The incredible photos you see on this page seem like the sorts of shots you need to be a professional photographer or PhotoShop genius to create. In truth, you needn’t be either. Almost anyone with a digital SLR and a dash of creativity can take stunning, surreal shots — if they know how.

That’s where Evan Sharboneau comes in. Sharboneau, a photographer extraordinaire, has gathered his years of experience into one condensed (and incredibly cool) course: Trick Photography And Special Effects — The Ultimate Guide of Tricks, Techniques and Ideas that Create Mind-Twising Images.

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Taking photographs of people can be an uncomfortably self-conscious experience, both for the photographer and his subject. With that in mind, here are three items you can pair with your camera that will help you take photos on-the-fly. Each is inexpensive and makes for a great gift of a photographer.

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Recently one of our resident Cool Spotters gave his father a digital picture frame as a gift. The father responded with the requisite oohs and ahhs and dutifully put his gift up on a shelf. And there it sat, turned off, unused, collecting dust.

The problem was that said father didn’t have the motivation to manage the picture frame settings and to go through the process of loading and unloading photos.

In hindsight, a far better digital picture frame gift would have been the Kodak Pulse.

The cool thing about the Pulse: It can be remotely managed!

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Professional and semi-professional camera equipment can be expensive. Really expensive. Potentially the-equivalent-of-buying-a-car expensive. For photography enthusiasts who can’t afford high-end camera gear—or are leery about making the financial plunge for it—there’s a cool website that will let you rent cameras, lenses, lighting another photography accessories: Borrow Lenses.

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People who love photography tend to really love photography. They also tend to already have all the cameras, lenses and bags they need (or can afford). So here are 8 relatively inexpensive gifts that the photographer on your gift list is likely to appreciate and not already have. Of course, you should feel free to give any (or all?) these to yourself too.

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The holiday season is upon us. And so is the need to find cool gifts. Here’s a roundup of some of the presents that the friends and family of Spot Cool Stuff will be finding under their trees shortly. If are one of those friends and family then please don’t read any further. Otherwise, check out our gift recommendations for the photographers and music lovers in your life, as well as for those who (seemingly) already have everything.

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Spot Cool Stuff loves multipurpose gadgets. And LG has come up with an awesome one. First, it’s a portable DVD player with a 3 1/2 hour battery life and a clear 8″ screen. As well as playing all DVD formats (DVD±R/DVD±RW) the LG DP889 will play MP3s and all manner of audio CDs. Second, it’s a snazzy-looking digital photo frame capable of holding hold up to 250 photos loaded via a USB cord or SD card. The DP889 comes with a built-in stand to prop it up on your shelf and multiple settings for displaying photos.

So, use this device to watch a movie on your next long plane ride. Or, to display photos of your family back home. Or, to display photos of your family on your next long plane ride. Priced around $200.

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