gift for an aspiring photographer

[halcyon]

a frame...with nothing in it...i like finding pictures that suit frames

Nice...very nice

 

[halcyon]

You could try this if it appeals - "Steve McCurry: In the Shadow of Mountains".

I got it a week or so back for my birthday and is full of inspirational images. The quality is absolutely top notch. Well worth having.

Wow that looks interesting, thanks! So many great ideas! I knew you all had it in you!

 

[shaunx]

hey buddy i think this is the best gift that u can give to her.i bet she will remembe this forever..

 

[halcyon]

o.k. so I got sneaky and casually managed get her to talk about her equipment. She has three nice 35mm cameras and a Mamiya 645 Pro medium format, which she calls her pride and joy. She's got various and sundry other old stuff including some land cameras and twin reflex cameras too. But no mention at all about a Holga or being into lomography. But she IS very artsy so this might just be the perfect thing to accomplish what I am after, which is something unique to inspire her to be creative with her photography again. I was hoping to find something to provide that spark and I think this just might. Can't hurt to try anyway, and it's not like its a huge investment.

Oh, she said she sold her darkroom stuff though, so for now she can't develop her own. That might be a problem too, since what I read about the Holgas you might shoot a whole roll and not get a single good picture out of it. Maybe we will work on getting her set back up to do her own developing next...one thing at a time!

Thanks again everyone, I do really appreciate it.

 

[halcyon]

Oh, one more thing: On the Holga, should I choose a model with flash or no? I'm sure she's got a flash that will work with it, but maybe the built-in flash in the Holga is desirable? No idea on that one. Thanks!

 

[halcyon]

Alright, I thought I'd tell you all what I found, and decided to do. I'm doubling my stated $100+/- budget, but as soon as I found this, I had to.

She is also very into music - very. And one of the rock bands we both like a lot is the White Stripes. Well.....as it turns out, that band is into lomography, and they have their own special, limited edition Holga and Diana camera sets, that include the camera in custom colors for the band, custom fisheye lens, filters, manual, film, etc. and the world though a plastic lens book all custom packaged by Lomography. Very, very cool.

http://www.whitestripes.com/lomography/lomography.html

So to make a long story short, I have learned about a whole new facet of photography - lomograpy - that I have a feeling she and I can get into together, because I think it's cool, and I know she will too. And in the process, I scored the coolest possible gift for her, and I never would have found it if it hadn't been for "yous guys."

Thank you. Thank you all! And Happy Holidays.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Very cool, great choice!

 

[snra786]

This is an awesome idea. I think I'm going to get the Holga for one of my friends too! Always learning, and finding something new here.