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I had a wonderful surprise a couple of weeks ago, my boyfriend bought me a new Nikon D7000, with a 18-200 mm lens. I was totally blown away by this generous gift, and now I have this beautiful camera I wish to protect it. I have a standard camera case to haul it around in, but when I'm out on the trail I cannot carry that big bag and a backpack. I generally carry my camera around my neck, and have a case attached to the chest strap of my backpack that I can rest the camera in to take the weight off my neck, which also protects the camera and makes it quick to retrieve (for when I run into a black bear on the trail). I've been looking at a variety of holster cases, and the same things keep on coming up. Big name brands like Tamrac, Lowepro, MRock. I know these are good cases, proven, tried and tested, but I want something lighter and less bulky. I'm only 5ft 3/4 " tall, (yes, I have to mention the 3/4") and if I wear one of these big cases on my chest, I won't be able to see the trail front of me for several feet, and I'd hate to trip up with my new camera on my chest. I think that I'd be more likely to damage my camera with one of these cases than without it.

So I thought about what might work, and I decided that a form fitting neoprene case would be perfect. When I looked on line I was surprised to see quite a few of them, and they were definitely in my price range, some were even under $10.00 with free shipping. The problem I'm having is that none of them have a belt loop on them. If they had a belt loop on the bottom side of the case, I would be able to slide my chest harness through it, and hey presto, I'd have a super light-weight, non-bulky, form fitting holster case, that would protect my camera from gentle bumps, low hanging branches, dust, and even spitting rain. I imagine that because of the softness of the neoprene, maybe it would get pulled out of shape a bit, but I'm sure it could be fixed by adding some kind of reinforcement.

So here is what I'm thinking of doing; I think I'll buy one of these neoprene cases, and then take it to this lady I know who can work miracles with a sewing machine. My boyfriend has taken backpacks to her to re-design and all sorts of things, so I'm sure she'll be up to the challenge. I'm rather excited about this little experiment, and I promise I'll report back here with the results.

In the meantime, if anyone knows of a case that would meet the specs I'm looking for, please reply to this post, or send me an email. I really like to support a small company, rather than the big name brands when it comes to making purchases. I even skipped to page 55 and 89 in my Google search, in the hopes that I would find some off-brand camera bag that was unique. Years ago I found one that an individual had made that was a chest strap attachment for a backpack that held a camera, it even had a waterproof cover incorporated into it, but now I can't find that. What a shame.

Hi Everyone,

I just made a quick trip to Yellowstone National Park. I only spent four days there, and I had a lot to cram into those four days, but I did manage to get a little bit of photography in. I have posted two new images from this trip. One afternoon Norman and I hiked to Lone Star Geyser. It's an easy three mile walk along an old road. Lone Star erupts about every three hours, and we had a two-hour wait. Prior to her main eruption, Lone Star had a pre - eruption. There were a few other spectators, and after this unimpressive performance (compared to her real eruption) all but one couple left. I had a feeling that she was not done yet, and sure enough 30-minutes later she put on one of the best performances ever. She spurted water high into the sky for a full twenty minutes, turning the sky black with steam. I found the best angle with the best lighting and took some shots. There were a few moments when a rainbow appeared in the rivulets of water cascading back down, I watched the rainbow form, and then click, captured the full scene. If you'd like to see this image you will find it in the Yellowstone album.

On my last morning, the morning I had to drive back to Colorado, I was up bright and early (too early actually) to capture the sun rise in Hayden Valley. I had my spot chosen ahead of time, and arrived just before the sun rose. I set up my camera in the cold, shivering a little. It wasn't too bad until it started to drizzle, at which point I took my coat off and draped it over my camera to protect it. My car was parked a little way off, and I didn't want to dash to it to get another coat, and leave my camera standing alone, so I just got wet. I am after all, waterproof. I took some shots of the first light, and waited out the whole sunrise. Wow, it was spectacular! More than I'd hoped for. There were some clouds that reflected the suns first rays back down onto the Yellowstone River, and between the rain showers it was still, with no wind, and the trees reflected in the water perfectly. I decided to add three of the pictures I took that morning to my Yellowstone and Sunrise/Sunset albums. I hope you will take a look at them.

I don't have any more trips out of town planned for a while, but here in Estes the aspen leaves are just beginning to turn, and the elk are bugling. Hopefully I will get an opportunity to capture a special moment right here in my home base.

Here's hoping you have a wonderful fall, or spring (depending where you are in the world).

Bye for now,
Roxy