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.

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!

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!

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!

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!

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)!

'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!

'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%. 

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!

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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!

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.