I bought a new camera bag today. The two choices to replace my irreparable current bag both were made by LowePro, with one being larger than the other but the two both having the waist belt that I need to help me drag all of my gear around. Unfortunately, as I’ve written, the top of both bags opens the wrong way for my liking.

I had settled on the idea of getting the larger bag, as all of my gear should fit into it pretty easily. The smaller one, based on the dimensional specs, might be a little on the tight side, I thought. So, off to the camera store I went, fully intending to order the large bag.

When I looked at it, however, I thought to myself that it looked so – well - so BIG, and I asked myself if I wanted to carry something like that around with me all day when I’m traveling. Smaller is generally better, fitting more easily onto airplanes, less to worry about bumping into things, etc. So, on the spot, I changed my mind and decided to order the smaller one. The saving of about $60 didn’t hurt, either.

Of course, I need to find out if all of my stuff will fit into it properly, so I’ll assemble my Pentax 67 this weekend and put it to the test. Placing it side by side next to the current one, it seems to be about the same size, so hopefully everything will be okay. I have two weeks to return it to trade up to the larger one if need be, but I’m hoping it won’t come to that.

As to my new scanner, I haven’t had the chance to scan anything since my last posting, but I’ll try to do some more this weekend. I also need to replace my Photoshop Elements 2 with the Elements 4 that came with the scanner. I really don’t use it for anything other than very basic photo editing so I feel a bit reluctant to swap a program I’m familiar with for one that might not offer me anything better but may take some time to learn. I’ll give it a try, nonetheless.

Today’s photos were scanned by the new scanner last weekend. Showing Carlotta in the Nevada desert in 2006, these photos on 35mm Kodak HIE infrared film were the last frames (#s 37) on each of the two rolls I shot that day. For some reason, all of the other photos on those two rolls were covered with white specs. I cannot figure out how this could have happened, with everything ruined except the last frame on each. The other roll of HIE that I developed with these two, from another photo session, did not suffer from any problems. Just one of life’s many unsolved mysteries, I guess, but frustrating nonetheless.