Downtime Musings

I got my new Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G lens a week ago today. I still haven't gone out to take pictures with it and it is bugging me. I even had a plan to go out with a couple of local fellow photographers I met online through the "Stunning Digital Photographers" group on Facebook. Unfortunately I had to cancel due to health issues. I've got a neuroma flaring up in my left foot and it is too painful to walk very far. What a drag! I've got an appointment next week to get an injection and hopefully I'll get back out somewhere that weekend.

I did receive a new camera bag last Friday, to hold my new and much larger lens. I got the LowePro Inverse 200 AW, an upgrade from the LowePro Inverse 100 AW. The bags are almost identical except for the size. The new bag holds my Nikon D610, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D, and Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G plus cleaning gear, spare battery, remote, GPS, and filters (although they're attached to the bag's straps).

The most I've accomplished since then was to try an experiment on the bag. I do (or have done) a bit of shooting at night using the LowePro bag. One thing I don't like is trying to find the black zipper pulls on a black bag in the middle of a black night. On my Inverse 100 I had wrapped the zipper pulls with yellow electrical tape. It provided visibility but the tape separated from the pulls and feels and appears sloppy.

On my new bag I decided to try applying some bright finger nail polish to the pulls. I've applied it but haven't tried it out in the field yet. It looks okay and feels okay. I hope it lasts and doesn't flake off. If it does I'm going to try some model or other paint. I think I'd like glow in the dark paint eventually but I didn't see any finger nail polish that glowed in the dark so for now I'm trying a bright yellow.

I did a review of the bag on Amazon and that was one of the things I mentioned as a drawback for me. On the positive side, it does have a light gray interior which is great for helping you see little camera accessories in the bottom of the bag. My Amazon Basics camera bag is black inside, which is the same color as most camera parts. If you drop the hot shoe cover in that bag you need some light to find it.

I've been reading a lot of Thom Hogan's editorials at his site (http://bythom.com/) and enjoying them. I really appreciate his writing style even though there are some typos here and there. He does actual research to develop or substantiate his opinions which seems rare, especially for a web site. I know I don't do much of it here!

Thom has been involved in photography for many years and had a relationship with Galen Rowell (http://bythom.com/chasing.htm) who was a prominent photographer. Thom was part of the original Osborne "portable" computer company. Thom has worked with both file and digital cameras. He has great insight on what to carry in your camera bag and why. I highly recommend following him if you're into photography (which most people reading this are likely to be).

I've also been noticing that my page views are increasing on my blog here. I really think that is cool, that more people are finding out about my little blog and reading it. I am not trying to sell anything here, and don't have the advertising turned on so there are ads which slow the page from loading and which irritate me on almost ever site I visit. Thanks for reading my blog and please feel free to leave comments.