body type

Let's talk camera bodies! A few weeks ago I had a first hand experience with shutter death. It was quick (and totally unexpected... um, and not so much painless.) It left me without so much as a goodbye from my beloved Nikon. It also left my hands empty and found my heart wanting.

Well, now what am I supposed to do? How do I create without the perfection of glass and mirror? I did what my heart insisted. I started a project.

This blend of photography and words might manifest a camera. But what camera? I've been pouring over all the reviews... but what I really want is the opinion of fellow Shutter Sisters shooting every day just like me.

So let's sit down and chat about camera bodies, shall we? What's your opinion? Share it in the comments today. Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Polaroid? Let us know your favorite camera. What do you shoot with every day? What camera would you never leave home without? I want to hear your suggestions, your stories, your thoughts on what camera body you own or would love to own.

fashion+function=a new camera bag

*EPIPHANIE CAMERA BAGS FOR WOMEN*

I've been working for almost two years on a line of camera bags for women. The idea first came to me when I found myself constantly wrapping up my $2000 camera (not to mention the $1700 lens) in a hand towel, and throwing it into my purse. Because who wants to carry an ugly old camera bag IN ADDITION to your regular one?! I started talking to other photographer friends. And they all had their own stories about what they used to wrap up their cameras: sweatshirts, pot holders, wash cloths, bubble wrap. I realized there was definitely a need in the market place for a camera bag that was as FASHIONABLE as it was FUNCTIONAL. So I embarked on the VERY LONG, SOMETIMES FRUSTRATING, BUT TOTALLY WORTH IT journey of MANUFACTURING my own camera bags.

Pictured here, are three of the five different styles. On the interior, they all have velcro-removable panels so that you can arrange each compartment to fit your specific bodies and lenses. It can be a straight-up camera bag. OR, it can be just a purse with a compartment for a camera. This makes it perfect for PROFESSIONALS and/or SCRAPBOOKERS. Not to mention just GIRLS WITH NICE CAMERAS. It's really that flexible!

So we're aiming to have the website done in about a month, which is when I'll post details and measurements and all that jazz. But for now, if you'd like to be on the FIRST TO KNOW list

CLICK HERE

SPECIAL TREATS AND DISCOUNTS WILL APPLY. And THANK YOU. Because if I'm honest, I kind of feel like I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve today. I've held this project so closely for the longest time. And now it's out there for everyone to see. Please be nice.   :)  

And we'd love to hear your stories today about the craziest thing you've ever used to wrap up your camera?

***UPDATE*** (12-26-2010)

We've been in business for over a year now. Please visit us at EPIPHANIE BAGS.

Seeing is Everything

I wait for the waves to come swirling around my feet and when they do, I gasp. The northwestern Pacific Ocean waters are cold, so cold. Gorgeous but unapologetically frigid. Enough to send me running for the blanket, which I immediately sprawl out on. Ava refuses to let the cold water stop her. She wades bravely out into the ocean and I watch as her body takes on soft undulations, I watch as the waves slap unevenly against her skin. She calls out to me and I know what she wants. She wants me to join her. Too cold, I yell back. But she pleads with me, she wears me down. Reluctantly, I grab the Nikon, the Argus Seventy-Five (with the wacky cardboard contraption attached) and make my way towards the water. I look into the viewfinder of the old camera and find Ava. She fills the frame of the tiny glass square and I see her with new eyes. I point the lens of my Nikon into the cardboard device attached to the Argus and I begin to shoot. And I forget about the temperature of the water. My feet are numb but I am oblivious. I can't stop looking, can't stop shooting.

I first read about the Through The Viewfinder technique (aka TtV) back in 2006. I followed a link to a link to another link and before I knew it, I was constructing my first device out of an old cereal box. Through the Viewfinder photography is the using of one camera to take a picture of an image in another camera's viewfinder. In essence, using the second camera's viewfinder as a lens. Two years later and I have come to look at it as my secret weapon. When I am stuck in a photographic rut, I reach for my Nikon/Argus/Duaflex combination and hit the streets. I look down through the viewfinder and my framing changes, I see things so differently. I realize this can be said for most photographic techniques but something about TtV excites me in totally different way. It's the perfect combination of old and new. Simple but complicated. And so accessible. It's the next best thing to loading the camera up with film. And while it will never replace shooting with film, it comes in a very close second. I'll admit, I'm hooked. I'm riding high and waving the TtV flag. I'm not too proud to wave the flag.

