Thanks Rick for inviting me to share a blog post this week!

Rick - I am posting this from one of my favorite places, Bosque del Apache in New Mexico. It snowed yesterday, and that reminded me of our last trip here with Juan Pons – 75 degrees one day and snow the next. Bosque is a great place to photograph birds, and to have one of our favorite guilty pleasures: a yummy green chile cheeseburger. I had one today in your honor!

The Holiday Season is upon us, starting with this weekend. At Outdoor Photo Gear, we renamed Black Friday as “Camo Friday” to go along with all the outdoor gear we sell for photographers.

I thought I would post some of my favorite gear to give your readers some ideas on what to give and to what get this year.

This time of year you can’t shoot at Bosque without a good pair of gloves, and my favorites are the AquaTech Sensory Gloves. They have push-through holes for your finger and thumb, so you can operate your camera and your smart phone without taking your gloves off. A flap covers the finger hole when not in use.

If you are shooting in rain or other inclement weather, a great new product is the Kwik Camo All Weather Photo Blind. Kwik Camo has been around for awhile, but now they have released a waterproof portable blind. This poncho-style blind covers you and your gear, so you can get close for the shot.

A cool item we just picked up is the MeFoto Walkabout. It’s a monopod that doubles as a walking stick, with a colorful detachable ball complete with a compass. I’m giving these as presents, as every photographer can put these to use!

Tethered shooting is all the rage now, both indoors and out in nature. The CamRanger lets you control your camera from your smart phone or pad. I don’t mean just shutter control—the CamRanger lets you bracket, pick your focus point, stack multiple images and a bunch of other stuff. It’s an amazing addition to your gear arsenal, whether in the studio or outside shooting flowers.

Some of our Camo Friday deals have already started and some will continue through the Holiday Season. One of the best deals we have going is 25% off of Induro carbon fiber tripods. Induro makes a heck of a tripod, and this is a heck of a deal. We carry 4 sizes of Induro’s carbon fiber tripods so you’re bound to find your right fit with them.

That’s about it for now. I have to get up at 5 am in the cold to try and get some bird photos!

Speaking of birds, if you’d like to see OPG’s famous Troy the Turkey and find out about some of our Camo Friday deals, you can see a great video here.

Happy Holidays!

Chris
Outdoor Photo Gear

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Hey Chris - great post. Wish I were in Bosque with you - for the photos and the burgers. Here's a shot of me from our trip. Great fun!