Monday, December 17, 2012

Happy Holidays from Texas Photo!

We are signing off for a few days (Dec 21 - 25) for the holidays - but can't go without sending BIG, TEXAS-SIZED HOLIDAY WISHES to all of our students, supporters, business partners, and just a whole bunch of nice people we have been so lucky to meet this year! We can't believe how Texas Photo has grown - and the many ways all of you have helped us grow. We are truly thankful!

Friday, December 14, 2012

The Gift of Learning


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY 30!
Gift yourself or your favorite photog with the gift of education through Texas Photo classes! Check out our new calendar of classes for Spring 2013. We have more to offer this year than ever, with new class topics and some terrific partnerships with The Dallas Arboretum, Fort Worth Botanical Gardens and The Creative Arts Center of Dallas. Check out our expanded online courses that allow you to learn on your time. Gift cards are available via mail and email in amounts of $25 and up – so fill up your stocking or someone else's with the best photo deal yet.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Gift Card-a-palooza


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY 29
Next to the last day of Deals postingsand just like the pre-holiday prep, these deals have gone by way too fast! So, speaking of fast... to make your holiday shopping and decision-making speedier, don't forget about gift cards. Most retailers offer gift cards or certificates, and we have put together a list of some of the best for that photographer on your list:
  • Photojojo - amounts ranging from $10 - $200, with email delivery available or by mail with free keychain
  • B+H Photo Video - amounts from $25 - $1000, never expires and free shipping
  • Adorama - Gift Card Wizard offers amounts from $10 - $1000, arrive by email or mail, never expire, and have the option for a personal message 
  • Amazon - holiday designs and gift tins, custom designs with personal photos, video cards, delivery options via email, Facebook, mail with free shipping, and print at home in amounts from $.15 to $1000
Go gift card-a-palooza! 

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Holiday Photo Shoot

Shot images at Spa Esoteric in McKinney for the holidays. The Spa is a converted historic home with huge floor-to-ceiling windows and amazing natural light! Every time I shoot there, it's a joy– not only because of the light, but also the creative freedom that the owner, Monika, gives me. Here's a sneak peek...











Santa's on his way...


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY 28
Play Santa with this deal from BradsDeals and Discount Mags! Get a year-long subscription to Digital Photo Magazine for $4.99 – today only! This slick, glossy mag covers new digital darkroom technologies, trends and methods in modern photography. Edited for a broad spectrum of readers, from the beginner to the advanced, this is the perfect gift for photogs who want to learn more about how to creatively control and produce exciting images. Use the code BRADSDEALS at checkout to get the deal!

Friday, December 7, 2012

Photo-tastic Gifts!


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY 27
Skip the season's shopping stress and take advantage of Adorama's Photo-tastic Gift List filled with great ideas – all under $100! These gadgets and tools can boost images from good to great and take shooting skills to the next level. We like Adorama's exclusive Digital Media Storage Wallet for memory cards and their Flashpoint 42-inch Collapsible Disc Reflector kit. The Digital Media Storage Wallet is a perfect size at 4 1/4 x 3 1/4-inches, holds up to 4 memory cards and 2 AA batteries, and can be carried on its own or placed inside a camera bag. The foldable Flashpoint Reflector is perfect for reducing contrast, providing soft fill light, warming skin tones, or softening light and comes with translucent, white, black, silver and gold (5-in-1) reflectors. Just twist, fold and pack away for easy travel and storage. Both of these make great gifts in combination or alone - and add up to under $50!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Making Spirits Bright – Instantly


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY 26
Get your holiday party pics on the spot with the Polaroid GL10 instant printer! This little 15 oz. printer marries the convenience of today's digital images and the original Polaroid instant experience– works from most mobile phones wirelessly via Bluetooth and from most digital cameras. Using ZINK Technology, the GL10 produces color, full bleed and contemporary 3 x 4" photos in the Polaroid Classic Border logo in about 45 seconds - making it a portable photo booth that allows you to bring Polaroid magic wherever you go this holiday season. Buy.com features it today at only $105.99 – that's $75 off the regular price!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Sprocket Rocket around the Christmas Tree


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY 25
Lomography is offering an Advent Calendar of Deals each day– good for their online shop and gallery stores! We featured facts about lomography on our blog back in August, but in case you missed it... it's a magazine, a shop and a community dedicated to analogue photography. That's right – Old-School-style-film-in-the-camera style artistic shooting. Tomorrow's deal is a savings of 21% on any Sprocket Rocket camera. Just use the voucher code ROCKET21 at the Checkout!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Dreaming of a Soft White Christmas


