated by frames, and photographers are no different. Gift certificates to places like Mpix, and even your local frame and print shops is something that will not only be appreciated but used!
3. Seminars and Workshops: Having been to only one, this is something I would love to get more experience with, and there certainly is no dearth of these available. Kelby Training is the one I know best, but there are literally dozens of outfits that offer on-hand seminars and workshops on everything from lighting, post processing, One that interests me specifically is the Santa Fe workshops, where Joe McNally teaches, but others are all over the country from Maine to California, Florida, and everywhere in between. If you know of any particular seminars and workshops, feel free to post links in the comments!
4. Software: High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography is here to stay, and for those of you interested in getting great results, you’ll need some software to help you process those images. Photoshop is okay at it, but if you want better results, a 3rd party product that is dedicated for the tone mapping and processing is really required. The one I like (and that most others like as well), is Photomatix, from the folks at HDR Soft. They have educational discounts as well for students, teachers, and the like.
5. Video: I know, convergence and the ability to shoot video inside your camera is becoming increasingly common, but this video recorder is just too cool (and low cost) to shrug aside…I am talking about the Flip video Ultra HD Camcorder. For $150 from B&H, it’s a super deal, and the recording quality is superb. I’ve seen lots of people with these, and I’ve seen the results – remarkable quality for the cost.
So, get out those credit cards, and get the gift that suits your photog best! In the meantime, we’ve got a couple things going on here now at the blog, so be sure to chime in before the end of the year:
- December Giveaway – Win $40+ of prizes, including books, prints, paper and software
- Share your Best photos from 2009 – I’ve added the ability to embed photos in the comments section, so if you have an image you like from 2009 and it’s online, share it in the comments for Saturday’s post
That’s it for today – happy shooting and happy holidays as we count down the remaining days to Christmas!