Tenba Messenger Bag [Digital 2.0] review

If you are like me, you are on an never ending journey to find the 'perfect' camera bag. I have a great backpack from Kata. {which I will review in a future post} It is nearly indestructible an works great when I travel via an airplane.

O.K. back to my newest bag, the Tenba Digital 2.0 Messenger bag. My first question is this, do the folks that have version 1.0 get to download an upgrade for their bag? :-)


This review is after doing two shoots in two different types of conditions. The first shoot was a photo walk I did in Columbus. [Hey, I needed to try it somewhere after I bought it.] I was on a business trip and the night was beautiful and I could not pass up the opportunity to shoot some pictures of Columbus. {which I posted earlier in the week}.


The second shoot was an engagement shoot along the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio. The bag proved to be an excellent bag and very simple to utilize. It has many pockets [many of which I have no idea what I will put in them but there are plenty]. There are two zipper pockets on the outside front of the bag that the video demonstrates can be used for a wallet and/or iPod, etc. I found them to be very useful for my spare battery and extra memory card case. I like to be able to access both items without searching in my bag.


The other item I like about the bag is the zipper on the flap that when opened enables the user to access anything in the bag without opening the large flap. This is great when you want to avoid putting the bag down or you do not want others to see what is in the bag. The third item I like is the removable dividers in the bag. I was able to put my Nikon D200 with a 17-50 f/2.8, 70-300 VR, 50 f/1.8, and SB800 comfortably in the bag with room for at least one or two smaller lenses. I also had a 67mm polarizer [in its protective case] and a few micro cloths in the main compartment. On the front of the bag under the flap, I had a lens pen and a few other items.


This bag has a compartment for a laptop but I doubt I will use the space for the laptop. It seems as if I put in my 15 in. Dell it will make the bag too bulky. Which takes away another item I like about the bag. It is not too bulky like a 'typical' over the shoulder camera bag. The strap works great when it goes over the neck and rest on the opposite shoulder. Hence, when I carry it on my right side, the bag strap rest on my left shoulder. It was very comfortable and neither my shoulder or neck was tired or sore after using it a few hours. [an all day shoot such as a wedding or sporting event might prove this to be different but...]

There is a section close to the body for magazines, papers, etc.. This is another item I like about the bag. It is close to the body and anything you put in it [e.g. map, notebook, instructions, etc.] they are within easy reach without the need to open the bag and search for the item.


The bag as a waterproof bottom to prevent damage if you put it on a damp surface. However, there is one major item I do not like. When the make flap is over the bag there is no flap or overlap to prevent water [rain, snow, sleet] from getting in the bag. When I was shooting the engagement shoot at the beach my first thought was will sand get in the bag if it [sand] blows around. I noticed some [maybe all] of the crumpler bags have a flap that folds over when the main flap closes.

I am sure I am not the only one that was caught in a storm when out on a shoot. When I was shooting the Bridgestone Open in Akron, OH, the skies opened and if I had this bag my thought would be to somehow protect the openening from water getting in it [maybe version 3.0 will have a fix and I can download it for free].


There have been other shoots where the weather turned sour very fast and there was little time to protect the gear. Although the opening is small and in most situations the opening will never come into play, it is a concern. However, even with that stated, I give the bag a rating of 8 out of 10. For most of my work, this fault will never come into play. When the situation arises where it could be an issue, I will use my rain gear to keep the opening protected.


The retail price of the bag is $100 [give or take a few dollars] and it comes in many different colors. Would I purchase it again or recommend it? Yes! Is it a perfect bag? No, but if there is one then write me a note!

Please vote for my pictue on Photrade! :-)

This Week in Photography is having a contest on photrade with the theme entitled "decay".  Please click on the link below to vote for my entry.  :-)  While you are there, enter one of your pictures in the contest!

Vote for my photo!vote

This is the image I submitted for the contest.  Unfortunately, this is an example how people destroy the property of others.  We found this on the far side of our property.  There was an access road to the property [it is now chained off] that folks would drive up and dump their 'trash'.  So sad.

  This is another image from the same area that I considered submitting for the contest.  Both were converted to an antique B&W in Lightroom.

Fireproof [your marriage] the movie This looks like a great movie!

A walk in Columbus, OH

Recently, I had the opportunity to walk the streets of Columbus, Ohio and 'grab' a few interesting shots of the city.  The city is a mix of beautiful historic architecture mixed with modern 'sky scrapers'.  The city even offers a replica of the Santa Maria.  The first image I took at the 'end' of my walk and all the lights were 'out' in the area.  This beautiful structure did not have any lights displaying its beauty.  I set-up an off camera strobe [SB800] and set the strobe to 28 mm to project a wider light.  If I had a second strobe with me, I would have placed it under the arch and to the back to place light on the teacher and her student. 

The shot was hand held @ f/2.8 and 1/60 second.

 

 The second image is a shot of the replica of the Santa Maria.  The white balance was set to a cooler temperature to create the blue cast.  What caught my attention was the details of the boat and its reflection in the water.  

The third image is from the opposite side of the boat and I lit it with the off camera flash and exposed for the background.  My goal was to ensure the large building was exposed using the ambient light.  

If you are ever in the area of Columbus, I suggest taking the time to walk the city in the evening and at night. 

Have fun capturing the beauty of life!

19 North ~ Victory Family Church

This past weekend I had the privilege of shooting some group photos of the leaders for 19 North.
This is one image where everyone was 'clowning around'. I love group shots that display humor and fun! I took this shot from a set of steps that run along side the cafe at Victory Family Church and had a strobe [Nikon SB800] positioned to the right out of sight on a light stand. I set the power output of the strobe [flash] to +2 to obtain as much power as possible to ensure the outside edges of the image received light.

