Red Means Go; Photos to Audio

I finally got a good recorder to use, the Tascam DR-07, and it records directly in .wav or mp3 files, none of this .voc file crap that my previous recorder did. It is so much better than anything I could ever have expected. I can't wait to use it in the field and come back and say, "This is an amazing audio recorder." I have played around with it capturing birds at a bird feeder close to a window, talking to family members, and just recording random crap around the house, and this recorder is amazing. It is much bigger than the previous one too, and it came with a wind screen...what a difference it makes!! If on a budget and want a quality audio recorder but want to be able to see levels, then check out this one.

RCA VR5220 vs Tascam DR-07

Next was a 1 terabyte external hard drive. I love external hard drives, and it's a bummer that this is a portable, but at least I can back up one of my Mac only externals. Got to mess around with the Windows only. That's what sucks about some companies, why can't they make these cross compatible? It makes more sense to me and would save me a hell of a lot of money and time. Well now with 1 TB of space, I basically don't have to for a very long time have to worry about space on my computer. The only worry I have is just I need another 1 TB external hard drive, as security for the first and for me. I don't want to accidentally delete something, and it be gone forever, but oh wait, there is a second copy! That is the best feeling in the world...when there is that second copy. Having that kind of space though is something that is awesome, and I highly suggest having an external hard drive. This makes four for me.

A 77mm circular polarizing filter. I have honestly really never used a polarizing filter. I bought one for the 18-55mm that came with my Canon XTi, and used it maybe twice, but never really got into the nitty gritty of understanding it, so now is my turn at it. All I have used is UV filters because I shoot mostly sports, live entertainment, and protest/community actions. Basically, as long as I have something on the front that will protect my front element, then I am all set. With this new filter, it is a new ball game, and I can't wait to use it.

Finally, a Sandisk Extreme III 4 GB compactflash card, the card of choice. The write fast, and at ISO 100 on the Canon 40D they hold 305 RAW images no problem, or 925 large fine JPEGs. They hold up under the worst weather conditions as well, so the Extreme compactflash cards are the cards to use. When shooting sports, a photographer needs something reliable and can write the images fast so they can continue shooting, but also hold a lot so they aren't always changing cards, especially at the key moments of the game. With a card like the Extreme III 4 GB, that isn't really an issue, shooting RAW or JPEG.

I'm sorry if I sounded like, "this is what I got for Christmas," but I like to think of it is as informational consumerism. I have them now, and I want to share what get out of it with you. I know some of them don't directly relate to photography and photojournalism, but think about it. They do, they do. Hopefully I will learn how to use a circular polarizing filter pretty well in the next couple of days and I'll be able post how they turn out.