So I was given a background support system for Christmas, and I picked it up a couple of days ago and brought home white and black rolls of seamless. About an hour ago, I decided to assemble it along one wall of my living room. All good.

So I mount the 9 ft. white roll of seamless, and after having a lot of trouble tearing off that first perforation (it reminded me of taking the tape off of a new roll of gift wrapping paper, now there are all these little tears along the first edge) I let go for it to unroll.

Somehow - stupidly - I assumed the thing had some kind of invisible mechanism to stop the paper from unrolling when it got long enough. Or that maybe it was built to allow physics to take care of it. But, to my dismay, the whole entire thing spun out, unrolling a brand new roll of Arctic White seamless all over my living room floor, bending and creasing and twisting under its own weight until, at the very end, the glue attaching the paper to the roll let go, and the whole sheet ended the grotesque dance on the ground.

I just stood there and watched the whole cringe-inducing debacle with a horrified look on my face, planted like a moron in the middle of the room without moving while it happened.

And the thing is a bitch to roll up again, made even worse by the fact that all these little crinkles and creases probably will show up horribly once I start shooting.

Yay to burning fifty-dollar bills!

Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! May you all have a fantastic, safe, and happy 2009!

What produces ultra high-definition prints at blazing speeds (photographs as quickly as 10 seconds), scans, faxes, copies, prints labels directly onto CDs or DVDs, sports a 7.8" touch panel and 3.5" LCD screen, and grabs files wirelessly from any room in your home?

This thing:

Because while those lab-quality photo prints and thirty-eight page-per-minute color printing are all good and fine, one day you might need to send a fax (if you still know what that is), and you'll look damn cool doing it.

$70 instant rebate on this monstrosity over at B&H until 12/22 means you can pick it up for $229.50.

It's about that time of the year again, and nearly everyone knows someone who is a photographer. To get rid of some of that stress, here are my Top 10 gifts for photographers. Whether you know an amateur shooter or a serious pro, whether you want to spend a little or a lot (or a lot) something in this list should please everyone. Enjoy!

10. Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 Prime Lens: I’ve reviewed this lens before, but here’s the bottom line: the best bang-for-the-buck in the entire Canon line. If you have a Canon-shooter friend who’s just gotten into digital SLR photography, this is a fantastic gift. And, for just over $80, you can give him a lens that provides image quality comparable to lenses costing many hundreds of dollars.

9. A photo bag: So your friend has top of the line glass, a killer body (camera, that is), filters galore, and enough memory cards to handle all those trips he goes on. Help him protect that investment – because chances are, protection’s taken a back seat to that new L-series lens. I like Tamrac’s offerings myself, but there’s plenty to choose from.

8. Sigma 10-20mm: Give the gift of expanded horizons. For the landscape or travel photographer who thirsts for those breathtaking vistas. This is about as wide as you can get on a digital SLR. Try taking a photograph of a lake or sunset at 10mm and you’ll never want to take this lens off. Sigma makes the versions of this same lens for nearly every camera system, so whether your friend is a Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony, Minolta, or Sigma shooter (or even owns a four-thirds system!) – they can take advantage. A huge instant rebate at B&H right now lets you pick this up for about $430.

7. Photomatix HDR Software: HDR, or high dynamic range imaging, is a popular trend in photography today. Through various techniques – such as combining differently-exposed shots – images are created that go far beyond what a camera is capable of capturing on its own. Vibrant colors and high-contrast are hallmarks of the impressive effects HDR techniques can add to photos, whether they be travel pictures, landscapes, cityscapes, or even portraits. Photomatix’s software makes it easy to apply these effects to your images. Available for both PC and Mac - http://www.hdrsoft.com/.

6. Old Camera: In Hong Kong earlier this year I picked up an old Seagull twin-lens reflex camera for my brother. It cost me about $20USD and was fairly beat up but looked cool as hell and actually takes pictures. Even if it didn’t work, it would be a great conversation piece for someone who loves photography. It looks like something Indiana Jones might carry around – the fact that he’ll be able to use this unique, time-worn item to create pictures is great. Search “TLR camera” or “brownie camera” on eBay and have fun.

5. Photography Books: educate and inspire.

• Individuals: Portraits from the Gap Collection (Gap)(Covers vary) – It’s a coffee table book, it’s a collection of photographs of artistic icons, by icons (Annie Leibovits and Herb Ritz are among the photographers whose work grace this book). At the very least, it’s a de facto reference source for modern portraiture.
• Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait: The Art of Celebrity and Editorial Photography – Michael Grecco is one of the best-known celebrity photographers in the world. Within this book, sharing the pages of his fantastic images, you’ll find a lot of diagrams showing the often elaborate light setups that went into the portraits. A good amount of his philosophy behind shoot ideas and recollections of photo shoots for good measure.
• The Negative (Ansel Adams Photography, Book 2) - The second book in the famous Ansel Adams Photography Series. This highly influential, and surprisingly easy to read technical work describes how Adams visualized images, plus discussion on light, exposure, the Zone System, natural light, artificial light, and even darkroom processes. An important book for the digital or film photographer, written by one of history’s master photographers.

4. A Holga Camera: You can find this unassuming, Chinese-made mass-production, medium format 120mm film camera brand new for between $20 and $30 (or at Urban Outfitters for $80, if you dig that kind of thing). While it’s often referred to as a toy camera, Holgas have become more and more popular due to their lo-fi aesthetic. Pictures often yield blurring, vignetting, light leaks, and other distortions, but many of their surreal and impressionistic images have won awards in art and news photography, like this Holga capture of Al Gore. A fun and cheap way to get into film photography.

3. Online Portfolio: Because Flickr, while cool – doesn’t quite cut it when you’re vying for that job or assignment. Give them a slick and easy-to-set up portfolio to display their best work online. For $19 a month, Qufoto offers beautiful presentation. Check out some current Qufoto portfolios: Matt Eich, Rich-Joseph Facun, and Christian Tremblay.

2. Gift Certificate to B&H Photo Video: The King of All Photo Stores. Because its sometimes hard to tell that what they really needed was that 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di-II Macro Lens for NIKON... now what are you going to do with this thing?

1. National Geographic Subscription: The images that grace the pages of this quintessential journal on geography, history, science, culture, and current events have inspired millions of photographers and often are the yardstick by which photography that reveals anything about our world is measured. The photographs are at turns iconic, perspective-altering, precious, stunning. Reading about the sheer amount of work that goes into some of their fantastic captures, it isn’t surprising that they can keep serving up the photo-goodness month after month. $15 for a one-year gift subscription.