I used my Nikon D200 and the 'flash' setting was commander mode and the off camera strobe was set to remote. Many newer digital cameras have a 'commander' mode setting which allows the use of an off camera flash. This is very useful in many settings. In this setting, by getting the flash off the camera, it enabled me to get the light closer to the subject. I will cover more about off camera flash and diffusers in future blog postings.

The second image was taken earlier in the night during the worship services of 19 North. This service is 'geared' toward the 20 something crowd. I took this shot from the side of the platform using my trusty 50mm f/1.8. This image was shot wide open at f/1.8 and 1/30 second. ISO was 1250 on my Nikon D200.

19 North is a tremendous ministry for the 20 something 'crowd'.

[I wish this existed when I was in my twenties.] Practical Biblical messages are delivered weekly with a special time devoted to Praise and Worship music. The above image was taken during this part of the service. Notice the beautiful singer on the screen in the upper right [my youngest daughter] and outside the view of the image you will see her husband [my son in law - marine].

Later in the month [September 19, 2008], Victory Family Church and 19 North are hosting the first ever 20 something presentation from The Silver Ring Thing. This should prove to be an exciting event! I attended multiple SRT events geared toward the teens and they are always outstanding! I am positive the debut 20 something message will be just as great! Check out either the 19 North site or The Silver Ring Thing site for more details. Watch this blog for images from this eventful night!

Wow! Check out all the cameras

This will be a short blog post. I wanted to point out a video that was posted on the net. Remote cameras at the Olympics.

It is a short video on the number of remote cameras set-up during one race for the olympics. It is an amazing clip.

While on the site, continue browsing and you will discover an amazing collection of images from the Olympics and tips from the photographer that shot them.

Amazing sites

As I mentioned in a previous post, ‘study the work of others to improve your own work’. I was reading a post on a different site and stumbled on the work of Arthur Morris Photography. His focus is bird photography but as you review his work, you will learn a tremendous insight about photography in general. His bird gallery site is a collection of amazing photos and a newsletter with tips and tricks. He also has links to other amazing photo sites.

I added the site of Pro Photo Talk to my blog list. It contains a tremendous amount of information concerning professional photography. However, even if you are not interested in pursuing photography as a profession, the site is a tremendous resource for photography related tips.

Another site I stumbled on over the weekend is Yanik's Photo School. He is a professional photographer and has some amazing tips and tricks in many areas of photography.

The photo for this blog posting was taken at the Pittsburgh Airshow earlier in the year. ISO 500, f/16, 1/1000 sec, spot metering, 300mm.

Study the work of others to improve your skill.

Many years ago I learned the value of studying the work of others for any task I wanted to learn. I figured if they were successful in the task/skill, one of the best learning tools for me would be to study why they were successful.

For more than 25 years I have studied the work of leaders to learn leadership and management philosophies and what makes a great leader. I read books on the subject by many authors and read many books on some of the all time leaders. Through this study I learned the value of reading and studying for self-development. When I wanted to learn more about marketing I read everything I could on the subject.

When I wanted to learn more about preaching [I had the privilege to work with 'kids' and preach to the incarcerated for many years] I studied the writings and messages by the greatest preachers of all time. I studied what made them successful in reaching others with the Gospel.

So what does any of this have to do with photography? It is the same with photography. Study the work of others. Everywhere I go, I look at pictures. What makes this photo stand out? Why do I like this image? Why don't I like the image? [It doesn't make it wrong since photography is an expression of the artist.] Attempt to reverse engineer an image. Think, how did they make this image and why does it stand out to me? The internet is a great tool. There are many photo sites to study the works of others with the data built into the image. On smugmug.com, oftentimes the data is only a click away.

Go to your local bookstore and peruse the magazine section and review why you like the photo. If you want to see great baby photos, pick-up different baby magazines and study the images. Do you like the image, how did they get the baby to stay still, to reach up to the sky, etc. When you find images you really like, Google the photographer's name. You might find their web site and they might have a how to section on their site or blog.

Another tremendous source is your local library. If you live in a major city, oftentimes all the libraries work together. I rent books from the Pittsburgh library system. I log onto their site and I find the book I want. The book is sent to the library I 'pick' and I get an email when it arrives.

Trade books with your friends. I am finishing "The Art of God" that I borrowed from a friend. Why is this book amazing? [I am glad you asked.] The pictures are great, he gives a scripture verse that the picture reminds him of, and he indicates the design category. e.g. Texture and an amazing image of landscape texture is shown across two pages. Pattern, and a beautiful closeup image of heart shaped leaves. [Journey into your backyard and you might find a collection of the same pattern.]

Take workshops. There are one day workshops in many major cities as well as week long workshops on photography and other related skills. For those in Pittsburgh, Scott Kelby's Photoshop CS3 "Power Tour" taught by Dave Cross [a link to his blog is on the right] will be in town Sept. 26, 08.

Finally, buy books on Amazon or Ebay [I buy and sell books on Amazon and Ebay constantly.] In fact, I buy many items used. I find it amazing the condition of 'used' items. Many times something will arrive and it is still in the original box and the wrapper still on the item. If you buy used on any online site, please take the time to do some research on the seller. [I plan to do a quick article on purchasing used items on the net in the future.]

Get out and have fun taking pictures! [The image in this post was taken in Memphis, TN at Crystal Grotto. Hand-held @ f.2.8,1/4 second, 1600 ISO - 24mm]

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Psalms 19:1