Best dressed photographer

Despite my best intentions, I took very few photos while on my recent Tennessee vacation. I had high hopes of hundreds of snaps of the blue-grey Smoky Mountains, or white-capped streams, but it wasn’t to be.

I did get a chance to practice my portraiture skills, but came away with zero photos of my vast extended family.

Going a full week with so little photography time, I’m very excited about taking my usual weekend hike. This time I have a new piece of equipment, or rather a functional fashion accessory, to try out.

I have a rather large camera bag. It’s a backpack really. The entire bottom zips open to a padded compartment with adjustable sections. I keep my camera body, at least one lens, and my lens filters in this part.

The larger upper pocket holds my cords and cables, extra batteries, my Flip and point/shoot cameras, my lens shields, flash reflector, additional media cards, shutter remote, lens cleaners, and thumb drives. The back pocket, also padded, often houses my laptop and manuals.

Needless to say, it’s freakin’ heavy. To avoid having to lug the whole bag around, I have a smaller shoulder case to carry my three extra lenses. And, yes, many times I use each of these lenses during a single photo hike.

The thing is, the lens case is incredibly awkward to carry around. It’s difficult to access and to make it easier, I have to wear it like a fanny pack. I’m embarrassed for even the birds and squirrels to see me – it just screams geek.

So, I’ve been looking for a better alternative, and I think I’ve finally found it: a sportsman’s vest.

Replete with multiple pockets, it’s perfect. I can put each lens and my mini cameras in a separate compartment, the smaller pockets are just the thing for the batteries, and an inner zippered compartment will hold my iPod and keep the earbud cord out of my way.

Pricing them at Bass Pro Shop and Gander Mountain was discouraging.

While at my dad’s this past week, we were talking cameras. He’s wanting to get a new DSLR and I was giving him what advice I could. When I told him my idea of using a sportsman’s vest, he quickly left the room.

He came back with this… it was even in my size. He had never used it and offered it to me if I wanted it.

I can’t wait to try it out… it’s what all the best-dressed photographers are wearing this season.