{"id":3850,"date":"2011-11-25T21:47:28","date_gmt":"2011-11-25T21:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=3850"},"modified":"2011-11-25T23:50:54","modified_gmt":"2011-11-25T23:50:54","slug":"photo-vests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=3850","title":{"rendered":"Photo Vests?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For years I’ve tried every conceivable way to carry my gear, and on many occasions a photo vest is the right solution, that’s probably why I own five!!!! \u00a0Well two were gifts, and I’ll get to that later. \u00a0I break vests down into two categories, stylish and utilitarian. \u00a0The most commonly seen vest is the Domke vest and for good reason, it doesn’t scream “Photo gear!”. \u00a0 It can actually look fairly nice. \u00a0I have a second that is very much like the Domke but is special to me for another reason entirely! \u00a0 \u00a0It was made by Banana Republic back when they made “real” outdoor clothing. \u00a0This is the story; My wife and I were at Hilton Head on a summer vacation with the family. \u00a0I was tagging along with her while she shopped, not my favorite activity. \u00a0She drug me into a Banana Republic, and while she was checking out the women’s clothes I saw this great photo vest, and fell in love with it. \u00a0She could see how much I wanted to get it, but unlike herself, she insisted I didn’t really need it. \u00a0After a lot of discussion I walked out of the store without it, admittedly a little disappointed. \u00a0 Six months later sitting around the Christmas tree she handed me a clothes box size package, I wondered as I opened it what she would have bought me in the clothes line, as I seldom let anyone buy my clothes, but myself. \u00a0Of course you know what is coming, I opened the box and to my shock found the vest she has slipped and bought me back in the summer. \u00a0She said, “You are impossible to surprise, but I got you this time!” \u00a0She had, and that vest will always be my favorite!<\/p>\n

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I think the Domke and “special gift” type vests are best when you want to carry just a couple of extra lenses and some small accessories or filters. \u00a0They distribute the weight well and as I said, \u00a0you don’t look like a pack horse in them.<\/p>\n

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The utilitarian type vests like the Leonard Lee Rue and Vested Interest vests above are best when you have to carry a substantial amount of gear and you want it well protect, and frankly you don’t care what you looks like, after all, photography comes first! \u00a0 The Vested Interest vest has great padding and hold lenses in pockets that are easy to work our of, and is constructed to last for decades! \u00a0The Leonard Lee Rue, is a cross between the Vested Interest and the Domke, slightly less bulky than the Vested Interest but well made and very roomy. \u00a0I got mine from the son of a friend who died recently, he found it in his Dad’s closet and suggested he would like me to have it. \u00a0I’m honored and will keep it in his dad’s honor. \u00a0I also happen to love Leonard and Len Rue, two of the nicest people in photography!<\/p>\n

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Below is one last solution that is not commercially available though several other brands are, a photo jacket. \u00a0This one is one of only four in existence, \u00a0it’s the Bill Fortney Photo Parka, another of my great ideas???!!! \u00a0I made it for photojournalists in the 70’s. \u00a0The coolest feature is the tan color is 18% reflectant! \u00a0Oh well, not every idea goes over so well! \u00a0Only four prototypes exist. \u00a0Bill Pekala, Ned Beatty, Don Nelson, an I have the only four.<\/p>\n

When you don’t want to carry a shoulder bag or back pack this may be the answer!!<\/p>\n

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Bill<\/p>\n

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  For years I’ve tried every conceivable way to carry my gear, and on many occasions a photo vest is the right solution, that’s probably why I own five!!!! \u00a0Well two were gifts, and I’ll get to that later. \u00a0I break vests down into two categories, stylish and utilitarian. \u00a0The most commonly seen vest is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-learning"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3850"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3859,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850\/revisions\/3859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}