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY 24
Give the best photo gift this season - a Gary Fong puffer flash diffuser. Built to fit a wide variety of DSLRs and point and shoot cameras, these affordable accessories are a must to eliminate raw light from a pop-up flash. Transform those dreaded holiday red-eye snap shots into softly lit professional looking portraits.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Ghosts of Christmas Past


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY 23
See the history of image manipulation in Faking It: Manipulated Photography before Photoshop, an Amazon Editor's Pick for this holiday. This captivating book reveals that almost every type of manipulation we associate with Adobe’s now-ubiquitous Photoshop software was also part of photography’s pre-digital repertoire, from slimming waistlines and smoothing away wrinkles to adding or removing people in images, not to mention fabricating events that never took place. Among the techniques discussed–and beautifully illustrated with works from an international array of collections—are multiple exposure, combination printing, photomontage, composite portraiture, over-painting, hand coloring, and retouching. Save 37%, enjoy free shipping with gift wrapping available!

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Happy Holga Holidays


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY 22
To make our holidays brighter, we are back at Photojojo's store for their Holga iPhone Lens. This little gem offers a rotating disk equipped with 9 different lenses! Just fit the case that it comes on over the back of your phone, and you're set. It's like having 9 toy cameras all in one: lenses for dreamy vignettes, vibrant red and green color lenses, multi-image lenses for Spidey-vision (double, triple, and quadruple images), a macro lens for beautiful close-up detail and red, yellow, and blue filters with clear centers for framing your subjects! Just spin the disk, preview the effect on your screen, and then fire away! A fantastic gift for only $30.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Holly, Jolly, Hot Pink Polaroid Christmas


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY 21
Molly Spilane's Etsy shop, Unique Art Pendants features this bright, festive, vintage style cuff. Using a retro Polaroid camera image that is "slightly see-through to show the brass patina and wear pattern underneath", Molly finishes the piece with a special metal sealer that makes the image scratch proof. The ends are double reinforced with high quality jewelers film, and the metal's texture makes these bracelets sparkle and shine - perfect for the holiday season.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY TWENTY
For the wish lists of Rudolf, reindeer, and all animal lovers, check out Award-winning photographer Tim Flach's book, More Than Human. Flach has spent years inquiring into the essential bond we have with animals, and presents an extraordinary body of work in which each image is more striking and powerful than the last. A constant affirmation of the animal, whether it be rare or common, powerful or defenseless, odd or majestic, the book showcases a menagerie of creatures—pandas, tigers, bats, lions, orangutans, cobras, bullfrogs, chimpanzees, wolves, porcupines, elephants, owls, armadillos, among many others—as they have never been seen before. As an Editor's Pick, this book is 40% off  at Amazon this week!

Monday, November 26, 2012

The Elves have Been Busy!


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY NINETEEN
The elves at Amazon and Brads Deals are offering red hot Cyber Monday savings with great lists of deals and easy ways to search by category. Amazon previews upcoming deals by the minute in a rolling banner, so you can get the jump on upcoming offers. Brads Deals site is searchable - simply type in "camera" or related topics and a full list of deals appears. Today's hot deals include Brad's Canon T41 Canon Rebel bundle with printer for $738, and Amazon's Nikon D7000 16.2 MP body for $896.95 – with a free backpack and memory card. Time to check off everyone on your list!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Cyber Santas Unite!


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY EIGHTEEN
For all of you secret Santas planning to partake in Cyber Monday, here are a few  links to some great deals! Awesome point and shoot camera deals can be found at Target and Walmart [Fujifilm Finepix 14 MP + SD Card + Case]. For the professionals in the house, check out B+H Photo's Photo Specials featuring a wide range of cameras, lenses, and accessories for all levels of photogs. For some great t-shirts that feature cool photo-related art, check out Dodge and Burn and Zazzle. And use the code 60ZCYBERSALE on Zazzle for 60% off. Good luck filling those shopping carts!

