Bag Review - 2 Sues by Kelly Moore

I hope everyone had a very happy Christmas!! Is it just me or has this year passed in a blink? Anyway... I thought I'd share one of my beautiful Christmas gifts with you. I love giving and receiving gifts, don't you? They tell me I'm loved and appreciated. I love giving gifts that I've put thought and effort into - a true expression of how I feel about the recipient of the gift. Well my amazing mum gave me a wonderful gift this Christmas.


Yes that's right I finally have a Kelly Moore bag of my very own!! Happy day!! After roughly a year of lusting after a Kelly Moore (seriously I visited her website more times than I can count!) mum said she'd buy me one for Christmas. I didn't need to be told twice so I quickly jumped online and placed my order for the 2 Sues bag.


This bag is absolutely fantastic!! Not only is it extremely beautiful and fashionable but it's so functional and very well made. The inside of the bag is well padded and a lovely purple colour. No scrounging for black bits in a black bag. Unfortunately my photos just don't do the bag justice. I was working with artificial light with a bit of flash thrown in for good measure. But you can still get the idea.


Let's talk storage and gear. This bag has heaps of pockets and places to stash a myriad of items. First up camera gear. The section for your camera stuff is extremely well padded. I'm not worried that my camera or lenses are going to get damaged in the hustle and bustle of life. Of course I wouldn't throw if down the stairs or anything but I wouldn't throw my gear down the stairs no matter what it was stored in. In terms of camera gear I can easily fit:
- my d7000 with lens attached
- one to two lenses (depending on size)
- a flash
There's also a removable divider that creates a place where you can put your ipad or android equivalent. A soon-to-be-purchased item I can assure you.

Other stuff I carry around on a daily basis:
- Kindle (I must have something to read with me at all times) ~ in a perfect Kindle-sized pocket!
- phone
- spare batteries for my flash and camera
- quick release plate for my tripod
- camera remote control
- medication
- scripts (for medication)
- lipgloss
- lens pen and cleaning cloth
- keys
- wallet (incorporated in the bag)
Even after all of that I have pockets to spare! So I occasionally take my pocket wizards and/or a mp3 player with me.

One of my favorite features of the bag is the Posey Pocket which incorporates a card holder and wallet into the bag. No more ragged, ripped wallet for me! The great part is that you can have the posey pocket laying against your body so it's safe from any thieving fingers. Incorporated in the posey pocket is a area where you can put your SD cards (or CF cards for that matter) and switch them out at a moments notice.


I've had this bag for a few weeks now (it arrived a couple of weeks before Christmas) and I have to say it has met and exceeded all my expectations. It carries the perfect amount of gear for me and can be totally customizable with the removable padded dividers. I even had it with me on two extremely rainy days where I got absolutely soaked but my gear inside stayed nice and dry. If that isn't the mark of a fantastic bag I don't know what is!

The best part is that it just looks like a normal handbag... Until you read a review like this and then the jig is up I guess... Here's a photo of me with the 2 Sues bag (taken by my mum)


Now if I could just get my hands on the Libby...

Wish / Save List

Hello wonderful internet friends!! How are you today? I'm fantastic! I'm also in (what I like to call) 'lock down savings mode'. Which means I'm saving as much of my money as I can. What might I be saving for I here you ask? Camera stuff for course!! (Really would I be saving for anything else?). Warning photography gear post ahead!

So I thought I'd give you a run down on what I'm saving for:

First I'm saving up for the beloved (and much talked about) Nikon D7000! This camera is so tasty. I swear almost every day I'm reading reviews, watching youTube videos, or re-checking prices. Only a few hundred dollars to save and then this delightful camera will be mine! Here's two of my favorite videos about this beautiful camera:

If Chase Jarvis likes it it's good enough for me! (By the way, I find almost anything Chase Jarvis related absolute GOLD! His thoughts on creativity and advancement are mind blowing)

Of course with a new camera I'd like to get a new lens. It's only natural right? I've got my eye on the Nikkor AF-S 50mm 1.8. The sample images produced from this lens are so bokeh-licious. It will be a wonderful lens for portrait photography. Nothing like a nifty fifty stashed in you camera bag....



