Papa Bird and I have a long standing tradition when we take pictures together. We get in nice and close and Papa Bird extends his arm as far as he can and takes 6 different shots of us, then we pick the best one. They are always total close-ups (because Papa Bird’s arm is only so long) and we usually don’t get much scenery in. It was either that, or we take pictures of each other with the same background, and I spend a couple of hours on Photoshop trying to crop and paste me into his shot to make it look as though we were both in the same shot to begin with. Now with Baby Bird in our pictures as well, both options are getting a little more difficult.

I was recently introduced to and was sent an XShot for review. The XShot is a camera extender that attaches to any camera through the tripod mount at the bottom and allows you to be a part of every picture you take. It comes in a compact 9 inch wand which extends up to 37 inches away. You can also swivel and angel the camera in any position to get great shots. To get more details on the XShot, visit the XShot product page.

The XShot is also very easy to get the hang of. All you do is attach your camera on the XShot, extend the wand to the distance you want, set the timer on your camera and hold it up. I only took two pictures before these ones below. The first also turned out, the second was an uber close up of my face, but only because I had a problem with my camera and not the XShot. Here are my third and fourth tries with it.

I can’t say enough how much I love this camera accessory. As a matter of fact, people were asking me about it every time I pulled it out to use it and I could overhear people commenting that it was such a neat idea. This is perfect for anyone, from solo travelers who want to be in at least one shot from their travels to families who are tired of always leaving one person out to take a family picture.

I wish we had this on our honeymoon. We went to the East coast for a couple of weeks and our pictures were either of the scenery, super close ups of us, or of one of us and the scenery. It would have been nice to get the both of us and some scenery. I guess there’s always a reason to go back to Peggy’s Cove

The XShot can be purchased for $29.95 on the XShot site and ships to Canada, US and internationally. I love getting all three of us into as many shots as possible and this will be going with us everywhere that our camera goes.