The Photocritic Holiday Gift Guide: books for photographers

You can't go wrong giving a book as a gift. Here's a round-up of our favourite publications this year (and two from last year), which would fit the bill for any photographer.

Books by Team Photocritic

As much as we'd love to tell you to go out and buy all of our books because they're amazing and beautiful, that might be verging of self-promotion over-dose. Instead we've each picked out one of our books that we believe makes a great present.

Haje has selected his The Rules of Photography and When to Break Them. We're both fervent believers in the notion of knowing the rules so that you can break them properly, and this book teaches you precisely that, from why horizons need to be level and how to tilt them successfully, to embracing the grain from high ISOs.

The Rules of Photography and When to Break Them is available for £17.99 as a dual print copy and e-book bundle.

I've chosen Surreal Photography: Creating the Impossible, a whimsical trail through in-camera and post-processing manipulation to produce images that combine reality with the farthest recesses of your imagination.

Right now, Surreal Photography: Creating the Impossible is on sale at the bargain price of £9.99 for a print and e-book bundle.

Artisans by Tim Allen

If you'd like to give a gift that will raise some much-needed money for a deserving cause as well as bringing pleasure to its recipient, do take a look at Tim Allen's photo book, Artisans. It explores the work of the violin-restoration, boat-building, stonemasonry, stained glass, and smithing professions in gorgeous black and white photos, while the proceeds go to the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society.

Recommended donations are £10. Details of how to order a copy (and more on the book itself) from Tim Allen's website.

30 Second Photography by Brian Dilg

Take the 50 most important aspects of photography, explain them using 300 words and one picture each and you have the wonderful 30 Second Photography, by Brian Dilg. It's a perfect book for any photographer: novice or highly-experienced.

30 Second Photography is available for £14.99 in the UK and $19 in the US.

Moodscapes by Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir

Moodscapes is landscape photography ramped upto 11 with beauty and wonder. You could just flip through it awestruck by the images, but Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir also shows you how to accomplish these gorgeous photos yourself.

Buy Moodscapes as a print and e-book bundle for £19.99.

NY Through the Lens by Vivienne Gucwa

If New York is a street photographer's dream, then Vivienne Gucwa's collection of images taken in, around, and about the city is a dream of that dream. Explore Gucwa's city with her, through her words and through her pictures.

NY Through the Lens costs £20 for a print and e-book bundle.

The Photographer's Master Guide to Colour by Jeff Wignall

We teach ourselves about exposure, about composition, about post-processing. How much do we know about colour? Enlighten yourself, and elevate the impact of your images, with Jeff Wignall's impressive The Photographer's Master Guide to Colour.

The Photographer's Master Guide to Colour is available as a print and e-book bundle for £17.99.

Photographs Rendered in Play-Doh by Eleanor Macnair

In autumn last year, we featured Eleanor Macnair's marvellous project, Photographs Rendered in Play-Doh: her Tumblr project recording the recreations of famous photos she fashions from Play-Doh, a pint glass, and a plastic spoon in her living room. Now it comes in a book.

Photographs Rendered in Play-Doh costs £20.

The Street Photographer's Manual by David Gibson

Street photography books are ten-a-penny. Enter ‘street photography’ into Amazon and the search will return 30 pages of results. When you find a compelling and practical but inspirational book on the topic, you take notice. The Street Photographer's Manual deserves a look.

The Street Photographer's Manual is available from Amazon UK and Amazon US for £15 and $22 respectively.

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Gifts for photographers, big and small < < Holiday Shopping with Photocritic > > Gifts for beginners

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The Photocritic Holiday Gift Guide: photography presents big and small

If your photographer-loved-one is no longer a beginner; if there's nothing in the macro, high-speed, or landscape lists to light their studios; and if smartphone photography isn't her or his bag, we've another list of suggestions of gifts that might just fit the bill. Starting at £10, we hope we can help you find the perfect present for the photographer in your life.

A photo snowglobe

It's as cheesy as a French fromagerie, but at £10 and with space for two photos of your choice, I could barely resist this snowglobe from Urban Outfitters.

Camera-shaped ice cube tray

We have ice cube trays in a variety of shapes, from fish to stars. There's no reason why we wouldn't add some photography-themed trays to the mix. One tray from Enlight Photo costs £10.

A t-shirt

Click and Blossom have some photography-themed t-shirts for women and men, boys and girls starting at $25. I'd be happy adding quite a few of them to my wardrobe. Or you could choose from one of their cushions or bags.    

Your image on a puzzle!

Puzzles Print will provide a 1,000-piece jigsaw with one of your images on it for £30. A 15-piece puzzle for a little person is £22, with a welter of sizes in between the two. There are magnetic options and collages, too.

If you're in the US, USAPhotoPuzzles offers a similar service.

Foldio pop-up studio

The Foldio is a pop-up studio, made in miniature. The walls are white and there's a row of built-in LEDs to cast light on your subject. From as flat as a pancake it takes minutes to erect, held together with magnets.

$49 from Photojojo

ONDU pinhole camera

Light and a box &mash; pinhole photography is photography at its most simple, and most enlightening. I fell in love with ONDU's hand-crafted wooden pinhole cameras earlier this year. Everyone should go back to the basics of the medium every now and again; this is perfect.

Starting from €90 from ONDU

Lighting set-up

It's not fancy with flash, but for anyone wanting to start with artificial lighting, a basic set-up with some continuous lights and soft-boxes is a good place to start. Like this one for $135, or this for £150.

If you need something cheaper, this one is coming in at $55.

Quadcopter

It seems impossible to move amongst a photography or tech blog or news site without stumbling across, or being swooped upon, by a remote-controlled aircraft carrying a camera. You can get started with aerial photography for $500 with a DJI Phantom FC40. Or you could spend as much as $3,000 for the new DJI Inspire 1 with its 4K camera.

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Gifts for landscape photographers < < Holiday Shopping with Photocritic > > Books for photographers

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The Photocritic Holiday Gift Guide: presents for landscape photographers

It's Day Five of the Photocritic Holiday Gift Guide. This means landscapes. We have suggestions for budding landscape photographers and a few treats for more hardened souls.

Wide-angle lens

Landscape photography and wide-angle lenses go together like strawberries and cream. While I've taken great pleasure using a Sigma 17-35mm ƒ/2.8-4.0, it's now out of production. However, the Tamron 10-24mm ƒ/3.5-4.5 is regarded as a great value-for money option that comes in a range of mounts. You can of course spend a whole lot more, or choose a prime instead of a zoom lens, but that's a good starting point.

Tamron 10-24mm ƒ/3.5-4.5 for Canon | Nikon | Pentax | Sony

Photographers with mirror-less cameras might want to consider the Samyang/Rokinon 12mm ƒ/2.0, which is cracking value for money and is available for plenty of different cameras.

Samyang/Rokinon 12mm ƒ/2.0 for Canon M | Fujifilm X | Micro 4/3 | Samsung NX | Sony E

Tripod

Tripods suitable for landscape photography are awkwardly demanding. They need to be portable: doubtless you will be schlepping it and yourself up hill and down dale in search of shots. But simultaneously, they need to be sturdy and able to withstand wind, maybe rain, and uneven terrain.

We've picked out the Giottos Vitruvian at $200 for its height, weight, and strength. For something a little cheaper there's the Slik Pro 700DX.

Filters

Securing vivid colours and correctly exposed landscape photos often relies on the judicious application of a filter across a lens: maybe a neutral density filter, perhaps a polarising filter. Filters need to be the right size for the lens and they come in various grades, for example you can choose between one and 12 stops—with everything in between—for a neutral density filter.

A filter kit containing a UV, polarising, and neutral density filter is a good place to start. We've picked out two, at different price points, which should fit on the Tamron lens we've suggested. But do double-check!

There's the Vivitar kit at just over $16 and the $48 Pro-Optic kit.

If you like trying things that are brand new and shiny, take a look at the filters just released by VU and Mefoto.

Camera bag

You need a bag that's easy to schelp about all day. It needs to be weatherproof. You should be able to attach a tripod with the minimum of fuss. And of course your kit should fit snugly. We think that the CaseLogic DSB-103 (can't they think of memorable names?) is great value at a little under $70. It's a backpack; it has a detachable waterproof cover; tripod storage shouldn't interfere with bag access; and it'll fit a camera and four lenses.