And speaking of camera bags I have always liked the idea of a camera bag that looks like a normal handbag. I just didn't like the size or shape of most of them. But I think I've finally found one that would suit me down to a T. The Libby camera bag (in Sapphire please) by Kelly Moore looks like it would be the perfect camera bag for my kit.

Kelly Moore Bag: Libby Bag from kelly clark on Vimeo.

And last but not least lighting. While I love nothing more than natural lighting there are sometimes that you just need the added oomph of a lighting set up. A nice starter lighting kit would be a fantastic addition to a home studio. Something like this would fit the bill quite nicely...

Source

And now that I have made you so bored that you'd like to tear your eyes out I'll end it there. If you read/watched this all the way to the end thanks for hanging in there with me. I'll let you know when I eventually get my hands on all these goodies!

I'd so love to hear from you!! Have you had any experience with any of these products (or something similar)? What's your opinion?

Have a lovely rest of the week!

My Camera Family...

I've introduced you to my camera family... including the latest member of the family - my precious little Instax. But someone's missing.

There's a gap in my camera family that needs to be filled. For I am yet to own a 35mm film camera. More accurately the Holga 135BC TLR. I saw this little beauty and I just knew this was the missing member of my camera family. Here's a picture:

Image found here.

Isn't it beautiful? I just know it would be the perfect addition to my little (or not so little) camera family. The great part is that it takes plain old 35mm film - none of this weird size frames for it. Plus it's reasonably inexpensive. I'd love to have a dabble in Lomography. Here's a pretty good review of it.

This little Holga is on the 'camera gear to buy list'. My obsession is such that I've set up a savings account specifically for my photography costs.

Also on the 'camera gear to buy list' that I have been drooling over ever since it was released is the Nikon d7000 body. I am convinced I'm in love... and that I desperately need this body in my life. Take a look at this beauty.

Image found here.

I could go into all its amazing feature and specs. I could even go on and on about all the things I love about it and explain the reasons why I need it. Instead I'll just let you read this most awesome review. And after you've read that take a look at this video to see this gorgeous camera in action:

I think I want the D7000 more than the Holga. They're duking it out in my mind as we speak. Maybe I could have both? Better start saving in earnest now... 2 minute noodles anyone?

My Kit...

I thought I'd introduce you to my camera gear. Maybe you're interested, maybe you're not. But I thought it might to nice to show you I'm using.

Here's a bad photo of most of my kit (I was forced to use my old point-and-shoot! How I ever lived without manipulating my settings I'll never know!)


So I have a:

~ Nikon d5000 body - I have found it to be a wonderful camera to use and to learn the basics (and some not so basics) of DSLR photography. It's a really great camera even though I have been not-so-secretly lusting after the new d7000 body. But that's another story.

~ Nikon DX 35mm 1.8 lens - I cannot give this lens high enough praise!! It's a fantastic little lens. Great in low light settings. Easy to produce smooth bokeh. The ability to have a super sharp, shallow depth of field makes this a great every day lens

~ Tamron 90mm 2.8 macro lens - This lens is great if you're into macro photography. True it sometimes has to 'hunt' for the focal point in low light conditions. Having said that it still performs admirably well. In my research though I've found most macro photographers suggest manual focus is the way to go regardless of the lens. Another huge point for this lens was the price - it was more than half of the Nikon equivalent. Being a student on a budget made this lens the obvious choice and I haven't regretted it.

~ Nikon 18-55mm & 55-200mm VR - These are the kit lenses I got with the camera. I found them really good to start off with. Really great for someone just starting out. But as I started to get more serious about this photography stuff and learning more about apature and the like I started using these lenses less and less. In fact they haven't been on my camera in over 6 months! I simply don't use them. So they permanently stay at home.