Friday, November 23, 2012

Hand-crafted Photo Holiday with Etsy

30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY SEVENTEEN
The rush of Black Friday is fading (whew!) So sit back, relax and feast your eyes on some amazing hand-crafted coolness from Etsy, as we feature several artists in our upcoming Deals. Sarcastically named, but wonderfully talented, Buy My Crap offers made-to-order transparent and opaque resin bangles, bracelets, cuffs, and other amazing handmade products– from photos. BMC's creations use digital images (including Instagram images), hand-made molds, and hand polishing to create pieces that "combine the durability and fun feel of transparent resin with beautiful personal images to create a sweet little bangle that is fun, fresh and funky, and a timeless keepsake to enjoy." A super-hip holiday fashion statement for photogs and non-photogs alike!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving from Texas Photo


Taking another break from our 30 Days of Deals to give thanks to all of our generous students, models, business partners and friends (you know who you are!) who continue to inspire us. Happy Thanksgiving – take time to enjoy (and of course, to snap some photos)!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

'Twas the Night before Thanksgiving...


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY SIXTEEN
Black Friday is almost here and one of the best ways to shop for photo goodies is – online! So stay in those pajamas, grab that steamin' cuppa, and log on to some great savings. Here's a list of retailers that have some great Black Friday deals - and offer great prices, products and resources all year long. B+H Photo and Video not only has great prices, but features an excellent holiday buying guide to help with your holiday gift-giving. Their Insights Blog also showcases great tips and product reviews. Of course, Walmart has some great deals - especially on camera bundles with SD Card, extra lens and bag – with special sales on Canon. Bundles are great gifts for a beginning photog or student. Walmart also offers free shipping to the store of your choice. Next on the "nice" list is Target with its "Beat the Rush" sale, free shipping and 10% off with a REDcard. The Canon PowerShot A1300 16MP is on sale at Target for only $59.99. Amazon rocks around the Christmas tree with Black Friday Week Deals featuring some Grinch-like steals on a Panasonic Lumix GF3 at 40% off. Best Buy rounds out our list with some great DSLR package deals. So, fire up that mouse and get ready to cyber-shop through your Christmas list!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

'Tis the Season for Subscriptions


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY FIFTEEN
Give a gift that lasts all year long with a photography magazine subscription! Our personal favorites include: LensWork, Aperture, American Photo, and Photo District News [PDN].
Amazon is running some terrific deals with many titles marked down 20-60%. 

Monday, November 19, 2012

Stocking Stuffers

30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY FOURTEEN
Big Lots rings in this holiday season with some great prices on Vivitar camcorders - and offers several models. These little dvrs are great for creating video for Facebook and YouTube. The DVR 503 Mini Me has a 4x digital zoom, uses an SD card and AAA batteries. The DVR 360 has a built in USB connector. Regularly priced at $14.88 each – this price drops to $12.88 on Black Friday– perfect stocking stuffers for your budding photogs!

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Merry, merry Mpix!


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY THIRTEEN
This season take advantage of these super-fun accordion mini-books! Available in 10 styles for the holidays, and using easy drag and drop photo design, Mpix minis offer 12 pages, front and back to showcase your favorite photos. Measuring a compact, purse-sized 2.5 x 3.5" and featuring a hidden magnet for closure, these minis make the perfect take-along brag book for holiday parties. Try coupon code BQPHOTO07 for 20% off your entire order.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Twelve Months of Photography


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY TWELVE
Forget the 12 days of Christmas - celebrate photography all year long with the 4th AlternativePhotography.com calendar! Created annually from a national competition, twelve winning photographs, one per month, are featured. All were made with an alternative photographic process, like cyanotype, pinhole, kallitype, wet plate collodion and more. 

Friday, November 16, 2012

Holiday Road Trip!


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY ELEVEN
Pack your bags and get ready for an analogue road trip with the Diana Travel Pack! This bundle has all the essentials you need—a fun film Diana F+ camera, a Prophecies edition Packrat Bag, a Lomo Notebook, and the aptly titled “Road Trip” issue of Light Leaks Magazine.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Lensbaby Lights up the Holidays


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY TEN
Get some fantastic effects this holiday with Lensbaby! These small, light-weight attachable lenses mount directly onto your SLR or mirror-less camera body and create a a sweet spot of focus surrounded by gradual blur. Each specific lens works with an entire list of compatible camera bodies. Lensbaby lenses have interchangeable optics. Each one comes with an optic installed– and can be replaced with any of their seven other optics. Texas Photo has used Lensbaby to create great images, especially on safari and most recently at the Arboretum. Pick up the new Spark Lensbaby for only $80.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

It's in the Bag!


