Review: Epiphan!e Camera Bag - Belle

I'm a growing photographer. As my skill and clientele grows, so does my equipment. When I started a little over a year ago, my little cheap canvas bag that came with my Canon Rebel Kit was good enough for my camera body and 2 lenses, which rubbed up next to each other - not the most ideal situation for expensive equipment. Now I carry at least 3 or 4 lenses, an external flash, batteries, memory cards, etc. with me on a 2 hour engagement session; more when I shoot a wedding. I had been researching camera bags off and on, all the while wearing my kit bag out. 
Like most women, I wanted my next bag to be stylish yet extremely functional and comfortable. I read many reviews for bags from Kelly Moore, ShootSac, Jo Totes, and Epiphanie, yet I hesitated making the jump because buying online without seeing them in person made me nervous. After narrowing it down based on size and style, I couldn't decide between the Epiphanie Belle in teal and the Kelly Moore Classic in fuchsia. Even though the Kelly Moore in fuchsia is chic and many of my photographer friends recommend it, I ultimately let price be the deciding point and went with the Epiphanie Belle.
Here she is:

Isn't she lovely?! I shot with her for the first time last Saturday, and I made her model for me yesterday :) I figured that I'd use my blog as a review in case there are other lady photographers that are trying to figure out if the Epiphanie Belle is right for them.

Appearance
Have you ever bought something online based on the color and then it gets shipped home, only to find the color is a little off (or a lot) from the color you saw on the computer screen? Not here. The teal is exactly what I expected from the Epiphanie website. I love the silver accents: zippers, clasps, tag, and beading (I don't know what else to call it). They are all quality made and firmly attached - no cheap, plastic-y pieces on it. The leather is thick but very soft. You would think being waterproof that the leather would be shiny and pleathery-like - not at all. I haven't had it long enough to come into contact with a bunch of water or drink spills, but I do feel comfortable that it'll do the job of keeping my equipment dry if those situations arose. There are two pockets - one on the front and one on the back. I wish they were a tad bigger, or there were side pockets for more personal items like my keys or cell phone. No biggie - I can still fit my essentials. In the front pocket, there's enough room for my SD Card wallet, my lens pen and writing pens, and extra batteries for my flash and camera in the back pocket. 

Inside and Space 

I am very happy with the space that's available inside the bag for equipment. The whole inside is made of bright green felt material, so the sky is your limit when deciding where to put what and none of your equipment will blend in which makes it easy for you to locate things in your bag. The dividers have really good velcro on the bottom so they aren't the easiest to remove, but that's good. They are thick and sturdy - definitely aren't moving once you put them in place. There's even a little flap over the top that serves a shield for whatever you put in that spot. In the picture below, you can see how I have my bag set up. There was an extra small divider, but I took it out. On the left side, I have my Tamron 10-24mm, Canon 100mm 2.8, and Canon 50mm 1.4; in the middle, I'll have my Canon 60D body on its back with a Tamron 28-75mm attached pointing up; and on the right, I have my Canon Speedlite 580EX II and a bounce card. Even with packing it with all of this, the zipper closes easily and it stands up when I have it on the ground. No worrying that something is going to fall out!

On the Body

The thing I was most worried about was how comfortable it is to wear and how it lays against my body. The longer padded strap is a dream - VERY comfortable and is adjustable depending on where you prefer your bag to fall. The bag width is thick based on how much is packed in it. For me, wearing it without the messenger strap is kinda uncomfortable because my arm has to wrap around the entire bag - very difficult to shoot like this. I prefer to wear it messenger style on my left shoulder and across my body so it falls on my right hip. Leaving the zipper open makes it easily accessible to switch out lenses and grab whatever you need in one fell swoop.

Overall, I give the Epiphanie Bell Bag 4.5 out of 5 stars. It's adorable and makes carrying my equipment effortless - I just wish there were more pockets on the outside for personal items. On its debut shoot, I never got annoyed with the strap or weight, and didn't need to adjust it at all. 

 I highly recommend this bag for anyone who can't decide between Kelly Moore and Epiphanie. Kelly Moore may be THE bag to buy right now, but being $30 cheaper and not being on backorder, the Epiphanie Belle definitely meets my expectations.

All you need is love.

I love love.

I love being loved and giving love, no matter the relationship - family, friends, significant others or strangers. And unlike a lot of people, I love being around people who are in love with each other, and show it. PDA doesn't bother me - kiss on! A little more love in the world won't hurt nobody.

And I love how love can come in different forms. It took me being in the relationship that I'm currently in to realize that love isn't a cookie cutter shape, and that everyone has their own way of loving - their own "love language" - that they tweak to accomodate each relationship in their life.

On Easter Sunday, I shot Ashley & Del's engagement session in Aiken, SC. Engagement sessions are starting to become my favorite type of shoot, not only because (duh) I get to interact with couples and hear their love story, but it's when I can be my artsy-est. It took them a little bit to warm up to being over-the-top affectionate for the camera, but the best images I captured were the ones when they were just being themselves. They had me laughing so hard at their little bickering back and forth, just to get a rise out of eachother. I captured many geniune & loving smiles at each other, and you just can't fake that. Ashley & Del: I wish you nothing but the best in creating your future together. You two don't need a over-the-top display to show that you love each other - y'all just know, and that's freakin' awesome :) 

I also had a photoshoot recently of Madison, the 3 year old daughter of my childhood best friend Katie. She is the cutest little girl that I've hung out with in a while. I couldn't believe how mature and she is for her age, and her vocabulary - wow. I know Katie is so proud. Obviously the pictures below show how gorgeous and fun she is, but I wish I would have captured more behind the scenes moments when Madison would interact with her mommy. Though I'm not a mother and haven't developed that type of love for something I created out of love, I know Katie feels that Madison is the best thing that has happened to her and that she would give her life to Madison, unconditionally, for the rest of her life. And that's powerful. Katie, I know you know you're going to have your hands full when she gets older, but I also know with the amount of love you have for Madison, you're looking forward to every minute of it.

Love is all you need.

"Spring"ing the Business

This Spring has been a busy one thus far . The majority of my time has been dedicated to the finer details, as in getting everything squared away to legally deem this project a business. It's definitely difficult to work on these types of things during non-business hours since I have a full time big girl job and a pretty active social life. Nights are for business and the weekend is for shooting, which is pretty unfair if you ask me. Five nights of boring legal mess and only 2 days of creative release, which has forced to me suggesting dates in May and June for client sessions since my March and April 8-day-only calendars have booked up so fast.

One aspect of the business side that I don't mind so much is the creation of my website, http://www.kerripaigephotography.com/. Though it's brought out the anal retentive side of me, I do look forward to coming home and working on it and acheiving the small yet satisfying creativity orgasm that it gives me. Seriously, though; color schemes stress me out. I've had to change it atleast 10 times. I've even become picky choosing the shades of colors. Anyone who says that blue is blue, I beg to differ. I've become best friends with HTML/hex codes in the last month, and know for a fact that there are over 700 shade variations for all colors. Don't believe me? Count them. I dare you. 

Lucky enough to escape the hectic world of LLC's and EIN's and .com's, I had a shoot with my childhood best friend's 3 little boys on Saturday. Jennifer's been a mother for 6 years, and it still freaks me out to hear her be called mom. Her boys are precious though, each of them embodying the 10 year old "Jenn-Fur" I remember, attitude and quick lip in toll. The weather was awesome - the warmest we've had in several months - definitely a great first day of Spring. The photoshoot of 3 turned into a circus of 9, once the neighbors' kids joined us. Now that I can handle 9 kids, I can handle anything. Maybe. 

Below are a couple of my favorites: