Introducing a brand new eBook from Craft & Vision

Your Creative Mix: Growing Your Photography Business Through Creativity & Collaboration by Corwin Hiebert

Your Creative Mix takes an in-depth look at the value of growing your passion for art, honing your creative skills, and finding new ways to connect and share with likeminded people as a way to grow your photography business. This eBook bridges the gap between creativity and commerce. It focuses on the unique business and marketing challenges faced by emerging and established vocational photographers. It provides new insights and ideas on how to generate demand for your photographs and for your creative services without employing cheap tricks or expensive advertising efforts. Through case studies, interviews, featured projects, and proven business practices you’ll learn how to attract fans, followers, and clients to your unique vision.

Buy Now

Special Offer on eBooks

For the first four days only, if you use the promotional code MIX4 when you checkout, you can have the PDF version of Extreme Perspectives for only $4 OR use the code MIX20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more PDF ebooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST July 23, 2011. Click here to visit Craft & Vision

The newest eBook release from David Duchemin (called Vision is Better) is simply stellar. This is a compilation of 50 articles from his website that have been rewritten and attached to some beautiful images that illustrate the point. If you’ve never read David’s writing before, now is the time to start. If you have read his stuff before, this is a fantastic opportunity to go back and read (or reread) some of the best and most poignant articles that he has presented in the past.

David’s motto “Gear is Good, Vision is Better” is very easy to understand and to agree with, but it’s much harder to implement. For me it’s one of those things that I have to pound into my brain over and over again. Going through these articles reminded me how brilliant and how important this thought is, and I urge you to read this book.

The really great news is that the book is very inexpensive at only $5. It gets better though because there is a 20% discount available if you buy the new book between now and midnight on May 4th. If you use the promotional code VISION4 when you checkout then you can have “Vision is Better” for only $4, OR use the code VISION20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more books from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST MAY 4, 2010.

Amazon has announced a new version of the very popular Kindle eBook reader, officially called the Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device. The new version of the device has access to Global Wireless services and is available in over 100 countries.

The major difference between the new product and the older version is the size of the screen; it was upgraded from 6 inches on the earlier Kindle to 9.7 inches on the DX. It has storage capacity for over 3500 books and lots of other really cool features. The 6-inch Kindle is already the bestselling product across all of Amazon, and I expect that the Kindle DX will also be extremely popular.

The 9.7″ Kindle DX with Global Wireless is available for pre-order for $489 at www.amazon.com/kindledx and starts shipping on January 19th.

There are over 400,000 Books in Kindle eBook format available for download at Amazon!

(Huge apologies to David Duchemin for the title of this post. You should go see him if you want to learn about Vision instead of gadgets…)

I had planned to publish my own photography and gadget gift buying guide (some might simply call it my wish list!) this year, but I’ve seen plenty of other great lists already. So I decided that what we really need is one simple place to go to get a list of lots of other great lists. Maybe next week I’ll even write up a list of lists of great lists. But for now, one big list will have to do!

So here, it is: a Gift Buying Guide Roundup for photographers and technophiles:

(This list is still getting updated Regularly, jump down to the end for the latest goodies!)

• I have to start with a plug for my own photography. Check out my online portfolio from some beautiful landscape and nature imagery from the Canadian Rocky Mountains and Prairies. Prints, products, and more!
• Right after my portfolio, Scott Kelby’s Annual Gonzo Holiday Gear Guide is always the first place to stop. For 2009 he broke this down into Part 1 and Part 2
• Terry White’s Annual Holiday Gift Guide is also a must read every year.
• See Photography Bay for their Best Digital Cameras & Holiday Shopping Guide
• Digital Photo Buzz brings us a really great list of essential photography gear and books in their First Annual Holiday Gift Guide
• John Batdorff compiled a nice list of gadgets and books for “self-proclaimed photo-geeks”
• Scott Bourne brings us his Holiday Photography Book Buyer’s Guide
• Gizmodo has an interesting Gadget Gift Guide based on user submissions. Looks like it’s continually being updated, so you could even go there to add your own ideas!
• CrunchGear has a list of gadgets to buy for the “Technologically Impaired“
• While not strictly for the holidays, B&H has a really useful Point-and-Shoot Buyer’s Guide
• While I’m at it I might as well point you to my own list of recommended Photography Books for Beginners and another one list of books about Nature and Wildlife Photography
• Outdoor Photographer has a Holiday Buyer’s Guide
• Heninger Fotographik added a great gift guide today for anyone from the art lover to the Photographer to the backpacker.
• Scott Bourne pulled together “The Photographer’s Dream Holiday Gift Guide” full of very high end gift ideas.
• Jeff Revell put together a nice list of things that he wants. I think most other photographers would also love these things!
• Syl Arena just put out a great list of “Cameras For Kids, Tweens, Teens, & Young Adults“. This is not specifically a gift guide, but cameras make great holiday presents!
• Photography Bay has added a new list called “9 Photography Gifts on the Cheap“. This just might be the best list for this holiday season if you’re looking for something to buy your photography friends!
• Just off the press: the Photo.net Holiday Gift Guide. The photo.net members and editors compiled the best things from their wishlists for the 2009 Holidays.
• For those of you that don’t like to spend a lot of money on your photography and lighting trinkets, check out the “DIY Photography Holiday Gift Guide“
• The Master of Vision himself suggests that since most of us really don’t need any of that shiny crap anyway, we should all buy Goats instead. He’s probably right.

I’ll continue to update this list as I see more seasonal buying guides for Christmas and the Holidays. Keep checking back for more ideas about what to buy for yourself and your friends over the next couple of months, and feel free to send me links to your favorite buying guide as well.

Don’t forget that at this time of year it’s perfectly normal to lust after new gadgets, books, and other gear, and it’s OK!! You can confess all your sins, beg forgiveness, and do your daily penance after the holidays are over. A dozen refrains of the Photographian Chant (“Gear is Good, Vision is Better“) for two weeks should suffice.

Reactions from the mainstream media went from surprise, to shock, to outrage when Amazon recently opened up the Kindle for shipping to a large list of countries, that did not include Canada. The Kindle is a “Wireless Reading Device” (commonly known as an eBook reader) that includes free global wireless coverage and doesn’t require a computer to access new content from the Kindle Store.

I personally don’t really understand what the hype is about this class of device. I much prefer reading my books in paper form, or to have all the other features of a mini computer that are built into my iPod Touch. But there are many people out there who rave about these things, and they love the convenience of having nearly instant access to hundreds of thousands of books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs on a device with a screen that “Reads like real paper without glare, even in bright sunlight”. I’d love to give one a try, if only to see what the hype is all about.

For any of my fellow Canadians that have been waiting to get their hands on one, your time is now. For only $259 US you can order one now and have it with plenty of time to spare before Christmas!

The Kindle Store: More Than 360,000 Books
At Amazon, we’ve always been obsessed with having every book ever printed, and we know that even the best book reader is useless without the books you want to read. We are fortunate that we have tens of millions of book customers at Amazon, and as a result, we know the books customers want to read and we prioritize getting those titles. Today, the Kindle Store has more than 360,000 books available, including 101 of 112 New York Times® Best Sellers, plus top newspapers, magazines, and blogs. Our vision for Kindle is to have every book ever printed, in any language, all available in under 60 seconds.