Been some busy times here at Photoinduced.com. But we’ve been catching up with the giveaways and winners and wanted to pass all of that along to you.
So…Casey P. from Anchorage, Alaska just received a signed copy of Close Up by Martin Shoeller.
The XShot camera rod/pole extender PLUS mini tripod and lens cloth goes to Peter H. of Lima OH
The person to recognize Brad Pitts eyes at the top of the NEWSLETTER was Ion S. of Newton, Mass. who will be sporting a very cool photoinduced.com T-Shirt and enjoying some other goodies in his pack.

Just remember: the only way to get these freebies is to sign up for the NEWSLETTER. And with the ThinkTank camera bag we are giving away this week, you have nothing to lose every thing to gain. Big time.

O is for the other things she gave me
T is for the Tons of things she gave me
H is for HOW many things she gave me
E is for EVERYTHING she gave me
R is for the REST of the things she gave me….
Put them all together and that spells……… mother.

[photopress:37_tulips_beautiful_flowers_desktopwallpaper_l.jpg,full,centered]Her Favorite flowers were Tulips, which was a good thing since she was born in Holland.

We all have folks that influence us in our life. Sometimes it’s a mentor, sometimes it’s a person that has achieved a certain level of skill within that subject. And sometimes it’s a person who just lays out a right path for you.

This is a special post to celebrate someone who meant the world to me in my pursuit of a photographic life since I was a boy.
My Mom.
She didn’t know much about photography, but she did know about what was important in life.

Growing up, I always had a camera in my hands and looked around in my world to find subjects. Or see subjects. People from my childhood still remember me with a camera in my hands all of the time.

One thing that my mother always did was to encourage me to do what made me happy.
Not for the money, for the heart.
She was even kind enough to be a subject when my style as a youngster went a bit abstract, becoming the shape underneath a blanket holding a candleabra.
I know, bizarre. Even if you can picture it in your mind.
I have no idea what the picture meant at this moment, and perhaps not even then.
But mom was a great sport and played along. And supported a mantra to not worry about the financial, but keep feeding the things that brought you joy. She knew that making these photographs was giving me all that.
Dough wasn’t the deal. Even if you were flipping burgers, as long as that was what you loved, it was all good. Great life lesson.
I just happened to love photography.

Now, as many photographers have done before, I’ve been photographing her through the years and through her recent illness. But the photos are a private thing right now. I know Richard Avedon photographed his father at his end of life and Annie Leibowitz made images of her great friend and partner Susan Sontag through life and death. And both of them exhibited these images to the public.

Last night mom passed away.

I’m not ready to share these images with you today.

This is not meant as a sad post but a place to honor and celebrate her.
And to encourage you to let people in your life know that you honor them too.

The only donation we ask you to make, is to your own life and that of your loved ones.

You’ll be happy you made the contribution.

Aloha, Mom.

I know you can tell how bad I sing JUST by the headline here. Cheers to Ricky Nelson for that classic song.

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But what it does mean is that we have one of the best giveaways we’ve done here. And it is a cornerstone part of our new series on Photo Road Warriors.
( remember: to be eligible to get this freebie, you MUST be signed up for the NEWSLETTER)

The ThinkTank Airport International. Our absolute favorite traveling camera bag. It has gone with us all over the world carrying our goods, safe and sound, and never calling attention to itself. [photopress:AILowdivs4_1.jpg,full,alignright]Plus the brilliant lowered dividers allow my Macbook pro 15″ laptop to fit securely and safely inside the bag, and not hanging in an outside pocket. And it saves me time in security lines as the zippers go down halfway, slip out the laptop, put it into a bin and through the xray.
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If they want to see more, the lid opens, reveals all and no digging from security. Nothing is hidden.

Excellent zippered pouches in the lid, outside pocket has 2 parts: top has pockets with dividers and the elastic/neoprene bottom pocket holds my mags and papers easily.

There are a bunch of security features to secure your bag to a pole or table. And the locks on the front are excellent. I think. I never use them.
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But what I do use is a recessed pocket meant to hold the security cable. Instead it holds my iPod and headset for easy access before I handily pop the bag into the overhead.

The carry handle has extra cushion so when you lift it up to the overhead storage it’s a smooth, comfy operation. The rollerblade wheels also help glide it into it’s space.
And there is another handle on the bottom if you want to do a two handed carry onto a surface to work out of or do your packing.

Now overall here are the strong points for us on this bag:
*Solid construction
*Easy access to the gear we use most.
*Built in clear pouches for cables, batts etc.
*Total stealth look.
Yep, looks like any other overnight suitcase so no one has to know that you have $15,000 worth of gear in there.
Of course you should never check this bag. That is not what it’s built for.
Basically you should always carry on any camera bag that holds your main goods.

Now, I also carry a backpack sometimes, and the collapsible handle works great, as I criss-cross the shoulder straps to secure it to the bag. Many times the backpack is emptied once at location and then filled with appropriate camera gear.

We’ve said in the past that you always should choose the right tool for the right job. And there are a bunch of camera bags hanging here at photoinduced.com.
This one has become the prime traveling camera transport bag. And going through an airport with wheels is a good thing.

