Married to a creative? Is this your first holiday together with a photographer? Perhaps your son or daughter is an enthusiast but you have no idea what gear they need? Well here are a few of my favorite things from this past year (I either have or will be getting) that I believe will help your holiday shopping for your special someone.
Lume Cube - Lighting
First up the Lume Cube ! They are the smallest, most versatile lights I have come across. Not only do they work on land but for your underwater photographers and videographers these nifty little lights will be the gleam in their eyes when they open that box.
The Specs
ONE 1.5" CUBE
150 LUX @ 9FT. (3M)
FULLY WATERPROOF UP TO 100 FEET
1/4 20 MOUNT ON BOTTOM
RECHARGEABLE VIA USB CABLE
BLUETOOTH READY
2+ HOURS BATTERY LIFE AT 50%
EASILY MOUNTABLE WITH ALL GOPRO AND ACTION CAMERAS
CONSTANT LIGHT AND FLASH MODES
OPTICAL SLAVE CAPABILITY
DURABLE CASING
SMARTPHONE APP TO CONTROL REMOTELY VIA BLUETOOTH
FIRST EVER OFF-CAMERA FLASH FOR MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY
SYNC AND CONTROL MULTIPLE LIGHTS SIMULTANEOUSLY
QUICK CHARGE
COLOR TEMPERATURE 6000K
COMPATIBLE WITH IPHONE & ANDROID PHONES
BUTTONS TO CONTROL LIGHT OUTPUT MANUALLY
For you underwater shooters these are so small and compact they can be used on a PVC rig at various angles. The best part is the price so affordable that will not make you have to take out a loan!
They are currently having a Kickstarter page for some amazing deals on the Life Lite.
Gear Eye - Gear Reminder
Ok so this is one in the works for 2017. I came across this gadget a few weeks ago and thought it would be right up my alley. When you are working in varoius studio locations (for me the downtown studio, on location for clients as well as the underwater studio) Gear Eye will help take the stress of worrying if you may forget something for that time sensitive shoot. "It enables you to organize your most important equipment into gig specific groups - so that you always have exactly what you need when you need it. This way, you can quickly and easily make sure you have what you need for today’s studio session (not last week’s beach shoot)." states the site. They have a kick starter page that will help you save for the holidays. Gear Eye
Business - Books
One of the essentials if you are a boudoir shooter is understanding the mindset of your clientele. "Body and Soul" by Susan Eckert is "unique and emotionally intelligent approach to building a sustainable boudoir photography business. The higher-level strategies within these pages will enable photographers to move beyond the task of simply making pretty pictures to greater goals, such as understanding the emotional journey of the boudoir process, building meaningful, long-term relationships with clients, and creating a referral engine to sustain your business." You can find the book here.
Image Courtesy of Don Giannatti.
Marketing - Templates
While I strive to be known as unique for my photography and editing, there are just some things I have to outsource in order to keep up with the heavy demands of owning a business. Design Aglow is a fantastic site to help ease the marketing weight off your shoulders. The user friendly custom templates have saved me hours of designing from scratch. Everything from forms, marketing templates, education to workflow can be found in the one stop shop.
These are just a few of my favorite things from this year I have come across. If you have something amazing you think others will want to know about list them in the comments! You never know what other photographers are dying to see!