My new daily carry bag

I’m talking about Think Tank Photo’s Retrospective 5 V2.0 shoulder bag. This bag does everything for me. This bag holds everything for me.

As a woman, it’s very difficult to find a good camera bag that does it all, while also looking stylish. I’ve looked over all of the usual suspects, including Peak Design, Jil-E, ONA, LowePro, Domke, Jo Totes, Kelly Moore, and F-Stop Gear, and have found them lacking in one way or another. I’ve found that a lot sacrifice style over substance, and while style is important to me, there are other more important factors to consider.

The key factor in choosing a camera bag is functionality - it must hold everything for me: camera, a Leica Q2; accessories such as extra batteries, memory cards, maybe a flash when I pick one up, and; personal items such as my wallet, keys, pens, eyeglasses, iPhone. The Retrospective 5 V2.0 does this in spades, with all of its pockets and main compartment room. Its 9.5” W x 7.8” H x 4.9” D internal dimensions hold lots of stuff in a space that is neither too small nor too large, but just right for the female photographer.

There are so many pockets to store your stuff in this bag. The front of the bag, as seen above, has a velcro-locked front pocket, which opens to a nice space to store things like extra batteries or even makeup, depending on what you are carrying. Within this big pocket is a zippered storage pocket where you can even put more items. The main compartment has a velcro-locked space that can carry a 9-inch tablet, notebook or other items. On the right side of the bag, there is even a beverage bottle holder.

The bag itself overall I feel is very stylish and has a relatively small form factor. The bag is made of sand-washed cotton canvas that has a durable water-repellant and polyurethane coating, and is very soft and formable. The exterior dimensions are 10”W by 8.5”H by 6”D, and it weighs in at 2 lbs. The bag is available in Pinestone - my bag’s color - or in black. The bag retails for $159.75, and in my opinion, is worth every penny!

Think Tank Photo does have several sizes in their Retrospective line, in addition to a full line of various camera bags, cases and numerous accessories to carry just about anything, Check them out at www.thinktankphoto.com. I was not reimbursed for this review.

National Packard Museum

Today I ventured to the National Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio. While there were many beautiful cars there, the cream-colored one below was by far my favorite, and the best-in-show. It was in immaculate condition and a beautiful representative of the Packard automobile.

Carnation City Mall of Alliance, Ohio

Built in 1983, just short of 40 years of operation, the Carnation City Mall’s days are numbered. The movie theater will have its last day of play on August 28th, and it will be only a matter of time until Alliance, Ohio’s Carnation City Mall is torn down. Only a few businesses remain to be relocated, with Dunham Sports taking the old JC Penny space.

As a beginning of my personal project titled Project Alliance, I spent some time there today taking images of the Mall and what’s left of it. I will be photographing the old city that I call home over the coming weeks and months, mostly in monochrome. There are so many nuggets in Alliance, and the City itself does have a story to tell, so hopefully I will be unwrapping that through my images.

First looks at Leica Q2 Images

Yesterday I traveled to Cedar Point, Ohio to visit and photograph the Field of Dreams, and all of the beautiful sunflowers in the field. Below are a some of my images taken. It really makes you think again using just a 28mm lens…. This was also the first time I’ve used the new camera!

Unboxing the Leica Q2

So today I received my new camera, the Leica Q2… here are images of the great unboxing! One would almost think the box was designed by Apple, it is so efficient!

No more weddings, I’m moving on…

After months of deep thought and reflection, I have decided to immediately cease operating my wedding photography business. I will honor the commitments that I currently have, but will not be accepting any new wedding jobs, neither now nor in the future.

So what’s next? Well, I’ve purchased a Leica Q2 and will be embarking on taking photos of the things that I love to shoot; landscapes, architecture and linear works, street and town. Eventually, as I rebuild my portfolio, I hope to begin selling my photography at local northeast Ohio craft fairs, and possibly entering competitions again.

Thank you to all of my clients, its been a wild ride. Please check back here for my new beginnings, and follow me on the next adventure! Blessings.

My favorite photo of the year...

This was captured at a small Gazebo wedding this past October, and is perhaps my favorite wedding photo of the year. The horse and carriage was there and, in exchange for taking a couple of pics, the owner-driver let us pose in the carriage for photos.

A Post-wedding Reception

Here are a few snippets of a post-wedding reception held at LockKeepers in Valley View. The happy couple had gotten married earlier in the year on the West Coast and came home to hold a reception.

A Gazebo Wedding in Berea

Here is a very small representation of photographs from a wedding at the Coe Lake Gazebo in Berea. It was rainy in the morning, but turned out to be a wonderful afternoon for a wedding. Gazebos and small weddings are so much fun!

A Winery Wedding

I got to photograph a small, fun wedding at the ThornCreek Winery in Aurora. It was a very casual and free event, the bride and groom were hip and loose, and it was a great time capturing their wedding. Public photos limited to the couple and select guests.