And I'm converting sisters along the way. If this interests you, I've written a lengthier breakdown (which will lead you to a whole mess of TtV linkage) over on my blog. Enough to get you started, enough to get your feet wet. And I recommend getting your feet wet. Whether it's with TtV or something else. Whatever takes you out of your comfort zone and plops you right down in the middle of someplace new, whatever forces you to see the world differently, whatever that is for you. Wade out into the cold, unknown waters. It's the only way.

Picture and words courtesy of honorary sister/guess blogger Andrea Jenkins perhaps better known as Hula, woman extraordinaire behind Hula Seventy & girlhula a la Flickr.

Friday's Featured Resource- Lens Rentals

When I was planning my trip to Rwanda this last spring, I was so excited to finally be taking a camera that could go the distance.  I knew from my prior experiences in South Africa that I needed a "real" camera and the right lenses to have any chance at all at capturing the magic of such an expansive and exotic place.   When you get the one chance of your lifetime to gather the Cape of Good Hope in your lens, you really don't want to be wielding your adorable Elph.  Trust me.

But.  All I had in the canvas backpack that doubles as camera bag was my Canon Rebel XTi and one really nice portrait lens. That's it.  I considered buying another lens, but with all my other travel expenses, I couldn't even fathom taking on one more purchase.  Especially when my trip was funded in large part by my blog readers.

So.  What to do?

Lucky for me, I had my favorite shutter sister on my speed dial, so I called that girl up and asked her to advise.  Do I bite the bullet, find a credit card that has $600-1000 left on it for the lens I really needed for this trip or suck it up and stick to those amazing children's faces?

Neither, my sage sister replied.  Rent a lens, my friend.

Rent a lens???  I had never heard of such a thing, but there I was one hour later, exchanging email with the incredibly kind Roger from Lens Rentals, an very friendly and efficient Nashville based internet company with a big heart and all the help and advice I needed.  For roughly $100, I could not only rent the $1000 lens of my dreams for a few weeks, but I could take it to Africa worry-free because of LensRentals extremely reasonable insurance program.  Roger then talked me into the perfect lens for me (a wide angle for shots like the one above) and I had it fedexed to my house in plenty of time for my trip.  Return postage and cushy packaging included.  Easy as pie.

Have you ever rented a lens before?  If so, tell us your favorite resources and lens to rent in the comments below.  If not, give Roger a try and let him know this shutter sister sent you.

Stepping Back

If you peek in the small backpack that has become my day-to-day purse, you'll find my Nikon D80, the kit 18-55mm lens and my lens of choice, the 55-200mm. I'm attracted to detail, so I often find myself zooming in close with my 55-200mm lens wide open to inspect natural objects here on our farm – like an artsy scientist of some sort.  I trace the intricate paths of veins on leaves. I stop the car short to shoot thorny thistle. And I don't mind wasting time watching threads of cow tail hair wave in the breeze on a barbed wire fence.  

But this weekend offered a new view and a chance to shift my perspective.  We traveled north with friends we love to a stunning lake site tucked within the Georgia mountains. The cozy home has remained in our friends' family for many years, and my husband has held fond memories of this special place close to his heart since childhood...leaping off the top of the boathouse...exploring the edges of the 20,000-acre lake by boat... and skiing until his legs turned to jelly.  

So when he plopped in the water and squeezed on his ski, I grabbed my camera and realized that I had accidentally left my zoom lens up at the house, leaving me with my ho-hum kit lens. Bummer. How can I get in close from the top of this boathouse? I thought. But when I put the viewfinder up to my eye, it suddenly clicked.  How could I NOT go wide. So I stepped back and gave it a little tilt, then proceeded to give my kit lens a full weekend workout to really capture a sense of space.

What about you? Do you shoot wide? Please share your lens of choice for shooting wide and any tricks that help you capture a sense of place. And naturally, I'd love to see your shots.