What I Use

Helllooo fellow bloggers and blog readers!

Not much has gone on in regards to upcoming projects except for a freelance consulting type gig the last few weeks.  I client I worked with recently is getting a novel published and needed help setting up some social media sites (facebook, twitter, blogger, etc) as well as looking around for website possibilities.  Its hard to just jump in and try to get all that stuff set up at once. I'm glad I could meet with her and help her out :)

What I wanted to write about today is some of the equipment I use in my mini "studio". (In all reality, it's more like Harry Potter's "cupboard under the stairs"). I would love to upgrade a lot of this stuff but it all works really well and until I have the money to change it, I'm glad I have what I have!

* First things first! I purchased a 15" Macbook Pro in 2006 and this baby is goin' strong! I'm so impressed with Apple computers and glad that I decided to go Mac.  I'm thinking my next computer will definitely be a desktop with a bigger hard drive. This is a laptop (albeit an amazing one!) and it unfortunately cannot hold all the programs, music, pictures, and giant art files I have on here. It's just not big enough. If all goes well, this laptop will still be the travel buddy after I get the desktop. For more info here's the link to the most current version of my Macbook Pro. 

*Next up is my printer. When I purchased my computer through the educational program Apple offered, I could add a printer onto it.  The lowest one was free but they had additional options I could pay a little extra for. I think this one was $50 more. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure.  I have a Canon PIXMA MP600 That has been a GREAT All-in-one printer.  It's definitely worth the money I paid for it. There are some issues with printing lines if the image is very dark, but most of the things I use it for are light images, scanning, sketch printing, and document printing.  It suits what I need and the scanning quality is really really good. The ink can be expensive if you buy it all at once but it's not too bad and its readily available at any place that would have office supplies (including Walmart).

*Sticking with computer electronics, I went to costco and purchased a 750GB Maxtor external hard drive.  I believe it was around $100. Again, it was around 5 years ago so I could be wrong on that. Ive barely put a dent in the storage space with all the files I have on it. I've also transferred over my iTunes and my iPhoto because my laptop hard drive couldnt hold all of the photo/music files I have haha!

*The next one, I'm super happy to own.  Last year, I used some extra funds to purchase a Wacom Intuos tablet! It's so much fun to use! I actually need to get back into using it. Sometimes when I just want to get the sketch out, it can be pretty easy to set it aside and knock it out with a regular pencil.  I used Wacom tablets in school and they're amazing to use.  I'm so glad I invested in one myself.  (maybe next will be the Cintiq.... ;p)

* Last but not least, I have a couple cameras I use to document my work.  The first one is a Nikon Coolpix 12 megapixel point and shoot camera. This is pretty handy because it's light weight, has different settings, can get amazing detail, and it's fairly inexpensive when you consider how much $$ you can spend on a big ol' legit camera.
I also have access to a Nikon D60 that I've messed around with a few times.  I'm thinking that I need to experiment a little more regarding artwork photography but it has potential to be a great tool.  And I know that Nikon is a great brand of camera. 
Finally, believe it or not, I've been utilizing my iPhone4s to take a lot of pictures of my work.  I don't know how they did it, but photos from this phone are incredible.  Its portable, easy to use, has a flash, and I can even add video documentation. It a great thing to be able to use.

Well, that about wraps it up!  I'd be interested to know what anyone else uses or has used, or even if they have opinions about what I use. Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week and I'll see ya in my next post!