Today I’m headed to Winnipeg, Canada, where I’ll be meeting Buchachon Petthanya, the winner of our My Favorite Things photo contest. He’s coming all the way from Thailand — and here’s a little travel alert that made for a bit of excitement on our end. If US visas are required to visit the US, then they are now also required for any connecting flights through the US. This was something we didn’t discover until Buchachon was checking in at the airport. Argghhhhh!

Thanks to a great ticket agent at United Airlines, we averted disaster and got Buchachon rerouted through Tronto instead of Seattle. Here’s a picture of him receiving some of the other prizes from Dejchart Buranabunpot, our distributor in Thailand.

During the trip, we’ll be spending a couple of days on one of the Tundra Buggys, operated by Frontiers North Adventures. These are really cool, monster Humvees — and should give us some great photo ops with the polar bears. We’ll also be catching up with the kids from the Project Polar Bear Contest and the folks from Polar Bears International. To say that I’m excited is an understatement!

For this trip, I’m packing my Fastpack 350 — and it’s packed to the gills. I have a Canon T1i with two lenses — a 28-300mm and a 16-35mm; a Canon SD1200 IS point & shoot, an Exacti compact camcorder, a laptop, card reader, extra batteries and chargers, cords, cables and adapters — plus all my personal stuff. Did I mention before that I never quite learned how to pack light?  Amazingly enough, with the padded waistbelt, it doesn’t feel heavy at all.

So watch this space over the next few days. I’ll be sharing pictures and hopefully video of our adventure up north.

Last week saw a large smattering of the who’s who in World Cycling pop along to Loweprofessional Geoff Waugh’s latest Lowepro supported Photography Exhibition at the Look Mum No Hands Cafe in London’s trendy Old street. We caught up with Geoff after his opening night to get the lowdown.

Loweprofessional Geoff Waugh

So Geoff tell us about this new exhibition? Why Selectism?

Well, we (me and the designer) pondered over names and most of them sounded too hifalutin to be honest. Selectism came about because in cycling there are many choices to be made. Some of us select which bike we want to ride, we chose the clothing we want to ride in whether it be to complement the weather, the bike or both, we chose the tyres, the gears and we select the actual lines we ride out on the trails. Occasionally, we select not to ride at all. I liked the look of the word too; thought it would look good on a layout.

Image courtesy of Geoff Waugh - Selectism Show

Are there any special unique stories on show then?

Two I can think of. First the Holgaramas which are panoramics shot on the toy Holga camera. I showed the designer at Orange bikes company a pano I had shot and he got excited enough to commission me to use the techinque for some images for their brochure. The pressure was on. I had never shot this style before for anything but fun and Holga shooters know the results are unpredicatble to say that least. The cameras work best inbright sunshine and this job was inside a murky welding shop. So, I took my Multiblitz lights and some high-ish ISO negative film. The results were better than I could have hoped for and gave me a lot of confidence to use the method at anytime. I suppose the second is the contact sheet montage of Hasselblad images from this year’s 3 Peaks cyclocross race in Yorkshire. These have never been seen before.

Contact Sheet courtesy of Geoff Waugh

So you seem to be a big fan of film, do you think this changes your attitude to taking pictures?

For me it has re-kindled a creative spark that has lain dormant for a while! When digital photography first appeared it was novel and fun. Now it is the other way around. I shoot film for the pleasure of not seeing the results instantly, of taking the film to the lab and interacting with a real person. I saw a good quote recently where a surf photographer Erica Doria said: “I think it is important people undertand that those who chose to shoot film are shooting blind and are aiming to score our best shots in one attempt not one out of a 100 frames.” That says it all really. It also exposes (excuse the pun) those who don’t have the goods. But I would like to emphasise that I am a digital shooter 90% of the time. I use film for certain looks and in certain situations where a commission allows it.

Your famous for your bike pictures, but you’ve got the full package of genres in your portfolio, do you like pushing the perception of your photography with each shoot?

I will shoot whatever I am asked to shoot in a commercial sense. I doubt I will ever shake off the ‘he’s a bike photographer’ label but I don’t have a problem with that, it’s natural when a percentage of work is bikes. But recently I have shot a printing company’s products and a wedding which is pretty far removed from the two wheeled thing. It’s always been a case of have camera will travel!

Holga Panoramic courtesy of Geoff Waugh

What’s next for Mr Waugh?

Back up the road to Yorkshire to shoot more Orange bikes this time for Privateer magazine, over to Belgium for cyclocross and six day track racing and some personal projects I have bubbling away in the background that will turn into published work in the long term. All good.

Thanks Geoff!

Geoff Waugh’s Selectism Exhibition is on at Look Mum No Hands till the 30th of November. For more details click here

For more information on Geoff Waugh check out his site here.

With video becoming more and more mainstream with today’s DSLRs have you found yourself wanting to learn more? I know I have. Lowepro sponsored videographer and photographer Michael Coleman will be featured at B&H’s Event Space on October 26th from 1:00-3:00pm. He will be letting you in on his shooting secrets, telling you how he got to where is is today as well as  how the new S&F series works for videographers.

Make sure to register here as space is very limited!

Michael Coleman started Colemanfilm Media Group shortly after graduating from Northern Californiaʼs arts college, Exʼpression College for Digital Arts, in March 2003. Michael continued his studies after graduation with legendary Producer/Composer Jack Douglas.