~ Nikon 18-105mm VR - I brought this lens to take to Europe with me as I didn't want to have to constantly change lenses and it performed great. It does suffer from slight barrel distortion at the lower and higher ends but that's easily fixed post-processing. This lens is always in my camera bag (replacement for the 18-55 & 55-200). On very rare occasions I attach it to my camera body and snap away. But this really doesn't happen all that often. I find I work almost exclusively with my prime lenses (35mm & 90mm). I just like them better is all and I think I tend to get better photos with them. Using them has really taught me the importance of framing and appropriate use of depth of field.

~ Third-party external flash - I don't use this often but I always have it in my bag. It works really well and can move and tilt every which way allowing me to bounce light. I'm still trying to work out this flash business to be honest. I find I tend to try and use as much natural light as possible.

~ Fotobestway tripod with ball head - really a must have for most night photography. Plus I tend to use it a lot for my macro shots as well. In fact I's say I use my tripod 90% of the time. The thing I love about this tripod is it packs up small and is quite light yet strong enough to hold my camera at odd angle with the heaviest lens. It's really easy for me to carry and I find the ball head so versatile. I also own a gorillapod zoom which can handle the weight of my kit but is still small enough to shove in my bag.

~ Instax Mini 25 - That's right! I brought it!! It is so fun to use. A completely different experience to working with the DSLR but it has amazing sharpness and clarity for an instant camera. There's something so fun about holding a actual photo within a couple of minuets of snapping the shot. Because of it's lens and settings you can get a beautiful vignette with vivid colors. I'm having so much fun exploring a different side to photography. So expect a few scanned instax photos in the future.

~ I hold all this kit in one of two bags... well except for the tripod. I own a Vanguard Up-Rise 45 backpack (pictured below) for when I go out for a full day shooting. The thing I like about this backpack is it has space up the tip to hold some food, a water bottle, or whatever else you need for a full day shooting. Plus it has quick access to your camera if you need it in a hurry. (For a full description click here)

BUT when I was thinking of starting project 365 I knew I didn't want to be hauling around a big, bulky, black backpack everywhere I went. So I got my hands on a Tenba Messenger Camera Bag in Plum (pictured below). Finally a bit of COLOR!! I use this bag about 95% of the time. It can hold loads of kit, plus all my daily bits and bobs (keys, wallet, id, etc), and it neatly holds my Kindle and/or my netbook! I just like it because it doesn't look like your everyday camera bag and it's super comfortable to wear. (For a full description click here)

So that's my photography kit. I hope you enjoyed the tour.

Note: I have not been paid for my review of any of these products.

What's in your bag?

I Want A Epiphanie!

A fellow blogger mentioned these beautiful bags in a recent post. (Check out her blog) Ever since I have fallen in love with these wonderful, stylish camera bags. One in particular has caught my eye. The ever so lovely Paris bag (of course I have to like the most expensive one!). I like it in purple.

This bag can hold a laptop, a camera with lens attached, two extra lenses and a multitude of odds and ends. It also has a removable cross-body strap with padding with extra support (it is AMAZING how heavy my camera kit gets after a while).

Plus it is just so pretty! I mean no one would ever know you're hauling around hundreds of dollars worth of kit just by looking at it. I could take it to a wedding or out to a nice dinner without looking frumpy.

In short I really want a Paris Epiphanie! But I am faced with a few questions. One: Can I really afford it? I'm crunching figures like crazy to see if I can squeeze it into my budget. Two: Is this where I want my 'camera money' to go next? You see there's always a lens I want to get, or an accessory that I think I might need, and don't even get me started on my burning desire to explore instant photography and film medium. My point is there is always something I want to add to my kit on the horizon. I suppose the question is: Where does this bag rank? I'm just trying to figure out the answer.

It is such a beautiful bag... I'll let you know if I ever make a decision!