Even if you don’t win this bag here, you should strongly consider it for purchase. It’s been very good to us.

And now a little video we did over a year ago on this bag (and a couple of other items.)

And here is how the giveaway works:
1. check your email inbox on Weds. @ 9:00 AM PST
2. open the email from damonw@photoinduced.com and Hit Reply
3. Delete the main body of the email (saving server space).
4. Put the “special word” – included in the NEWSLETTER only, in the subject line.
5. Add a shipping address.
6. Hit send.
The 45th person to reply will be sent
this very cool bag

Easy Peasey.

Cheers!
Damon

And by power, we mean battery power: juice, volts, extra life, batts, etc.
Since we are all out there shooting flashes, running digital cameras, using flashlights, editing on the laptops, and cranking on the phone we are using batteries. And hopefully rechargeable ones. Most of the items we list mainly use rechargeables as can the flashes and flashlights.

So after being out and about on shoots, travels and trade shows. we ‘d like to start this series on Photo Road Warriors with a segment on POWER!
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Best portable charger – Hahnel PowerStation Twin V Pro: Lithium Ion Battery Charger with interchangeable plates
Don’t leave home with out this baby. After months of real world usage, this is the best DSLR battery charger we’ve seen out there. Not only is it a global unit (easily add adapters for each country and no voltage issues) but it comes with a brilliant cigarette lighter adapter also. It takes an easily changeable plate that fits in for each manufacturers battery. Perfect when you are also traveling with a video camera. With a slim profile, digital power gauge to even just check the status of the batteries on hand, this compact unit goes with me everywhere. Period.
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One of the choices for rechargeable AA batteries we’ve found are the Energizer Nimh batteries at about 8 for $23. At Amazon. And another favorite are the Powerex batts which are making lots of folks happy, combined with the La Crosse BC-900 battery charger. Available here. Of course, if you are going to be doing a full shoot, you’ll need a battery pack, like a Quantum for fast recycle and plenty of juice.
And remember to take a look at Frazer Harrisons video for an extra little flash tip. And check out Katy Winns’ video to see what she’s using to power her flash.
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On the flashlight scene , we like the LED mini lights using either an enclosed battery or the AA or AAA. More Green friendly with the enclosed battery.
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For your cell phone, our current favorite is a Lenmar PowerPort kit setup with a very thin battery block with multiple tips (ala IGo) giving you on the spot power or a charge.
And THANK YOU LENMAR!! My iPhone can now keep going all day and all night. You can get almost 5 charges from a fully charged unit. And its tiny profile makes it easy to throw in the bag or the suit jacket. Trust me, I did it. And it saved me. You get a variety of tips plus a USB cigarette lighter adapter to go right from your car as you move from location to location.
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In addition, a great unit for the cell phone is from Energizer with a 2 AA battery pod that connects to your cell phone, and gives about 3 hours more life. Perfect life saver if all you can add are AA penlights . You can buy this with the right connector for your phone.

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Now in the whole iPod range, Energizer comes in again with a charger that once again uses AA batteries,
but may save the day when your flights delayed. The Energi to Go packs small and does the job.

The Solio solar charger at between $100 and $200 USD, looks great and has all of the tips your need once again ala iGo,Universal Charger – Powers virtually all your electronic devices. Now compatible with the Universal iGo® tip system for use with hundreds of different portable electronics. Includes Adapter Tip system Cable and USB tip for iPod®, digital cameras, and other compatible devices.
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Stores Power – Charge your devices anytime, day or night Internal rechargeable battery stores power for up to one year. (A full Solio Mg will charge a typical mobile phone more than twice or give over 20 hours of MP3 music – just 1 hour of sunshine = 20 minutes talk time or 50 minutes of MP3 music).

Hybrid Charger – Charge anywhere on Earth Plug into the Sun and charge Solio Mg through its solar panels – it’s free and green! Or plug into the wall to charge from the grid.

So basically, when you travel , you’ll need the power. Pack small and play big, we always say. these real world tested power sources should do you right.

And use rechargeable batteries when you can. Let’s keep pushing the concept that Digital Photography is the truly GREEN Visual Medium.

By the way, the weekly giveaway for this Wednesday is only in the NEWSLETTER this week.
Wait till you see what’s up next!
THE PERFECT ROAD WARRIOR PRODUCT!!!!
Real world tested, and the best we found. And remember , you can only win it if you are signed up for the NEWSLETTER.

Yep, except for those of you in the land of wonder, the land down under, spring is coming. And you’ll be out and about making the photographs you been thinking about while stuck inside.

Rick Sammon is one of the best general market photography teachers out there, plus one of the nicest guys you could meet. We found this little video, where Rick gives out the top 10 tips for digital photography.

It’s a bit more about location photography than just digital , but you should get something out of it.

We just keep looking for the best ways to bring you some info, history and maybe entertainment in the photographic world.

What do you think of this video?

Go ahead…leave a comment. (by the way- all comments get moderated so it may not show up immediately).