20 November 2009

Love the wicked Stitch Design bags? Here is you chance to win one!!

As you all know, I discovered this great web site www.wickedstitchdesigns.com who make camera bags that look like everyday bags. Great for the avid traveler, like myself, who doesn't want a bag which screams "Expensive Camera Equipment Inside!"

This month they are providing an opportunity for fans to win one of their designs! Since November is my lucky month - not only is my birthday November 18, but there is also Thanksgiving, it is near the end of the school semester, and it is fall - I have decided to try my luck at winning the bag. Because you can never have too many camera bags!!

You can have the same opportunity. Just follow the link, follow the instructions and voila!
::Wicked Stitch Designs - November Give-Away::

I look forward to posting many photos soon!

03 November 2009

Why is it so difficult to find a DSLR camera bag that doesn't scream "STEAL ME!"

Some of you know I have recently inherited an amazing digital SLR camera from my aunt and uncle in Connecticut. I'm lucky to have an uncle with no children and a love of photography - so whenever he gets a new toy occasionally I get the old one! Which is AMAZING since I am a poor college student who can not afford that pretty Nikon D90...boo... ONE DAY! (First - Ducati 999, then - Nikon).

Now I am the proud owner of a Minolta Maxxum 7D SLR, which I play with daily and imagine all the fun I will have with her in the future! (Those of you with dirty minds - clean them!) This gift has become, in a sense, a life saver for me. After graduating and before the infamous USA Road Trip Stephanie and I are planning, I was hoping to have my digital SLR to photograph the amazing trip. However, looking at expenses and plans to move to Seattle some time after the trip, it was a dream of mine once again getting pushed off. Then, this amazing gift falls into my hands. I hope my aunt and uncle will understand the gravity of how much this has changed my life. Hopefully the long thank you note I am putting in the mail tomorrow (along with my absentee ballot for mayor) will give them a good idea! This may seem silly to some, but it is a dream come true for me.

Since my 22nd birthday is coming up in a few days (16 exactly!), naturally my familial birthday gifts have been directed towards equipping the DSLR. Off of Ebay, I bought two new lenses for $30 each which is pretty amazing for lenses. I was planning to spend roughly a hundred for just one! Then my mother made the comment of buying a tripod for Christmas. However, I realized what with buying the lenses and other material items I am going to need a way to carry all this stuff around. Thus begins the 4 hour hunt for a camera bag!

Now you must be thinking, 4 HOURS! Good god Diane, don't you need to do some reading on Spartans? Technically, I should be, but I got caught up in the world of mass manufactured camera bags. I initially began looking at the traditional sort of camera bag: black, boring, huge, and if anyone saw you carrying it on the street they would know exactly what was inside thus the bag screams "STEAL ME!". This is a situation I definitely want to avoid. We all know I have the travel bug which means the camera is going with me EVERYWHERE. I don't want a camera bag that essentially has written on it in big red letters "EXPENSIVE CAMERA EQUIPMENT INSIDE!" One would think finding a bag that looks like any other bag, minus the logo and bulky size, wouldn't be difficult. I can't be the only photographer with this problem!

Well apparently I'm not, I just happen to be one of the few that care though. After hours of searching Ebay, Amazon, Google, Yahoo even AskJeeves for a clue I just kept finding the obscure label only available in the Philippines and a designer bag that looks exactly like a bowler bag, I nearly gave up. Then along came a blog, posing the same problem I am describing here which linked me to my new best friend - etsy.com. Apparently it is a web site that features art and crafts by people trying to make a profit. Looking around the site I discovered a designer - Wicked Stitch Designs - who specializes in custom camera bags in which the buyer can select his/her choice of fabric and make a personal bag for you! HOURS OF SEARCHING FINALLY BECAME WORTH IT - including the eye strain!

So - I wrote this note in part to get this all off my chest since my roommates are hiding in their rooms/at work and also to spread the word to friends who might know others in the same predicament. Now - I am going back to my school work before passing out!

This is a great start to November!

http://www.wickedstitchdesigns.com/index.htm

PS - look forward to amazing photos with my new camera after Thanksgiving through the rest of my life!