It’s technically Thursday, but this week’s selection for Free Bag (Almost) Friday is the Rover Pro 45L AW.

When you need to carry your camera and basic camping gear to the back country, carry it all in the first technical, mountain-style photo pack of its kind: Rover Pro AW. It’s designed for active outdoor photographers who need a comfortable way to hike with heavy loads over long, varied terrain.

Have you seen the new Rover Pro 45L AW and said to yourself, “that bag was built for me?” Well, we want to give one to some lucky photographer! Here’s how you can enter to win.

Rules:

• Tweet @Lowepro
• Mention why you’d love to get this bag in the same tweet
• Use hashtag #RoverPro

Not on Twitter? No problem.

• Share a photo of your current camera bag and why you need the Rover Pro 45L AW on Instagram.
• Use hashtags #Lowepro and #RoverPro.

Not on Twitter or Instagram? Just add a comment to this blog about how you’d use the bag if you won. We’ll randomly select a winner on Tuesday, September 25. The winning comment will be posted here and on our Facebook Fan Page.

Open internationally, but void where prohibited. One winner will be chosen randomly.

If you’re not tempted by the latest offerings at Photokina by Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Panasonic, Hasselblad, or Samsung, then you’re probably not a gear head. And fortunately for us at Lowepro, that was not the situation in our booth today.

Tim Grimmer demos the Photo Hatchback during a video recorded interview.

Photographers from all over the world stopped by to see which bags best protected their gear. We fitted big DSLRs with grips, mirrorless compacts, and just about everything in between. The feeling was, if you have a new camera, we have just the right bag for you.

Here are a few of my recommendations:

Overnight Outdoor Adventure – I’d go with the new Rover Pro 45L AW. It’s our best offering for pro camera and overnight backpacking gear. And it is so comfortable.

Favorite Multi-Use Backpack – Have you tried the Photo Hatchback 22L? It features a dedicated sleeve for an iPad, removable camera box, mid-compartment floor that folds down and opens up the entire interior, and two side mesh pockets. Great for cameras, and terrific without.

The Perfect “It Doesn’t Look Like a Camera Bag” Bag – The new Pasport Sling II holds your medium-sized DSLR or mirrorless compact… and lots of other stuff too. I even got my jacket in there today. If you want to be comfortable and “off the photo radar” while on the go, take a look at the Passport Sling II

Checking out the removable camera boxes in the Rover Pro.

Speaking of the Passport Sling II, I discovered today that it holds all sorts of stuff, including a packed lunch, clean diapers, and a box of business cards. Like I said, if you’re in Cologne, Germany this week, bring your stuff. We’ll find a bag for you.

Derrick Story is the Photography Evangelist for Lowepro.

Michael Clark with Rover Pro 45L AW. © Marc Romanelli

Internationally published outdoor photographer Michael Clark works in all kinds of extremes. He carries his valuable gear on countless assignments and ‘tortures’ it in some of the roughest conditions one can imagine. He took our Toploader Pro AW to Patagonia some time back and braved frigid conditions, rocky terrain and wild weather in order to get his amazing shots.

We are thrilled that he not only influenced the design, but tested our newest outdoor pack – the Rover Pro 45L AW – during the past few weeks.

The first mountain-style photo pack in our collection, the Rover Pro AW was built for all kinds of terrain and all kinds of outdoor shooting scenarios. Michael took his pack for a rock climbing trip in the canyons near Santa Fe, New Mexico to put it through its paces. You’ll want to read his blog for his first-hand impressions of the trampoline-style suspension system, modular camera cases, adjustable shoulder straps and other premium, wilderness-friendly features. And we know all of you gear heads will love the shots of what Michael fits in his pack. Check it out!

To learn more about Michael Clark’s most recent work and upcoming workshops, visit his web site.

Lots of us remember how it feels to break into a new career or pursue a passion (or both!). Photographer Cassady Kissam shares his experience in this full profile. The trials. The challenges. The surprises. The “happy accidents”. They’re all highlighted here in a candid piece we hope you enjoy reading.