Waterproof cover

It's all very well your camera bag being waterproof and you looking fit to go to sea in a Force 5 gale, but if your camera isn't protected from the elements, then your landscape photography expedition will be a fruitless endeavour. Or possibly a very expensive one if your camera suffers from water damage. Pick up a rainhood. They don't cost $10 and they'll let you take photos in the most inclement of conditions.

Remote shutter release

You have erected your tripod and ensured that it's stable on uneven terrain. You have composed your shot with a perfectly positioned horizon and delectably enticing leading lines. You have carefully calculated your exposure to capture the light and the intensity of the colours. And then you go an ruin it all by depressing the shutter button and introducing a fraction of camera-shake into the shot.

Use a remote release. Please.

You can pick up a Triggertrap mobile kit from £22. That affords a vast array of possibilities for camera-triggering. A basic remote release is about $10.

Torch

There are so many smaller accessories that I could have included in this list which make the life of a landscape photographer easier and more pleasant, the article would have run to the length of a post-graduate degree-level essay. I've opted for a torch, however.

(Okay, seeing as you asked, the leading contenders for this entry included a pocket knife, gaffer tape, and a bubble level.)

Weather-appropriate clothing

I loathe cold feet. They make me incontrovertibly miserable. They can also be a curse of landscape photography. Buy your landscape photographer loved one some warm, waterproof socks and you will win yourself many favours. Head to your nearest outdoor shop to see what they've got on offer.

A good pair of gloves goes a long way, too. I love MacWet gloves: warm, waterproof, but they don't compromise on grip.

You might also want to consider hats, scarves, jackets, and trousers. Even boots. Or for the warmer months: sunscreen and insect repellant.

Book

For inspiration, look no further than Ansel Adams. But to improve your technique, I rather like Chris Gatcum's Landscape Photography: the Four Seasons.

Kendal Mint Cake

For those moments when an energy boost is required.

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Gifts for high-speed photographers < < Holiday Shopping with Photocritic > > Gifts for photographers, big and small

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The Photocritic Holiday Gift Guide: presents for high-speed photographers

Some of the most fun that you can have in the dark with your clothes still on is high-speed photography. Capture balloons going splat and china being smashed with a little help from a flash and some relatively inexpensive kit. For ayone who's looking to have a go, we've compiled a list of the essentials, from kit to subject-matter!

Flash

High speed photography is nothing without flash. For anyone who's intent on capturing popping balloons, smashing plates, and exploding sweeties, they're going to need some manually controlled fire power. However, take one look at the range of external light sources that can be hooked up to a camera and it's enough to leave you running for a darkened cave. TTL, guide numbers, sync speeds, remote triggering: there's a lot to take in.

You can spend a lot or a little on external flashes. The Yongnuo YN560 III sells for about £50 here in the UK or $70 in the US and is compatible with Canon, Nikon, Olympus, and Pentax cameras. There are other third-party makes to consider, for example Phottix, or you could look for a manufacturer-specific flash.

Don't forget to order a stand and mount for the light, too.

A flash adapter

High-speed photography relies on hyper-fast flash to ensure the perfect exposure. For that, it's best to use a specialist flash adapter, which allows you to trigger the flash directly, rather than relying on your camera's triggering mechanism, which can take an eon in high-speed photography terms.

Triggertrap produces a flash adapter, priced £20, to use in conjunction with its mobile dongles, TT v1, and the forthcoming Ada.

Triggertrap

If you decide to use the Triggertrap flash adapter, then you'll need a Triggertrap mobile kit to activate the flash using its sound trigger (or maybe one of its other sensors). Even if you don't go down the Triggertrap flash adapter route, having a Triggertrap to help you fire your camera, whether in blub mode or using one of its sensors, is mighty helpful for high-speed photography.

Triggertrap mobile kits start at £23. Don't forget to download the free app, too.

Tripod

Heavens, we must sound like tripod bores, but a tripod is essential for high-speed photography work. High-speed photography means working in the dark, so look for something that's sturdy, just in case it's accidentally knocked. Have a look at Dave, from 3 Legged Thing.

Balloons

Purveyors of high-speed photography will be in need of high-speed subjects. Pick up some packets of balloons to be used for popping—water-filled or otherwise—and capturing the moment they go bang!

These water balloons are bio-degradable, and coming in a pack of 100, are relatively cheap at $3.99. In the UK, these ones are £1.99.

