Photographer Daniel Beltra Wins Prestigous Award!

 
Daniel Beltra was awarded second place in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, which is jointly sponsored by the Natural History Museum in London, England, and the BBC Worldwide. Daniel won for his work for Greenpeace documenting the building of the Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River in Brazil, which will displace up to 40,000 indigenous people and destroy untold amounts of rainforest and biodiversity. Daniel was born and raised in Spain and now calls Seattle, Washington, home. He has made this his life's work, being a witness to and exposing the damage and destruction that people have brought about in the world, even as he frequently puts his own life at risk. Congratulations, Daniel, and keep up the good work.

New Photo Backpack

There is a new camera backpack for outdoor photography that actually looks new and is even exciting. It's being made by the new company, MindShift Gear, and will be called the Rotation 180⁰ Photo Backpack. This backpack and company is a collaboration between Mike Sturm and Doug Murdoch, who were designers for Think Tank camera bags, and conservation photographer, Daniel Beltra. I wrote a profile of Daniel for PhotoMedia Magazine in 2010.

The Rotation 180⁰ Photo Backpack is actually more of a system than just a backpack, with several well thought out innovations. The main feature is a separate belt pack that can be rotated out of the backpack and around to the front while wearing the backpack! Backpacks are really handy for carrying heavy loads for extended periods of time, but they are not really convenient to use. This product solves that problem rather neatly. This new backpack will be of interest to anyone who carries their equipment for hours at a time, whether you are a nature photographer or a photojournalist. There will also be a number of worthwhile accessories that will make it even more versatile, including rain covers and tripod slings.

This company and product is actually a Kickstarter project for the moment and will go into production very soon. They've already met their goal for Kickstarter, but they have some rewards packages left, if you want to get in on the action. As of today, they have 20 days left to go.

You can see their Kickstarter project here and you can read more about the Rotation 180⁰ Photo Backpack here.