5DayDeal: A few more days left

There are a few more days left on the 5DayDeal Photography Bundle and I wanted to share three things that made me purchase the bundle this year.

One Light MasterClass

A long time ago (it feels even longer at times) I used to do studio photography, so while I'm used to having 2 to 5 lights with modifiers and softboxes, now that I travel quite frequently and live out of two large suitcases, having a full-fledged studio is completely unrealistic.  I don't shoot many people or portrait photography of course, but there have been quite a few times that I've wanted to do it over the past year.  I want to take this course, to see various tips and tricks and inspiration to do more portraits with just a single light source.  This masterclass I can find on the internet for around $60, but it's part of the main bundle of $89, which essentially pays for itself with this class alone.

Location Lighting Masterclass

This is the second masterclass part of the main bundle. I think this (I hope) fits in well with the one light masterclass and gives some details on on-location lighting.  I used to do around 30% or so of my portrait shoots on location, and I find as I travel, on-location is becoming more important.  Partly because I don't have a full-fledged studio, I tend to look for unique locations more.  I find this a little less important to me, but I think it's still of high value.  This one I can't find on sale over the internet, so I would suggest that it's $90 value is most likely what you'd have to pay.  Certainly, the two masterclasses alone are worth the $89 value of the main bundle.

Street Photography MasterClass

This masterclass for me I think is the most interesting of the three. In the past, I never shot much street photography.  I found myself to be self concious and more importantly, feeling as if I was doing something, well, "wrong" by taking those style of images.  This year when I traveled to Hanoi, I felt that city and street photography just went together like hand and glove.  I loved it. I shot images almost every day.  The city has so much unique character that I couldn't stop and I can't wait to get back there again.  So I want this masterclass, to gain some insight from the professionals on how to do this, getting into a comfort zone where I don't feel like I'm doing anything wrong, and taking on this challenging genre and expanding my photography.  This masterclass I can find for around $90 normally and is part of the complete bundle on sale for $157.  But even just this masterclass almost covers the full price of the complete bundle and you get everything including the prior two masterclasses as well.  As far as I'm concerned it makes the complete bundle a steal.

What else..

I have to admit, there seems to be a lot of filler that I'll never use.  A few books caught my eye that I'll read on the plane such as Photographing People: Anytime, Anyplace by Bryan Peterson, and The Astro Timelapse Guide & The Ultimate Timelapse Guide by Mattew Vandeputte.  I'll put both on my reading list just to see if I learn new techniques.  The Excire Foto software I have heard great things about, and while it's only $59, that seems like a no brainer when you get it bundled in with the main bundle. For me, the main value is those masterclasses and I'm looking forward to viewing them.  You may find value in the presets.  Frankly, I usually find that i try them once and hardly ever use them again.  The lightroom books and training materials may be good if you are using Lightroom, as you can usually find at least one trick or tip that you weren't aware of.

There are three bundles, the middle "Pro" bundle I think if you are looking at that, skip it and go directly to the complete bundle.

Basic Main Bundle $89 - includes the first two masterclasses and Excire Foto.

Pro Bundle $128 - I do recommend not getting this and getting the complete bundle.  It does include the astro book I mentioned.  It may be a good deal if you are looking for the first two masterclasses and that e-book.

Complete Bundle $157 - This includes everything I mentioned and the best value.

All in all, this is a smoking deal. It happens once a year, and I think every year there's something new.  To be honest, there's a lot of stuff I'll never use, but it's very easy to find well over $400+ of value in the packages.  I think it's important to not get caught up on the $5000+ value that they state but to carefully look and see what is of value to you and if it furthers your craft.  This year for me is a good year to purchase the complete bundle.  On top of that, it helps both a ton of charities - and in these difficult times charities are struggling more than ever.