We were truly inspired to collaborate with adventure photographer and all-round-great person Trevor Clark for the launch of our newest outdoor camera pack: the Flipside Sport AW.

Trevor is based out of South Lake Tahoe, California—but with his tricked out 4×4 Sportsmobile/traveling studio drives all over North America with “a camera in my hands, smile on my face and butterflies in my stomach.”

He loves the “elemental” moments in life and captures them with a very distinctive POV. He says the Flipside Sport AW fits his working style as he likes to carry his gear on his own two legs (or via kayak, bike…you get the idea). You can read more and view Trevor’s work on his web site.

We encourage you to stay tuned to our Facebook page for more Flipside Sport AW inspiration.

Now that summer is approaching (at least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere), it’s a great time to get outside with your camera and get on-the-go access with an active adventure backpack!

Build a comfortable, flexible carrying solution for birders and wildlife watchers. That was the mission of our product and design teams as they set out to create the Lowepro Optics Series.

We learned that most birders and wildlife watchers explore the natural world with three items: binoculars and/or a spotting scope, a field guide and/or tablet and a notebook. Some carry cameras, extra lenses and digiscoping adapters. And most like to keep a few creature comforts within easy reach (water, phone, snack, sunglasses, etc.).

We also gleaned that comfort and protection were key issues—both in-field and in-transit. So we considered the different needs while hiking and observing versus auto and air travel with gear.

After many hours, days, weeks and months of discussions, outings and observations with birders, naturalists, wildlife photographers and weekend enthusiasts, we finalized the collection. One beltpack: the Field Station. Three backpacks: Scope Porter 200 AW, Scope Travel 200 AW and Scope Photo Travel 350 AW. Each purpose built for protection, comfort and easy transport of optics and camera gear.

Before the Optics Series launched, we took out a crew from our home office in Northern California to test the beltpack and backpacks at Las Gallinas wildlife ponds and marsh. The results were favorable.

The hands-free designs made it easy to use binoculars and big glass. The silent zippers and clips didn’t disturb the avian subjects. The supportive harness systems and padded backpads added comfort while walking or standing patiently for long periods of time.

We created a mini-site devoted to the Optics Series where you can get a better look at each design and feature, plus watch videos with the bags in action. We’ve even added a helpful Optics Series Fit Guide so you know which designs will fit your kit. Please check it out. We hope it inspires you to find a bag for your big day!

It’s Free Bag Friday and time for you to throw your lens cap in the ring for a chance to win the Photo Traveler 150 camera/tablet backpack.

Just comment below about how you like to use your tablet (such as an iPad) and camera together. You have until midnight, Sunday, April 1 to enter. We’ll pick a winning comment next week and announce here and on our Facebook page. As always, the give-away is void where prohibited.

The Photo Traveler 150 is a nifty bag. It holds your Compact System Camera gear, or enthusiast DSLR kit. Plus, it has a dedicated pocket to store and protect your tablet computer. Combine that with its handsome urban styling, and you have a winner for casual shooting and computing when out and about.

So let us know how you like to use your camera and tablet together… and good luck!

Derrick is the Photography Evangelist for Lowepro.

According to Ansel Adams, “There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer”.

This symbiotic relationship inspires us to design thoughtful, useful and inventive bags for everyone from hardworking pros to eager enthusiasts. We have great respect for those who get out in the world and create pictures.

When you take a moment to share a picture of you—or a friend—with a Lowepro bag, it’s very gratifying for us. And it’s a good way for us to get to know each other.

Take a look at the submissions from photographers and Lowepro fans at the mylowepro community section of our web site. We encourage you to share a moment with all of us: photographers and viewers.

It’s easy to submit. Just go to the Send Us Your Photos page to learn more.

Thank you!

Pro shooter Chris McLennan has been using one of the commemorative Flipside 500 AW bags for some time now. So when we launched the

“I love the extra capacity and depth that the FlipSide 500 gives me. This makes it perfect for the Canon “one” series camera body and a range of lenses – yet it is still compact enough to make it quick and mobile. I regularly carry it on my bike or hiking when I don’t need a huge amount of gear. It easily accommodates the new Canon 300mm 2.8 lens on a camera along with several extra lenses.”

Did he say he has the Canon 300mm f/2.8 L? (Sorry, I got distracted for a minute.)

