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!
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