Camera Bag update

Way back in March I wrote a post about the search for the perfect camera bag. With all the gear I've been collecting I simply had too much to fit in my adorable, yet small, bag. It was getting so I was either loading up a SECOND bag with additional lenses and my flash (and not a camera bag either ~ just a flimsy, lightweight beach bag that made me cringe everytime I set it down, knowing I had delicate equipment inside it), or I had to leave stuff behind, which was always painful.

And so for the past couple of months I've been on a quest to find THE bag for me. The one that makes me giddy and excited. A few days before the cruise I was in panic mode. I knew I still wanted the small bag, because I was certain I didn't want to take a lot of equipment off the ship each day, but I also wanted something larger to get everything safely from my home in Lake Stevens, WA, through two airports, three timezones, multiple means of public transportation and in to my ship cabin where I could choose at leisure what camera/lens I wanted each day.

What did I take you ask?

Nikon D700
Canon PowerShot G11 (My new point and shoot. Love it! It can shoot in full manual modes and RAW)
Underwater Case for Canon
Lenses: 28 mm, 50 mm, 85 mm.
Flash: SB-900
Flip UltraHD Camcorder Love this, too! So perfectly small.

Well I finally bit the bullet and decided to just get the bag I wanted. The "Jack" medium camera bag by Jill-E. Even if it was pricey. I signed up for Amazon Prime so I could get it in two days, since I had procrastinated so long. The moment it came and I opened up the box, I literally just went, "aaaah ... yes." This bag is meant for me:

It fit everything I brought (except for the waterproof case ~ I packed that in the suitcase, knowing it would be safe), PLUS my ipod and headphones, my wallet, all my memory cards, batteries, cables, business cards, traveling papers ... with room to SPARE. I think it molded perfectly to my body the first moment I slung the strap across my shoulder. We were meant to be together :).

I DID save quite a bit of money on it, thankfully, though because of one of my favorite "seriously, they give you money for doing this?!" schemes, also known as swagbucks. If you haven't checked it out yet, DO! Simply put, swagbucks is a search engine that gives you virtual money for doing basic searches on the internet. You never know when or what you will be rewarded, but it is definitely fun to see something like this pop up on your screen:

You can redeem swagbucks for all sorts of items, but I have traded all of mine in for Amazon gift cards. Since starting using swagbucks in March, I have earned $75 in Amazon gift cards. So that definitely helped when I bought my bag!

I don't use swagbucks all the time ~ I still prefer google ~ but I usually search in the morning until I win and then again in the evening. Plus if you check out the swagbucks facebook page they often give away hints to codes for free swagbucks, which are always fun! Referrals also help, as you earn their first 1,000 points along with them. So if any of you are thinking swagbucks sounds great, you can sign up under me by clicking on this banner:



or by going to www.swagbucks.com/refer/HeidiLawson

Have fun!