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY NINE
Equip your photo-fashionista with the ultimate go-to bag for the holidays– a stylish camera bag by Epiphanie Bags. Designed by long-time photographer Maile Wilson, these bags (for men and women) have it all– padded compartments, great designs, rich colors and durable materials. Started in 2009, the collection has expanded from three to seven camera / laptop styles. Can't decide which style to give? Gift cards are available.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Ready, set, shop– with Shutterfly


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY EIGHT
Shutterfly is spreading holiday cheer with some new photo gifts this holiday – like custom iPhone covers and acrylic photo blocks– all with savings offers! Personalize your iPhone cover with a photo and custom monogram or show off your favorite photos in a stylish, contemporary acrylic photo cube. Check out the photo magnets also - these are five star rated. Best of all, Shutterfly gives you all the special offers on one page, offering 20 - 40% on a variety of products– including those mentioned here. 

Monday, November 12, 2012

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY SEVEN
The amazing street photography of Vivian Maier is captured in this beautiful book by Powerhouse– the perfect gift for photographers and non-photographers alike. Maier was a professional nanny, who from the 1950s until the 1990s took over 100,000 photographs worldwide—from France to New York City, to Chicago and dozens of other countries—and yet showed the results to no one. The photos are amazing both for the breadth of the work and for the high quality of the humorous, moving, beautiful, and raw images of all facets of city life in America’s post-war golden age. Maier’s work would come to light when in 2007 her work was discovered at a local thrift auction house on Chicago’s Northwest Side by John Maloof. Available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble - both offer free shipping.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

The Homecoming Project


Taking a break from our 30 Days of Deals to honor all of our Veterans and to give a big Texas shout-out to Austin-based photographer, Erin Trieb. Freelancing as an independent photojournalist and documentary photographer, covering major stories in the Middle East, Africa, and most recently the war in Afghanistan, Trieb has started The Homecoming Project, a non-profit organization that uses visual storytelling to illuminate the ongoing issues of veterans from the past decades’ wars. Donations can be made here and go toward services for the veteran community on both local and national levels. We tip our hats to all of those who serve, have served, and to our fellow Texan and her project.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Santa Baby, slip a camera under the tree...


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY SIX
The awesome elves at Brads Deals have found one of the lowest prices on a beautiful Nikon D5100 DSLR kit with not one– but two lenses– for $827 and free shipping for your holiday gift giving. The extra lens here is a high-quality Nikkor 55-300 telephoto lens that retails for $400. You'll also get a 32GB memory card, a tripod, a cleaning kit and a gadget bag. If you want to skip the telephoto lens, you can get the camera with one lens and everything else in this bundle for $577. Enter the code BRADSEXTRA50 at Beach Camera or see complete details at Brads Deals.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Make things Merry & Bright with Mixbook


30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY FIVE
Mixbook offers some of the best photo books and cards available online for the holidays– or for any time. Easy to use, totally customizable and offering a variety of formats, Mixbook combines exceptional customer service with professional, archival quality. Customers can create photo books, calendars, memory books and online scrapbooking using free creative elements such as backgrounds and upload images from Flickr, Picasa, and more. Their new app, Mosaic, allows customers to create photobooks from an iPhone! Until Novemeber 12th, save up to 40% off with the code: HOLIDAYMIX12!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Christmas Mojo with Photojojo!



30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY FOUR
Photojojo's store is the ULTIMATE site for "the most awesome" photo gear and holiday photo gifts! Offering a wide variety of gear from recycled film canister magnets to unique cameras and accessories to camera straps made from seat belts, the Photojojo Store offers both great prices and service, but also the all-important "cool factor" for any photography-related gift. One of our favs is the Polaroid Z2300 which combines point & shoot size with instant print magic to create the ultimate party camera. This digital camera uses Premium ZINK paper that can't be accidentally exposed, costs less per shot than Polaroid film and has a peel-off sticky back. Customize your 10-megapixel images: crop, add borders, or use the color filters for some serious par-tay. Gift cards are available and get free shipping on all USA orders over $50.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Under the Mistletoe with GorillaPods



30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY THREE
Funny-looking and flexible, Joby's GorillaPods make the perfect stocking stuffer! These flexible tripods offer camera (and smartphone) stability that's lightweight and portable. Boasting a quick release clip, over two dozen leg joints that bend and rotate 360 degrees, and rubberized ring and leg grips, GorillaPods can be wrapped around a myriad of objects for unique points of view while shooting still and video photography. Also available in several colors, many sizes, and can be used with a GripTight Mount for smartphones. Until December 31st, enjoy free shipping and $5 off any purchase with the coupon code KONG at check out!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!