Hey, if you have a similar experience, please share it on our Facebook page or leave a comment here.

As always, we love to hear from you.

If you go off specs alone, the Lowepro Magnum 650 AW measures 19.3W X 14.2D X 13.2H in. (49 X 36 X 33.5 cm). But those are just numbers. How about the fact that you can fit 3 Event Messenger 150s or 2 Pro Messenger 180 AWs inside and close the lid?

Now, that’s storage space.

Magnum 650 (top) can hold 3 Event Messengers (middle)
or 2 Pro Messengers (bottom).

Let’s open the top flap and see what we see. Notice that lens inside? That’s a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 standing on end. Looks like there’s some room left over.

You can lay your 15.4″ widescreen laptop across the top. The Magnum even includes a computer case to protect it. Then add 1-2 Pro DSLRS (with the 70-200 F2.8 attached if that’s more convenient), plus 8-10 lenses… and still have room for plenty of accessories.

The Magnums are designed to stack on a rolling cart. So if you have *lots* of gear, you can easily move as many bags as you need from point A to point B.

So how big is the Magnum 650 AW? Big.

Derrick Story is the Photography Evangelist for Lowepro.

Editor’s note: Trevor Clark is a professional photographer, adventure sports athlete and passionate observer of life. Jessie Stone is a doctor-turned-whitewater-kayaker, member of the USA Freestyle Kayak Team and passionate agent of positive change. Trevor was inspired to tell Jessie’s story of building and running a clinic that treats patients for malaria and provides outreach programs. So he took a chance on getting funding, packed a minimal camera/video kit and headed to Uganda. He shares the experience here.

What about Jessie inspired you to create not only a still and motion story, but start a fundraising effort?
Well, I think her story kind of just speaks for itself. I had known about Jessie and what she was doing for a while, but it was really when I met her at a wedding in Mexico (mutual kayaker friends) and had a chance to let her tell me about it that I knew I was going to tell her story. She was so passionate and determined that I instantly locked in on the idea of getting myself over there. Nearly two years went by with this idea in the back of my head, pulling on me, before I tried pitching it to editors. Unfortunately, that didn’t work very well as there just aren’t too many magazines with a budget to send someone to Uganda for a few weeks. I was really frustrated with the whole process and decided to just go and figure it out later. It wasn’t an easy decision. I didn’t have any jobs lined up. I didn’t have the money to float the expenses and the cost of a multimedia edit. But I didn’t want to give up on it either. I had heard about Kickstarter, but didn’t know all that much about it, so as a last ditch effort I put up a campaign and hoped for the best.

Tell us a bit about the Kickstarter idea.
Like I said, the Kickstarter campaign was a complete afterthought. This all came together right at the beginning of the crowd-sourcing/micro-funding movement and I really didn’t know all that much about it – except that it was worth a try. I was already committed to going and had purchased the flights, malaria prescription, vaccinations, etc… when I had this idea. Unfortunately, I only had two weeks until my departure so I had to set the funding goal end date for a few weeks after my return from Uganda. That meant that I would have no idea if I would get any funding or not until weeks after it was all over. With Kickstarter you have to reach your funding goal in time or you don’t receive any funding. I put it all together, then begged and pleaded with everyone I knew to help me spread the word. Here is the link to the project.

How did you imagine you would shoot this and which gear did you gather to make the job possible?
Luckily this type of water-related story fell right into the type of adventure imagery I am used to shooting, so I pretty much had all the gear and river skill set I needed to make it happen. It was pretty nutty though to pack my kayak full of gear – water-related and camera-related, and check that all the way to Entebbe, Uganda. Doing it all on my own, I knew that I would just be working out of my kayak on the river and out of my backpack on shore. With everything I was already taking, and the fact that I was the only one on the project, I just had to forego some of the fancier video techniques with cranes, sliders and all of that. It really was just me, a tripod and some bags.