Crockery

Rootle around at jumble sales and in charity shops for chipped plates, cracked bowls, and ugly mugs that can be smashed with hammers or shattered by bullets without worrying that you're blowing the family's inheritance. You might want to pick up a hammer and a pair of safety goggle, too. Just in case.

A Lindt Chocolate Reindeer

Perfect for smashing, and then you get to eat it.

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Gifts for smartphone photographers < < Holiday Shopping with Photocritic > > Gifts for landscape photographers

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The Photocritic Holiday Gift Guide: presents for smartphone photographers

It's Day Three of the Photocritic Holiday Gift Guide and we've switched from interchangeable lens cameras to smartphone photography. In-keeping with our previous (and indeed future) lists, it's a mixture of practical and fun. There should be something here for anyone who ventures out with their smartphone, whether an addict or an occasional shooter!

Easy-Macro band

I'm a huge fan of the Easy-Macro band. It's a cheap, portable, and flexible (quite literally) macro photography accessory for your smartphone. It costs $15, it can live in your wallet, and whether you use an iPhone 6 or a Samsung Galaxy, it'll fit on your phone and provides 4× magnification for your photos. It's easy to use and delivers great results. What's not to like?

Fotobit frames

We featured Fotobit frames here on Photocritic earlier this year, when it was archive-deep in a Kickstarter campaign. Funding goal reached, Fotobit has gone into full-scale production and you can pick up a set of three inter-locking frames for $45 or nine for $99. Choose your photos, snap together the frames in whichever layout you want, and hang them on your wall.

Icon lapel pin

If you want to flaunt your support for Instagram on your sleeve, or thereabouts, Photojojo has some cute lapel pins for $12. If you're a Pinterest or Photoshop supporter, they offer those, too. But, you know, this is the smartphone photographers' gift guide, so keep that one on the quiet side.

Lensbaby

If you want to create selectively focused images optically, rather than digitally, take a look at the Lensbaby LM-10. It costs around $70, requires a free-to-download app, and is currently compatible with iPhone 4S, 5, 5C, and 5S and Android devices running Jellybean 4.1 to Kitkat 4.4.

Lights, camera, flash!

Improvements have been made to smartphone flash since their first glaring white days, but it's still far from perfect. Subjects are startled, appear washed out, and the colour rendition leaves a little to be desired. So why not introduce some off-phone flash? Like the Pocket Spotlight. It's another Photojojo item, costing $30.

Projecteo

Earlier this year I had great fun trying out the palm-sized Projecteo. You select nine images from your Instagram account, they're printed onto a mini slide wheel and despatched to you with a baby projector. For $35. With world-wide shipping.

Tiltpod

I succeeded in losing my Tiltpod, or at least temporarily misplacing it, when we moved earlier this year. It was very frustrating. Right now Tiltpods are only compatible with iPhones 4, 4S, 5, and 5S, but I believe Gomite is working on a 6-sized product. The 4/4S version costs $15; the 5/5S case costs $30.

Book

Yes, we know that we're biased, but if we can't publicise our own books here, where can we? And Social Photography is a particularly pretty book full of lovely images, fantastic tips, and useful knowledge when it comes to taking, and sharing, smartphone photos.

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Gifts for macro photographers < < Holiday Shopping with Photocritic > > Gifts for high-speed photographers

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The Photocritic Holiday Gift Guide: presents for beginners

We have received our first Christmas card here in the Bowker household. We're putting its early appearance down to a combination of my aunt's ruthless efficiency and her desire to ensure it made it from the Antipodes before, rather than after, Christmas. Despite the fact that I try my hardest to push Christmas from my mind until my birthday, which is at the beginning of December, has passed (Chanukah often falls over my birthday; it has a pass-card), it's probably about the right time to unveil this year's Photocritic Holiday Gift Guide.

We've put together seven bundles of suggestions for all types of photographers, ranging in price and practicality. We're kicking things off with ideas for beginner photographers. Assuming that they're set up with a camera, any of these items should be on a newbie's wish-list.

Tripod

No photographer should be without a tripod. I happen to have more than one. And a monopod. But a beginner doesn't need such an extensive collection. Just the one will do, and the Manfrotto G-2015 is excellent value for money at $30.

Prime lens

The first lens I acquired for my first dSLR was a 50mm ƒ/1.8. That camera has long gone, but the lens remains in my camera bag. It's battered and bruised, but still my go-to lens. I wouldn't be without it, and neither should anyone with a camera.

