Ok I'm going to admit that I have something that I should get off of my chest. Ya see, I have a problem and it helps to be open and honest about it. Here goes ... I'm a bag junkie. Where some women have more shoes than they possibly need, kinda like my wife, but not as many as they want, I have loads of camera bags, keep getting more and lusting after ones that I don't have. When we are out my wife will gasp in delight of some woman's shoes while I will see some dude with a knockout satchel that leaves me breathless. Yeah, it's really weird.
I do have a practical side to it all, it's not just about more, I use them just not all of them all the time. I do have preferences: I like un-fussy bags. I quickly fell in love with Domke bags and have had a bunch of them over the years. I currently have 6 different Domke bags - from waist pouches to my cool Ruggedwear F2 that weathers in a lovely organic way but is nicely waterproof. I have found that they last forever, are easy to use, have essentially no bulk to them because they are minimally padded and when you move about don't hang on you like a piece of furniture. The stuff made by ThinkTank is superbly thought out. I have their card wallets, a great waist pack made just for audio recorders, a larger waist pack that I use often and their giant Airport International backpack that will house an enormous amount of gear. So much so that when filled it's hard to walk around with. I'm not so hip on their regular bags as they are very tall/square and don't move that well when I do. For the "wear and shoot" bag, Domke still rules. I have a LowePro waist bag, the Sideline Shooter, that is often use for sports work, and their Computrekker which is my "more gear than I want to have on my shoulders but also need to carry my laptop" bag.
I also have a ton of Pelican cases for shipping my gear to and fro as well as a host of satchel bags from a variety of sources. But they all serve a purpose - get my gear somewhere in one piece and if I have to work out of it be easy to access and out of my way. That said I prefer not to have a bag on my shoulder ever. A number of years ago I went to a new chiropractor who took a look at me and promptly asked me if I wore my camera bag on my left shoulder. AAAK! Yep I did and it showed as my left shoulder hung just a bit lower than my right. From that time forward I resolved to put the weight on my hips or not at all. I also stopped hanging my camera from my neck but from my shoulder. Less neck pain and less day long strain in general. Huzzah!
I'm currently on the prowl for the old Domke Emerald series bags. They were a lovely green and had brown leather trim. Yummy! I used to have one but it got stolen and I've never been right in the head since. If you see one, let me know.
Meanwhile here is something that I found regarding David Allan Harvey, a hero of mine, and his bag fetish. Makes me seem like a rank amateur.
Hi Jonathan,
I giggled while reading this post. I'm kind of a bag freak myself. Interestingly, a good friend of mine gave me one of the Emerald Domke bags during photojournalism school. She told me I could use it when I got my first job as a newspaper shooter. Turns out that she passed away right around the same time I landed that gig in 2004. The bag now carries my rangefinder kit and all my memories of her. Thanks for reminding me. Cheers! ...cll
Posted by: Christopher Lawson | August 13, 2010 at 09:09 AM