We are super excited to be a sponsor of Michael and be sure to stop by our booth at PPE where he will also be giving a few talks!

Hi my name is Pete Hill and I am the VP of Design here at Lowepro.

Earlier this summer I attended the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City. While the show is not focused on photography it is a great place to look at new materials and trends in rugged good-looking bags. It also represents my professional roots, with more than 25 years spent designing products in that industry. With such a long history in outdoor, the show is a great place for me to catch up with old friends and now their children.

At this summer’s show I was introduced to the niece of and old friend, Todd Skinner. Todd, a professional rock climber, was killed in a climbing accident a few years back and his passing left a void for me as it did all of his friends and family. So it was a real pleasure to meet his niece Becca.   A college student and a hard working photographer, Becca was in Salt Lake to meet up with Lowepro photographer Chris Noble  to work as his photo assistant on a shoot in West Water Canyon. 

After meeting her I took a look at her blog  and her site . It’s the work of a young photographer, but one that is putting the time in to create sincere work. As family of an old friend I wanted to make sure she had the right bag to support her work. The one she chose was the ProRunner 450 AW. She needed the size for all her gear and her computer.  I am looking forward to getting her feedback.

With PPE coming up extremely fast, we wanted to give you a sneak peak at some of the happenings that will be going on at the Lowepro booth.

If you are going to be in NYC Oct. 28th-30th, this is something you don’t want to miss! In addition to seeing our awesome new products first hand, we are going to be having numerous pro photographers speaking at the booth, giving you first hand experiences with our gear. We have already announced the very talented Michael Coleman will be on hand (he’s also speaking at B&H’s event space) and there are many more announcements to come. We are also going to be doing impromptu interviews in the booth as well as holding exciting contests where you, our fans, get to win great prizes. I recommend you follow us on Facebook( if you don’t already) to assure you hear about all the juicy details. We are also sponsoring NYCFotoWorks Portfolio Review & Workshops that will be going on during this time, so be sure to check them out.

There will be a lot more exciting information coming out as we get closer to the show… see you at the Lowepro booth!

Lowepro Pro Trekker 300 AW packed and ready for travel.

After some deliberation, I settled on the Pro Trekker 300 AW for the trip to Germany to work the photokina event. My itinerary from San Francisco to Cologne involved a few stops, putting the portability of the Pro Trekker 300 to the test. I kept records of each stop to help you make the best decision possible when traveling with this “bag that inspires confidence.”

Before I get to the play by play, I should share how I prepared this bag for air travel. I left the removable belly band at home because I wouldn’t be hiking on this trip. The backpack fits in tighter quarters without it. The final weight for the fully packed Pro Trekker was 27.2 pounds. I can carry on a maximum of 40 pounds on US Airways flights. But other airlines very, so be sure to check weight as well as size. OK, let’s see how this plan worked out…

Inside view of the Pro Trekker 300 fully loaded.

Car to Airport: Segment 1 — In terms of storage, this is the easiest leg of the journey. I tossed the Pro Trekker in the trunk of the car. Since it has handles on three sides, it’s easy to grab while unloading.

SF to Philadelphia: Segment 2 — I boarded an Airbus A321 (183 seats). I lucked out on this flight and was comped a first class upgrade. (I’m a Silver Preferred flyer with US Airways, and they upgrade us for free sometimes.) Needless to say, the Pro Trekker fit easily in the overhead compartment. At this point, I’m just cruising.

Philadelphia to Munich: Segment 3 — For the trip across the Atlantic, we board a bigger plane, an Airbus 332 (258 seats). I didn’t get a free upgrade for this flight, so I’m parked in the economy section. Quarters are much tighter here. Fortunately, once again, the Pro Trekker 300 fit without issue in the overhead compartment.

Airport to Hotel, Munich: Segment 4 — My friend Oliver who lives in Munich was able to pick me up at the airport and drive me to the hotel. Another easy leg of the journey for both me and the Pro Trekker. I spent the night in Munich and went to Oktoberfest. That’s another story I’ll report later…

DB BAHN from Munich to Cologne: Segment 5 — The last thing I wanted to do was get on another plane the next day, especially a small one. So I booked a seat on the high-speed train. It’s a 3.5 hour ride, and much less restricted than airplanes in terms of luggage. I just carried everything onboard. No problem at all.

The good news now is that I have my complete camera rig with me as I work the photokina event. And because the Pro Trekker is so rugged, I was not concerned at all during my journey to Cologne.

Derrick Story is the Photography Evangelist for Lowepro.

Yesterday saw the annual Gear of the Year awards hosted by Bauer Media take place in London. Drums rolled and Fireworks went off as the winner of the Best Camera Bag 2010 was announced. Needless to say we were absolutely blown away that the Pro Trekker Series won this mighty accolade!

Since launching the Pro Trekker series earlier this year, the 5 star reviews and awards have rolled in from all corners of the globe. It has simply been called ‘The Ultimate Expedition Camera bag‘.

Here in the UK it has become the industry standard and staple choice for the leading Landscape and Outdoors Photographers including Colin Prior, David Ward and David Noton.

Please note: Whilst this image shows the Pro Trekker 600 AW carrying an expensive bottle of Champagne, we do not recommend you carrying it into the field as it may effect your focus!