Archive for the ‘Photo Calendar’ Category

Image from 2010 Calendar

Still looking for the perfect gift for some of the people on your list?  Well, you’re in luck!  I’ve dropped the price of my 2010 calendar to $13.  The reduced price will come up when you check out.  You can get an extra 20% off if you enter the code HOHOHO at checkout.

Santa's Helper

I have a secret to share.  I used to hate this time of year.  I mean I would dread the very idea of the holidays.  Frankly, I was known within our family as being  “The Scrooge”.  Well, times have changed and now I get super stoked around Christmas time. However, the one thing that I still don’t look forward to is holiday shopping.  The reason is I always have a hard time thinking of what to buy people other than gadgets.   Yes, I’m a real winner at picking out cool tech gifts, but not so good at picking out wine or handbags.  So, I thought I would put my talents to work and give you some suggestions.  If you know a self proclaimed “photo geek” then keep reading!

Here we go:

Manfrotto Hot Shoe Double Bubble Level $32.95  (This is great for all levels of photographers)

Wein  HS-XL Hot Shoe Ultra Slave 79.95  (If you have a couple off camera flashes this is a wonderful way to put them to use  in the studio)

Manfrotto tripod w/ ballhead $125  (Nice value! This was Kajsa’s pick for the practical shopper.)

Gitzo Traveler Carbon Fiber 1550T $675.00 (I own this tripod and love it.  Solid, super light and sturdy as heck.)

Really Right Stuff BH-40 Ballhead $375.00 (This is my main ballhead.  It’s built like a tank and has incredible adjustments)

Western Digital  My Passport Essential 500 $119.00 (I don’t leave home without it.  This is great drive that’s been tested and dropped at 3 feet.  When I’m traveling this sucker goes with me.)

Carbonite Online Backup $54.95  (Is it super fast?  NO!  But, you can upload about 3 gigs of data per day and for many people that will be enough.  What makes Carbonite great is it’s price.  Unlimited backup for 55.00 a year is cheap and offsite back-ups are key.)

Animoto The three month business subscription cost $99.00 (I love Animoto.  I’ve used their service for about a year now and recently upgraded to their business option so that I could use the “call to action” feature.  Check it out.)

Slingshot Aw 100 69.95 (If you have a light load, want to be a little stylish this is great bag)

Epson Stylus Photo R2880 (People ask me what I use to print with at home? Well, here it is!)

Westcott PB5000 Photo Basic with background $329.50 (You want to get your feet wet with a home studio.  Well, here you go.  This system is inexpensive and perfect for a beginners.)

Tradesecrets Cards $22.00 (So you want to know how Chase Jarvis does it?  Here is a cheat sheet to some of his greatest studio shots.  I love these things! It’s like a Cliffs notes for photographers. Sorry, Miss Johnson, Pride and Prejudice interfered with my wrestling practice.)

Drobo’s new S series $799.00 box only  (Wow, huge improvements over the first Drobo.  Five drives, up to 10TB of storage and gotta love the e-stata capabilities…can you say super fast.  I need this or so I’m trying to convince myself)

Within the Frame by David duChemin $25.00 (I’ve read this book twice now.  The images are wonderful and the content is real.)

Black and White Magazine 40.00 (Simply put… a must read.)

Oh, and of course The Batdorff Photography 2010 Calendar (wink, wink.  Remember all the profits do go to charity…buy one or buy 10…I won’t stop you)

Well there you have it.  If you have any suggestions drop me a note on the blog  I would love to hear them.  Happy shopping…John

2010 CHARITY CALENDAR

Wow, what a great weekend! I had way too much fun hanging with the family and taking our annual holiday photos. Every year my daughter and I discuss which charity will receive our holiday donations. This year we decided we would focus on Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America (my pick) and the Humane Society (her pick). Now why am I telling you this? Because you can help too. I’m selling a 2010 calendar for $18.00 and all profits will be split between the two charities. Now, when I say profit, I literally mean the difference between what you pay for it and what the printer charges me: the net proceeds are around $4.00 a calendar. I’m telling you this because it always bugs me when people say “for charity” but they only give like 5% of the profit. This is 100% of the profit. I think it’s a win-win. You get a calendar for yourself or your loved ones and two great charities are helped along the way. I mean how can you go wrong helping children and animals, right? To purchase the calendar please just click on the link below. The 13 month calendar is an assortment of images spanning from the Midwest to the West. Some of my fans will recognize a few of the images from this year’s desktop calendars. I’m planning on giving a few as inexpensive gifts to friends and family. They make great stocking stuffers, but don’t tell anyone in my family… I’m trying to keep it as a surprise.;) So check the calendar out and please spread the word either by Tweeting, sharing via Facebook or emailing. Oh, and one last thing. I did a search for LULU.com discounts and found one that was working as of this weekend, but no promises going forward. Use the word “holidays” for a discount code and hopefully you’ll save a few more bucks.