Which Lowepro bags did you take along and why?
I always take the DryZone 200 on trips like this because there are always some crazy logistics on the other end. I had no idea if I was going to be getting off the plane and jumping into the back of a pickup during a rainstorm or if the place would be one huge dust cloud. It actually turned out to be both, somehow. That bag just allows me to have no concern about the safety of my main camera gear. And I can carry it on any airplane. It’s also a little less noticeable and you can move quickly with it, as I found I needed to do through some of the more populated areas. On the river I used some drybags that I have padded out with old foam and bits and pieces of other bags.

What was it like shooting in Uganda? How did you get your gear there and to the various locations? What made it easier?
Shooting in Uganda was pretty wild; it was definitely a new experience for me. When you’re in a place like that you really don’t want to have a ton of camera gear hanging off of you in front of a lot of people. It’s not that I really ever felt unsafe; it’s just that people there are in such a different position than any of us here in North America. You just don’t want to be waving it all in front of them all of the time. I really tried to be as inconspicuous as I could while still doing what I was there for. So I always just tried to carry the minimum amount of gear possible. And like I said, this wasn’t a project where I had an assistant or anything; so I couldn’t just put gear down here and there or have someone else hold it for me. I think the only way to make it manageable was to use what little amount of gear I could move freely with and make the best of it.

Are you planning other projects like this one? What’s next?
I am actually. This project has sparked a whole new direction on my work with Jessie and right now we are planning to get me back to Uganda later this year. This time, the project will be for Soft Power Health and I won’t have to do any more of my own fundraising. It’s really wild, but everything you do leads to something else.

View Trevor’s Uganda gallery, follow his blog, check out his Facebook page, and see the CNN story.

Editor’s note: Friend of Lowepro and Getty Images sports photographer Ezra Shaw covered a variety of competitions, athletes and the celebratory mood in London. He took a quick moment in his hectic schedule to share his impressions with us as well as a few awesome images. Even though the Games ended a few days ago, we’re still thrilled by the excitement caught in Ezra’s stunning photographs. Check out his London 2012 Summer Olympics gallery on his web site.

Your schedule must have been pretty exhausting. What’s it like to cover the world of amazing athletes in this fascinating city?
Overall the Olympics were great. I had a variety of events to photograph – ranging from the main events such as the Bolt in the 100m Final and Michael Phelps in the pool – to the more obscure sports like Table Tennis and Fencing. I didn’t have much of chance to get out in central London, but I was amazed by how many people were at Olympic Park everyday. In addition to selling tickets to all of the events, they also sold tickets just to enter the Olympic Park and those were sold out everyday.

What was the most challenging venue?
The most challenging venue was the Cycling Road Race – it was the first day after the Opening Ceremony and because it started and finished near Buckingham Palace, there was even more security than normal. It was also difficult to cover because it started in the city and then went out about 50 miles before finishing back at the Palace. Getty Images had a total of six photographers covering the race which made life a little easier. My main assignment was to shoot the beginning of the race as the riders headed towards Buckingham Palace and then go get set up for the finish line. The race was pretty exciting because British cyclist Mark Cavendish was favored to win and spectators lined the streets about 10 people deep near the start/finish line. Unfortunately, for the British fans, Cavendish didn’t win, but it was still a great atmosphere.

Favorite Brit-food snack that kept you on-the-go?
We tried to eat whenever we had time – unfortunately, that means that dinner was usually around midnight when we were finished shooting for the day. During the day, I drank a lot of coffee, sneaking in a meal whenever possible. I was able to have some fish and chips the other night for dinner at a pub, which made me feel like I was in London, but for the most part, the food is pretty similar to what you can find in the States. We have a few photographers that love their food, and they have sorted out a few good spots near our hotel, so whenever we did have time for a real meal, we had some really nice food.

Most surprising moment you captured?
One of the most surprising moments was when Chad le Clos of South Africa beat Michael Phelps in the 200m Butterfly. Phelps was heavily favored, and was ahead the entire race, but was beaten .05 seconds. At the end of the race, Phelps looked over and watched le Clos celebrating.