Photos by Calvin

Sorry for the lack of activity, everyone. . .

It’s been quite the hectic month for me, and I have not had a chance to pick up the camera recently. Finals are quickly arriving, and I will be done with school this Wednesday! I am looking forward to the time off so I can pick up where I left of (wherever that is).

I’ve recently been doing a lot of online shopping, hehe.

I’ve just purchased the following items:

Phottix Cleon C8 Wired/Wireless Remote ($37) – I am typically a Canon brand name junkie, but I just could not justify the price for the Canon RS-80N3 wired remote ($50). For a lesser price I was able to pick up a remote that serves as both a wired and wireless trigger. This remote has received great reviews from members on POTN, so I could not pass up such a deal. I’m very happy with the purchase.

OpTech/POTN Pro Loop Strap ($19) – Neck straps are a love or hate thing. I personally love them – just not the one that came with my 40D. In search for a more comfortable neck strap, I came across the OpTech Pro and Crumpler Industry Disgrace straps. I opted for the OpTech because it has received several positive reviews, while the Crumpler is still fairly new and not much is known about it yet. I figure for the price and all the great reviews it has received, the OpTech can’t be a bad choice. And if it is, then I lost $20 – so what? BTW, I went with the POTN version for an extra $3 to help “support” the site (photograph-on-the.net).

What I hope to purchase by the end of this coming week are the:

Dakine Sequence ($130) – I figure it doesn’t make much sense to be carrying such nice gear in a “cheap” backpack. I figure this would be a good investment. I was initially leaning heavily toward the Kata R-103, but it just doesn’t have enough “accessory” pockets. And I am an accessory whore, so that would have been a problem.

580EX II Speedlite Flash ($420) – Every good photographer needs a good flash. Some people have suggested the 430EX, but I figure I will want the 580EX eventually…so I might as well get it the first time around. I will probably pick up a couple 430EX’s as slaves in the future, though.

Later on this summer I hope to add the following to my gear:

BG-E2N Grip ($190) – I’m not so concerned with the extra batteries that the grip holds. I’m more interested in the comfort and convenience of vertical gripping.

*Edit – I decided against the 1.4x TC as I don’t see myself using it very often. It would be nice to have that extra reach, but having been glued to STROBIST.com I decided to invest in more strobes and accessories.