$180 for a Good Shotgun --

-- Microphone.

Sorry to get your hopes up. I'm up sick since early this morning, so I haven't even had the urge to play with my new toys brought by the Big Brown Truck of Happiness yesterday. What did I get?

Some gels (heat resistant colored plastic filters that alter tungsten lighting), diffusion sheets and spare bulbs for my light kit, a nice Manfrotto camcorder tripod, and the aforementioned microphone (not top-of-the-line, but a great value). My audio kit now includes a telescoping boom pole with shock mount and a mic cable (so now I need a separate audio guy on location shoots). I'm a long way from playing with off-camera audio gear -- heck, I don't even have a slate (the thing with the clapper used to synch audio with picture). Since I'm my own editor and cinematographer, I figure I'll recognize the shots without the slate. I intend to take the Location Audio course this fall, as well the the Lighting class.

Today or tomorrow, my spare camera batteries should get here. I thought I had one or two more than I could find in my gear bag... I better number the suckers this time.

Now, I only wish I could take a nap.