Their affordability and ready availability, as well their photographic adeptness, makes them great gifts.

Lens cleaning kit

Yes, it's terribly mundane, but it's also terribly useful. Don't let anyone out without a lens cleaning kit. You can pick up this nifty one, which includes a brush, blower, and microfibre cloth, for a little over $10.

Camera bag

My camera bag criteria are extensive and demanding, but high up the list is for it not to look like a camera bag. Apart from having an obsession with bags that's marginally milder than my obsession with shoes, I'm in no way inclined to mark out the contents of my bag as being a desirable target for nefarious types. For a versatile, not-too-obviously-a-camera-bag-camera-bag, we'd recommend the Lowepro Urban Photo Sling 250. Right now, they're also cracking value for money, at about $45 in the US and £37 in the UK.

For something much more discreet, and definitely aimed at a mirror-less camera, have a look at the Cosyspeed system. Haje recently gave one a run for its money with very positive results.

External hard drive

Twenty-plus megapixel images have a habit of eating up computer hard drive capacity as Team Photocritic does ice cream. Storing them on an external hard drive (or two or three for security purposes) is a far more practical solution. A portable terabyte of storage might not excite anyone, but the recipient will be grateful for it. If not immediately.

You should be able to pick up something in the $65 or £50 region.

Editing suite

When you're shooting in JPEG, an all-singing and all-dancing editing suite might not seem a necesity. But it soon becomes one when you make the switch to Raw. And if you've a Raw-capable camera, why wouldn't you? It gives you unprecedented control over the appearance of your images. While I'm no fan of Adobe's Creative Cloud, it is still possible to purchase a stand-alone copy of Lightroom. And I do love me some Lightroom.

It's about $140 or £100.

Book

Once you have the bare bones of a kit, the most important investment you can make to improve your photography is in yourself. That comprises books, courses, and time spent practising and evaluating your skills. We know we're biased, but we do believe that Haje's Ilex Introduction to Photography is a fabulous starting point.

Terry's Chocolate Orange

Because why ever not?

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In the beginning < < Holiday Shopping with Photocritic > > Gifts for macro enthusiasts

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Video on Instagram, with filters

It wasn't really the surprise that Facebook had been hoping for, after TechCrunch had speculated that today's announcement would involve Instagram and video, and be a competitor to Twitter's Vine. So what does Instagram's video-clip sharing feature have to offer? Well, first and foremost there are filters. Thirteen of them to be precise. How could there not be?

Then users can choose the length of their videos, anywhere between three and 15 seconds.

Clips can be stitched together to form a collage.

And unlike Vine, videos won't loop.

Finally, if you're using the service on an iOS device, you can deploy the Cinema Stabilsation function, to help reduce camera-shake.

My guess is that it won't tempt people to Instagram who weren't already there, but it might well eat into Vine's market of existing Instagram users.

Sometimes, copyright is upheld!

Sometimes, the law does come down on the side of the photographer. The fight might’ve been bitter, bloody, and protracted but a young photographer has just reminded a porn peddler from Texas that you can’t use someone else’s image for commercial gain unless you’ve come to some sort of agreement with her or him.

Back in 2006 a 14 year old Lara Jade Coton snapped a self-portrait showing her in a black ballgown and top hat—all rather tasteful—and submitted it, and a few others, to Flickr. That’s not so unusual. How many of us have self-portraits on Flickr? A little bit more unusual, though, might be finding that your image is being used to market a pornographic DVD.

In the grand copyright scheme of things, whether or not the image was being used on a pornographic DVD is probably neither here nor there (although I am intrigued by the implications of using an image of a minor), just that the image was being used commerically without permission from the photographer or model. Doing what I’m sure anyone else would do, Coton wrote to the producers (TVX) and requested that they stop using her image. They were less that co-operative. There’s a surprise.

Would our young photographer give up because a nasty man sent her a nasty email? Of course not. Granted, it did take three years of legal wrangling but finally Coton was awarded $129,173.20 in damages. It wasn’t quite the $434,000 that she sought, but hopefully it’ll make people think twice about using people’s photographs commercially without permission.

Headsup to El Reg, with more details available here and here. And if you’re unsure on your picture rights, you can check out our quick and dirty guide.