The left picture was printed five years ago by Hand & Eye letterpress in wood and metal type in a run of 80 prints. It is a rather odd size, and necessitated a custom mat. This is the first we have gotten to hang it up, because it sat rolled up in tissue paper in its mailing tube for years while I waited to get it professionally matted. Eventually, we decided that I should simply cut the mat myself and we would make do with this Ikea frame for the time being. Mykala’s efforts got this to finally see the light of day, for which I am very thankful. It is not perfect, but it turned out nicely for a first crack, and I’ll take it for now. I tend to just stand in front of the wall and stare at it, because I like the way it turned out.
Fantastic off camera lighting kit - Some time ago, Mykala linked me to an article at Strobist about building your own softbox for $10. Since then, I have regularly dropped in to read the website responsible for that tutorial. It’s all about how to get your light off of your camera and into the space around you, and creating extremely interesting effects, etc. Turns out that if I actually had a camera with a PC sync terminal (just about any camera except my own, ha), the least expensive lighting kit would be perfect. You get a great manual flash, off-camera connecting cords, a tripod, a diffusing umbrella (like the kind from your school portraits), and other extraordinarily useful accessories. Plus, for a bit more money, you can connect cameras like my own. Just takes a bit more fiddling.
People Magazine: No Photoshop - When they shot the world’s 100 most beautiful people, People magazine decided against any Photoshoppery or make-up. This article details some techniques to beautify the your subjects.
Kenko Extension Tube for Canon EOS AF Mount - When you combine this inexpensive extension tube (filled with the same “low dispersion” gas as the actual Canon tube), you can use Canon EF lesnses (I don’t know if EF-S lenses work) to do macrophotography.
West Photo - They were a bit snobby to me at West Photo when I visited.
I had just purchased a not-inexpensive camera bag by Lowepro. Nevertheless, as I struggled to mount Canon’s $1,100+ 24-70f/2.8L lens on my 300D, the sales lady commented “haven’t you ever done this before?” Thanks. And no, I haven’t.
Peters Bowers on Flickr - This guy in Toronto, Canada takes unbelievable photographs. He’s got the natural beauty combined with obvious experience with filters, allowing him to produce some stunning images.
A $10 softbox - Mykala sent me this link and … this will produce some awesome images when completed. Even, white lighting is the key to great photos of normally boring things (and goodness knows the boring photos of things I take in the winter when it’s dark and cold and I’m busy with homework and don’t have time to take cool pictures).
My next lens? - I’ve been needing a faster (but cheap!) lens for some time … and this would allow me to take candids of acceptable quality in low-light situations (weddings, etc.).
A Truly Portable ‘Tripod’ - It’s basically a lump of beans used to stabilize your camera. However, I can see myself using it, as it would allow a camera to be set on the ground, but aimed.
