A Holiday Gift Guide For Photographers

I’ve compiled a holiday gift guide full of wonderful things that all the photographers in your lives will love. Some things that YOU might want to add to your own Christmas list! The best part is everything is under $100!

1. 50mm f 1.8 lens for Canon or the Nifty Fifty

If you own a Canon, get a 50 1.8 lens! This prime lens is a great investment for $100.

2. Eye-Fi Wireless Flash Memory Card.

This awesome card lets you upload JPEGS and RAW files right from your camera to your computer, smartphone, or tablet using wi-fi. You can even install watch folders in Photoshop and Lightroom to automatically import them into the programs and apply presets.

3. Wacom Intuos Tablet

Great for a first-time tablet user or as the to-go travel tablet, the Wacom Intuos small Creative Touch Tablet will help any photographer with their retouching game. 

4. Lexar Professional Workflow HR1 Hub

The Lexar Professional Workflow HR1 Hub is a modular four-bay reader hub designed to accept up to four optional dedicated card readers. This solution enables quick, USB 3.0-speed transferring of files from up to four memory cards simultaneously.

5. WD My Passport 1TB Portable External Hard Drive

Every photographer needs a place to back up their photos. This drive is sleek with a compact design, automatic backup software, password protection and hardware encryption.

6. Transit Backpack 350 AW

The slate grey Transit Backpack 350 AW from Lowepro is versatile travel bag made of weather-resistant 600D polyester. It can accommodate a DSLR with a 70-200mm f/2.8 or a 300mm f/2.8 lens attached, two additional lenses, a flash and accessories, including a compact tripod. There is also a dedicated compartment at the back of the backpack that will accommodate most 15" laptops.

DISCLAIMER: I was not compensated or gifted any products in exchange for including any of the above items on this list. All opinions are of course my own.

Adobe Photoshop CC for Creative Cloud Members Coming Soon!

At its Adobe MAX conference in Los Angeles today, Adobe announced Photoshop CC, will be available to Creative Cloud members this June! Photoshop CC is the next version of its flagship photo editing software. Unlike version that came before it, Photoshop CC will only be offered through Adobe’s Creative Cloud subscription plan.

Photoshop CC will have a number of upgrades over Photoshop CS6. Major ones are a new image deblurring/sharpening feature, and new Camera Raw capabilities. The new program merges features that were previously found in Photoshop standard and Photoshop Extended.

All-new Smart Sharpen: "Photoshop CC analyzes image data to maximize clarity and minimize noise and halo. A range of new editable options lets you fine-tune images to get richer textures, crisper edges and more distinct details."-Adobe



Intelligent Upsampling: "Preserve detail and sharpness while enlarging images for different print sizes. The new upsampling tool retains edge detail and reduces the noise and artifacts normally associated with enlarging images."-Adobe

Camera Shake Reduction: "Save shots you thought were lost due to camera motion. Whether your blur was caused by slow shutter speed or a long focal length, Camera Shake Reduction analyzes the trajectory of the camera shake and helps restore sharpness."-Adobe


Adobe Camera Raw 8 and ACR as a filter: "Apply new effects to your images with ACR’s new Advanced Healing Brush, Radial Gradient and Upright tools. Adobe Camera Raw’s powerful tools can now be used as a filter, allowing you to use controls like Clarity, Noise reduction and Temperature on any layer at any time."-Adobe


Adobe Photoshop CC will be available to Creative Cloud customers starting in June 2013. You’ll need to subscribe to Creative Cloud for $50 per month to use all of the new CC programs, or subscribe to Photoshop CC itself for $20 per month.