Laptop, Studio, School

I know I posted last night about the five things I would LOVE to have for all of my photography stuff - whether it be somewhere to store photos, store my camera and accessories, or just adding accessories. But this morning, I woke up and thought to myself:

Stephanie, you should get your own laptop just for photography purposes. That could be where you put all of your software, save articles you would find helpful, do your schoolwork, etc. Then Mark wouldn't have to sit around and see all of your stuff on the laptop we have now.

I think it'd be really smart to get my own laptop, and still get that 1 TB external hard drive I want.

I don't know what kind of laptop I would get though. I don't need something that's crazy-expensive, but I don't want some cheap-o either. I'm just going to have to do some research, talk about it with Mark, and go from there. I just know that having my own laptop for photography purposes would be worth it and an incredibly smart thing to have.

Something else I've been thinking about for a couple of weeks now is getting equipment for studio photography. I don't think I'll be getting much, if anything, for studio photography any time soon, but it would be really nice to have that kind of stuff. I'd like to even set up my own little studio wherever we live, right in our house in a spare bedroom, basement, or garage [depending on what we'd have that'd be able to hold all of the stuff]. I know it's not always legal to do that when renting, but I would really like to have an in-home studio with the lights, backgrounds, etc. How cool would that be?! People would come over, I'd give them a little tour of the house and be like, "Welcome to our house. Here's [this] room, [this] room, and here's my kick ass in-home studio." HA. I've already looked into getting studio equipment at B&H Photo Video's website. Trust me, I'm always looking at stuff on B&H Photo Video!! That place is amazing!! And I can't wait to start school because then I'll get a 10% DISCOUNT!! Heck yes!

I can't wait to start school!! It's going to be amazing!! I hate that I have to take "regular" classes, but I'm going to take those classes before I take the year's photography classes. I just want to get the "regular" classes out of the way and then focus on my major. Ugh, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh...I can't wait!! Even if I'm just taking online courses, I can't wait!! I am seriously looking forward to the things I am going to learn and how I am going to grow as a photographer. I'm not going to lie, I think I am a pretty decent photographer. I keep practicing and learning new things on my own, and I think that with taking classes [especially classes from AiP - only one of the best, if not the best, photography schools], I feel like I can become great!! I doubt that I'll ever be one of the famous, well-known photographers out there, but I feel that I'll be great at what I do. But if I do become a great photographer and graduate from AiP, those two things will help me get through the door somewhere, if I ever really want to go work for someone else. The Art Institute is a great school for anything that deals with the arts. Only time will tell what's in store for me, though...and I'm hoping something amazing is awaiting!!

Five Things

Here are five things that I would LOVE to have right now for my photography stuff.

1. External Hard Drive.
The one I want has 1 TB of memory. [That's 1024 GB!!!!] Having one of these with a lot of memory will allow me to go ahead and shoot in RAW and not worry so much about how much memory gets used per photo.


2. A Lowepro back pack.
I need a back pack for my camera, lenses, lens filters, memory cards, etc. because the bag I have now is just a dinky little thing, with all of my things jammed in there.


3. Tripod.
I really want to get a tripod, and soon, because it'll allow me to take pictures with longer shutter speeds and not have to worry about whether I'm shaking my camera at all or not. Plus, it's a bit more professional to have one - at least I think so.


4. Wide-Angle Zoom Lens.
If you've ever seen photos taken with a wide-angle zoom lens, then you know how awesome those photos are!! Absolutely amazing, and I want one!!


5. G-Series Telephoto Zoom Lens.
I've already mentioned this lens before, so it should come as no surprise that it's on this list. It's amazing!!

Some of my favorites.

I am always looking at photoblogs, sites for camera accessories, sites for pictures, and stuff like that. There are a few sites though that I am searching every time I sit down at the desk and am online. I thought that I would just share my top three with you, in case you've never heard of them.

My NUMBER ONE site is B&H Photo Video.
They have EVERYTHING on that site!! I first heard of B&H about a little over a year ago because we got this monstrous catalog in the mail. It was for someone that used to live here, but I just started flipping through it and looking at all of the amazing things that just the catalog had!! Fast forward to now, and I am constantly on the website, searching for things that I'd like to have one day for my camera [and future camera]. You can go to this site and spend hundreds of hours searching it for stuff, and you'll be nowhere near seeing half of the things they sell!! Plus, it'll be nice when I start my AiP online classes because I'll get a 10% off discount from B&H!! HECK YES!! I love looking for stuff on that site. It's seriously addicting - especially if you have a strong passion for photography and just want everything out there for your camera!!

Another site I love going to is Photocritic. I love reading the articles and learning how to do some really cool things with taking photos and editing. Probably the coolest article there is Digital Schizophrenia. Once I get a tripod, I am definitely going to try doing that!! It's just so cool looking! I love it!

As you should already know, I would love to be a sports photographer. So it's only proper for me to have a photoblog in my favorites that's by a sports photographer. That site would be Beyond the Best Seat in the House. This guy used to work for a newspaper or something, but due to the shit-filled economy, he decided to take the severance package from the newspaper company and go his own way. And what's really cool is that in some of the photos he's taken, he has Drew Carey in them!! Being from the Cleveland area [in Ohio], I obviously love Drew Carey...and miss always watching "The Drew Carey Show". [Seriously, who doesn't miss that show?! It was absolutely genius!!]

Of course, there are PLENTY of other sites that I go to, but none more faithfully than the three I listed above.