And in terms of the backpack’s usability?

“The actual Flipside feature is fantastic both for security and for being able to put the pack down in snow, sand, or a damp dirty environment, and not have the resulting discomfort against your back… Plus, its low-key looks does not attract unwanted attention.”

So even if you don’t have a 300mm f.2.8, the new Flipside 500 AW is a great outdoor backpack. Just ask Chris.

Derrick is the Photography Evangelist for Lowepro.

Want a chance to win the new Event Messenger 250? Just comment on this post about how you would use the Dual-Mode Flap design in your photography. In other words, when would you be in “secure” mode and when would you switch to “quiet” mode. You can read more about this here.

Flap set for secure mode where the hook-and-loop fastener locks against the front of the bag.

You have until midnight, Sunday March 4 PST, to place your comment. Next week, we’ll randomly choose a comment and announce the winner here and on our Lowepro Facebook page. As always, void where prohibited. And just so you know, we really are interested in how you would use this bag

Good Luck!

Photographer Paul Morrison with the Limited Edition Flipside 500 AW at the Lake Louise Men’s Downhill races in 2009. © Nick Didlick

Editor’s note: Our friend and Loweprofessional Nick Didlick is a photographer, photo consultant and web designer who has tested and worked with our bags for many years. We relied on his expertise when we began the concept of our Flipside 500 AW in 2008. The Olympic Winter Games seemed like an ideal venue to test the mettle of a rugged, roomy and secure outdoor photo backpack, and Nick’s input was invaluable to the creation and reception of this purpose-built carrying solution. Here he shares the story behind the design.

“Back in 1984, while covering the Olympic Winter Games in Sarajevo, I realized that backpacks are the only way to go when covering major winter sports. Since then Lowepro has been on my back for some of the most memorable winter and summer sporting events.

In 2008, Tim Grimmer (Lowepro director of marketing and product management) came to my home in Vancouver, British Columbia on a research trip. His mission was to talk to me (really, he grilled me!) on what would be the best design for a backpack for sports photographers. The discussion was lively and included all aspects of what a winter sports photographer does and the changing roles of sports photography.

I wanted a bag that would let me ski down an Olympic Downhill course in the morning, walk up an Olympic Bobsleigh course in the afternoon, and then travel by bus and cover an Olympic Figure Skating final in the evening—all the while keeping my gear safe and dry while shooting and travelling between events. It was a challenge that I thought was going to be impossible for Tim and the team. ‘Oh, and I need this bag to carry hand warmers, sunglasses, extra gloves, crampons, and monopod,’ I added.

Tim asked what camera gear I would need to carry in it, which was really the point of the backpack and this was a difficult one to answer, because different winter sports require different lenses, and different photographers carry different lenses to the same sport. I thought about this for a long while, reflecting on all the sporting events I have covered and the sports photographers I had worked with around the world at events.

The bag, I concluded, would have to carry the following:
2 Pro DSLR bodies
A big lens: like a 400mm f/2.88, 500mm f/4 or 600mm f/4
2 or 3 extra lenses
A teleconverter
Spare batteries, CF/SD cards and a few other accessories

Nick's Limited Edition Flipside 500 AW filled with the pro-sized gear needed to cover winter sporting events. © Nick Didlick

The backpack had to have a different way of opening to protect the gear inside from blowing snow. And I didn’t want a million pockets as they are difficult to manage with cold or gloved hands. ‘Oh yeah Tim, one more thing: I need the bag to fit in the overhead baggage area of an airplane!’

I introduced Tim to my friend Paul Morrison, a Whistler-based photographer who covers extreme skiing and with whom I have spent many hours on the side of a mountain waiting for an event to start. Paul and I have different views of what a bag should be, but I always find his insights to be valuable. And we have the common vision that being ready for the picture is what counts, and that should be the primary function of the backpack. And so the challenge was laid down.

Lowepro took all of this information that Paul and I provided and months later produced the Limited Edition Flipside 500 AW. They shared these backpacks with more than 700 pro photographers who covered the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. And now, the Flipside 500 AW is available to all pros and photo enthusiasts who need a backpack that’s ready for those big moments. After all, it’s really ‘the picture that counts’.”

To learn more about Nick Didlick, please visit his web site.