A lot of people ask me how I carry all my photography gear on assignments and I alway recommend the Think Tank Photo products. If you have been thinking about buying one of their roller camera bags, now is the time.

Our friends at Think Tank Photo just announced a special deal on their popular rolling camera bags.  Order their Airport Security V2.0, Airport International V2.0, Airport Airstream, or Airport TakeOff rolling camera bags before May 31, 2012 and you will receive one of their Artificial Intelligence V2.0 laptop sleeves for free!  This is a $59 value.

Their Airport rolling camera bags are considered the best designed, most durable in the industry.  Backed by Think Tank’s “No Rhetoric Warranty” and great customer service, their rollers have traveled millions of miles and been used on every continent.

All of Think Tank’s rollers are designed with the intention of helping you keep your bodies, lenses, and accessories near you at all times, even while flying.  Think Tank actually designs their rollers to comply with airline carry-on size requirements.

All of the rollers share three levels of security (TSA approved combination locks, front laptop cable and lock, and back cable and lock for securing entire bag to fixed object).  They employ the highest grade materials, including all fabric exterior treated with DWR (underside fabric underside is coated with PU for superior water resistance), 1680D ballistic nylon, abrasion resistant YKK® RC Fuse zippers, custom designed extra tall skid plates, replaceable in-line skate wheels, antique nickel plated metal hardware, nylon webbing,  and 3-ply bonded nylon thread.

If you are looking to buy a roller before you head out this summer, this is a great time to do so!

To view and order the roller bags click here for the special offer as stated above.

The pitcher? Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Philip Humber threw the perfect game against, unfortunately, my favorite team, the Seattle Mariners. I cannot describe the nervousness I experienced when Humber walked to the pitchers mound in the bottom of the 9th inning. I was well aware of what was going on leading up to the 9th and I was receiving special instructions from my photo editor. All staff were on standby waiting for my images of the captured perfect game. “This will be by far the biggest sports headline of the day” my editor said in an email. Lots of pressure on me, capture the final pitch/out, capture the celebration and sprint to my computer to upload the images to the editor as fast I can. It was exciting!

I decided to position myself in the photo well directly behind home plate. Usually a video camera is positioned in this same spot, luckily not on this day. I was ready to capture history! Then it happened, Seattle Mariners Brendan Ryan check swung for the called strike three and then Humber pumped his fist in celebration.

Almost immediately, the entire White Sox team tackled Humber. Unfortunately, I missed this shot when for some reason the home plate umpire walked right inline of my shot. If you ask any sports photographer, they will tell you many photos have been ruined by umpires, referees, coaches and teammate moving in between your lens and the subject. It’s just another part of being a sports photographer.

Luckily I was still able to capture some great celebration shots including the pile.

As soon as I captured this shot I had too sprint my computer located in the outside 1st base photo well. As I was uploading the images, the stadium cleared out fast. Once cleared, Humber returned to the field for a post game interview and a photo with the Seattle Mariners grounds crew.

As stated above, this just may be the highlight of my sports photography career.

You can view the complete photo set from the perfect game at: http://uspresswire.com/sets/127932

I love shooting night games at Safeco Field (home of the Seattle Mariners). The field is very well lit. I find myself consistanly shooting at ISO 2000 at around 1/1600th shutter speed, using f/2.8 lenses of course. So what do I carry (roll) to a night game?

• Nikon D700
• Nikon D300 (still working on replacing it with either another D700, D3 or a new D4. Are you listening Nikon?
• Nikon 300 f/2.8 – Love this lens to capture the pitchers, batters and infield plays. Plus it’s great for the tightly cropped shots in the dugout.
• Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 – When I am sitting in the outside 1st base photo well, this is my go to lens for plays at first base.
• Nikon 14-24mm – Great lens for capturing those wide angle stadium shots, or even close up shots of the players warming up on deck (a good substitute for this lens and another favorite of mine, the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8).
• Nikon SB800 flash – Just in case
• …and the usual, memory cards, gaffers tape, memory card readers, Macbook and other misc gear all packed into my trust ThinkTank Airport Security roller bag.

This is what will be packed in my Think Tank Airport Security V2.0 camera bag.

• Nikon D700 camera body
• Nikon D300 camera body (soon to be another D700 or maybe a D4
• Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 for close up shots and stadium shots)
• Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 for goal shots shooting from the corner
• Nikon 300mm f/2.8 for shooting up to about the half field mark
• Nikon SB800 flash just in case
• A lot of SanDisk CF cards (can never have enough)
• Black Rapid Strap (love this thing!)
• Think Tank Hydrophobia 70-200 rain cover
• Think Tank Hydrophobia 300-600 rain cover
• Apple MacBook
• ….and lot of other misc items like cables, card readers back up hard drives, etc.

What's in the Camera Bag - Night MLS Soccer Game

(Note: This is natural light that sometime peaks through to the pitchers mound at Safeco Field in Seattle)

(A few more photos from the shoot can be seen on the Steven Bisig Photography Facebook page. While you are there, make sure you ‘like’ the page for more interesting photography posts and photos)

Leslie Wetherholt, owner of the Wetherholt Salon & Spa in Seattle, WA