I've loved taking pictures since I took my first photography class in junior high school.  That being said, I'm under no delusions that I'm actually a good photographer.  I realize I could improve my skills a whole bunch with the right equipment and some decent instruction (read: not spending less than two seconds flipping through the manual and then giving up), but I neither have the money nor the time to actually follow through on any of those empty promises I make about how THIS year, I'm gonna take a class. And possibly... I lack the desire as well.

A few months ago, I bought a new camera.  I upgraded the lens from the standard offering to one that gave me better options for aperture choices.  While it's a much better lens, I've constantly struggled with the fact that the lens is physically a little bit too big for the built in flash and it throws a shadow across the bottom of the frame.  I have access to a better flash, but I don't know how to use it either.  So, I've solved the problem by creatively cropping the shadow out (or at least trying) or just ignoring it altogether.   Obviously the trick would be to learn to use the camera without the flash, and I'm working on that.  But there are just sometimes when it's not possible.  

Enter Photojojo and their nifty little gadget, the Pop-up Flash Bounce. It's a little like the old film canister camera hack, in that it makes a flash look much more like natural light, but it also solves that pesky problem of removing the lens shadow at the bottom of all my flash photos.
See?


Totally different.


I am thrilled to fix this problem by throwing a mere $30 at it rather than, you know... actually improving my skills or something.  

Just one more way the Interweb has improved my life (and, perhaps, made me more lazy but in some circles that could be viewed as an improvement as well).