30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY TWO
For the snow-bunny or snow boarding photographers in your life, Neiman Marcus features high-tech snow goggles with a built-in camera. Sporting an integrated Apex camera that offers full HD video with Wi-Fi and GPS, these over-the-top optics allow for live streaming, playback, and remote control capabilities as well as map overlay functionality. A rotating 136 degree camera lens positioned just above the eyes will dial in the best angle for your stance whether you board, ski, or ride a snowmobile. The camera will record video in 1080P at 30fps and features a high action mode of 720P at 60fps for smooth motion. Also offers both continuous shot photo mode with still images recorded at 12.0MP. Works with both iPhone® and Android-based smartphones through various apps. If ordered online during The Home Event, you will also receive a free tote with $400 worth of goodies including Godiva chocolates, Jo Malone fragrance spray and more!

Monday, November 5, 2012

Deck the iPhones!

30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY ONE
Deck out any iPhone with a KLYP kit from Manfrotto. The set includes a KLYP case, POCKET tripod and LED mini-flash unit to enhance any iPhone's image-making capabilities. The KLYP case stays on your iPhone at all times, but the light and tripod can be quickly snapped on when you need them, or removed when you don't. Four different attachment points around the case allow landscape and portrait images to be taken with ease. The LED light can be mounted to face either forwards or backwards, and syncs with iPhone's rolling shutter, creating a well-lit image (or video) every time. Both the light and tripod are small and light enough to fit in your pocket or bag. This kit can also improve video calls, Skype chats or hangouts. Use the code SAVE10 at checkout and save 10% on any purchase - bringing the KLYP kit down to just $89.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Angilee's October Still Lifes- sweet persimmons

After gathering sweet October persimmons from a wild orchard in North Texas, i became inspired to photograph the delicious little morsels. I gathered some props and pulled my small white wood table out and started assembling the photos. For these i used daylight --sometimes diffused and other times raw and white bounce cards. I worked with NIK filters to add a little extra tonal contrast and PS to bring out the color and adjust the highlights. Wild persimmons and blackberries always bring back happy memories of my grandparents. 











Thursday, September 20, 2012

Jana's CD Design Project

Project: CD cover design for music featuring flute and piano. The title is "sparkle and wit", and I began listening to the music while I sketched out ideas. Remembering my grandmother's costume jewelry, I fished it out of my closet, and with my camera, tripod and a piece of white foam core, headed out to my patio picnic table a.k.a. table-top studio. The time of day was about 3:30/4:00 when the direct sun is off of my U-shaped backyard patio, but still has lots of light. I "tossed" the jewelry onto the board and began shooting tight, macro images. My goal was to create bright, sparkling images of the jewels with small areas of focus, lots of white, and shallow depth of field. Using these settings: F8 and shutter speeds ranging from 1/6 - 1/10, I began to shoot down on the jewelry, while standing on a small step stool. I used the tripod for some images, but not for others. I also used forced flash for some. I tweaked the images a bit further in Photoshop, and did some layering of several shots for the red jewels. These are a few of the resulting images and the final published (by Azica Records) cover design. Of course, this could not be possible without my bedazzled photo assistant, my miniature pinscher, Dirk. 









Friday, September 14, 2012

Jana's collage finals

Finally posting this! – two finished collage and solvent transfer pieces. One was shown here in progress in a post from August 17th. Solvent transfer uses safe, non-toxic materials to transfer photographic imagery onto a variety of substrates. For these pieces, I used wintergreen and peppermint oil which are both available at a health food or organic grocery store. The oil causes the Xerox toner to release and adhere to the paper underneath. My process works something like this:
  • look through magazines for ideas about my concept or sketch a concept and look through magazines,
  • make rough cut-outs and place around the page to plan the composition deciding what to photocopy and what to transfer, 
  • make photocopied imagery,
  • trim out imagery,
  • transfer first, apply colored pencil, and paste/collage last
When making solvent transfers, use a small bit of transparent tape to secure each piece in place, Xerox side down (images will be backwards unless you reverse them), then coat the back side with oil using a cotton swab. Pressing down with my left hand to hold the transfer in place, I use a spoon, using the edge to rub back and forth over the image. For more tips on solvent transfer, attend one of our classes on Transfer Imagery!
Duality, 2012. Jana Perez.

Flora and fauna, 2012. Jana Perez.