I talked to numerous people before ordering the bag. Everyone has loved them so far. I went for the Tilopa because it was a tad bit taller than the dakine and much more comfortable to ski with (so I was told). It is about the same width as the Sequence but the straps are much closer together. It seems like it would make it much more comfortable to carry around. They are also curved which I assume provides better support.

Overall

It appears to be very high quality. The zippers are all covered and waterproofed, the material seems very waterproofed, the straps are strong and the buckles are nothing like I’ve ever seen before.

I love the side straps and the pouches to hold the bottom of the light stands. There are way more pockets than I will ever need. It may even be a burden because I love pockets and tend to fill them with things that I hardly ever use but could need one day. It’s a gift, and a curse. Monk anyone?

Inside

The pack is hugeeeeeee. There is tons of room. To give you an idea of how much bigger I’ll compare it to the Sequence. From the base to the top of the Sequence it held a lens, 285, d2h with 50mm. And outside the ICU, 555 and had a small pocket for tape. In the Tilopa it holds a lens, 285, d2h with 70-300mm (plus 3-4 more inches of empty space), 2″ pocket. And outside the ICU, AB800 and a very large pocket.

The ICU came with 4 small dividers, 2 large corners and a large flat piece. I still haven’t decided how I want to arrange them. There’s just so many options. The bottom of the ICU has a thick foam piece and a cover to open it and get to it if needed. The sides are heavily padded and have velcro to attach to the frame inside the pack itself. The only thing I didn’t like is the cover for the ICU is just a fabric cover. I would have thought it would have some sort of padding. I understand why they didn’t, because it would be annoying to have to open 2 covers to get to your gear but they could have at least done something like the Sequence where it slides behind the pockets. Other than that, I don’t have any gripes at all.

Specifications

(Straight from the www.fstopgear.com site)

UPDATE 1/10/10

I haven’t had a chance to ski with it yet but I took it out snowshoeing today. I loaded it up with all my camera gear plus a little extra to see how it felt. It was awesome. The straps are the perfect width and they support the weight almost perfectly. It felt like there was nothing there even with a loaded bag. I can’t wait to ski with it.

Grievances:

The straps make it difficult to get to the camera and tend to “flip” snow into it.  A tip: take the straps and turn them inside out, away from the backpack. This should keep them from getting in your way. The zipper is somewhat difficult to close and open the last little bit but that can be good if you don’t want your gear falling out. The top pocket for the main compartment is flimsy and I would like to see a little more rigidity when opening and closing. It also makes the stuff in the very top pocket difficult to get to if you have something large in the main compartment. All minor things.

Update 1/15

I love this backpack even more now that I’ve skied with it. I packed it with all my camera gear, extra gloves, goggles, food, cambleback pouch and fleece. It was still lighter than my old backpack. It doesn’t ride up when leaning forward, it doesn’t feel heavy and it’s easy to get on and off which is important when riding lifts all day. I’ll be in Washington for another 8 days so I will continue to update this.

Related Articles

• Beginner Lighting – Part 2 Basic Techniques
  Please read Part 1 on Equipment before continuing. Shooting in snow is challenging to say the lea...
• GoPro HD Hero (Yea that’s right, we’re doing a review)
  The Snowtographers crew just got our GoPro HD Hero in the mail. We'll be updating our impressions, t...
• It’s trailer season
  Please share this with everyone using the links here --> Submit your trailer HERE It's still su...

Shooting in snow is challenging to say the least. It makes batteries die, lenses fog and cameras angry. It also gives you thousands of new options to work with. To name a few; Riders dressed like skittle bags, popcorn effect, never ending formations of snow, urban adventures, and of course, those beautiful snowflakes.

In this section I’ll focus on general lighting techniques for beginners. I’ll be talking mainly about 2 flash set ups as that’s what most beginners would be using. Once you get into 3+ flashes you’re dealing with more advanced techniques.

Points of interest:

1. Equipment Prep
2. Placement
3. Jumps & Rails (Coming soon)

1. Equipment Prep

Alright great. You’ve read our Part 1 on Equipment and are ready to start shooting. Wrong. You need to get that equipment ready for the cold.

Start with a checklist. Do you have your camera (Obvious. Yes. But necessary), flashes, triggers, cords, lights stands, tripod, tripod/light stand carrying case, batteries (Camera, flashes and triggers), lenses!, and your backpack?

Awesome now don’t forget about your jacket, hat, gloves (extra set PLUS mittens), hand warmers, foot warmers another hat, tape when you get holes in your gloves from jumping that fence which coincidentally made you lose your mittens and you’ve realized you left your second set of gloves in the car, very warm boots, snowpants because it’s going to get cold, thick socks times 3, car keys, assistant and don’t forget the map to the super secret hand rail. Ok, now I think you’re ready to start prepping your gear.

I don’t do anything special to prep my gear for the cold but there are a few points I’d like to make. Never, under any circumstances, turn your camera on after bringing it inside UNTIL IT IS WARM. I don’t care if your friends want to see that last shot “Just real quick”. It only takes a fraction of a second for moisture to fry a cameras internal electronics. Tell your friends they can wait or buy you a new camera. Their choice.

Next is make sure your batteries are always charged. And then read this. One of the drawbacks of shooting on location, albeit on the hill or in the middle of a city, is the lack of power. You’re pretty much restricted lugging around a generator, 10,000 rechargeable batteries or expensive professional pack. Since we’re still discussing beginner lighting, I’ll just touch on the AA’s. There is a an alternative though.

Using homemade battery packs. My first battery packs were for my 285′s. They were 7ah 6v SLA’s and they worked “great” for the $35 I spent on them. I say “great” because with anything homemade there are drawbacks and sometimes fires.

To see how to make your own battery packs click here: DIY Battery Pack for Flashes. If you’ve somehow ended up here on accident and are looking for a Vegabond style DIY Battery Pack click here

AA’s are an essential in your camera bag. I carry 16 rechargeables and a backup of new alkalines. You can never have too many batteries. In the cold you can pretty much half your expected number of shots along with increased recycle time. With the SLA’s it isn’t as bad because you will almost never be able to stand around in the cold long enough to deplete them.

The best batteries for your flash are NiMh’s. They are 1.2v but will decrease recycle time and almost always have longer life. Alkalines are to be used only in emergencies.

2. Placement

Every time you use flashes you’re basically creating the same lighting pattern every time. A main light source and a rim light. The way I look at a subject and envision the lighting is place my rim light first then place my main light about 180 degrees on the other side. This is a very basic approach bust then again, that’s the name of the article.

The reason I do this is because you have a lot more flexibility lighting from the front but getting that perfect rim light is very difficult. For me at least. Once you have both in the general area you think is good, take a few test shots. Gotta love digital. You can then tweak it to your preference. Try moving them in and out. You’ll change the shadows and increase or decrease power.

Still subjects are always a 100x easier to photograph than moving, especially with flashes, but also give you another opportunity to get creative with your photo. I’ll discuss shooting jumps and rails later.

Related Articles

• Beginner Lighting – Part 1 Equipment
  This guide is specifically for someone who has never attempted shooting with external lighting. That...
• DIY Portable Battery Pack for Strobes
  This is a summary of sources I've collected for building your own battery packs. Disclaimer: Worki...
• F-Stop Tilopa Review
  I finally took the plunge and bought myself a new backpack to ski with. I previously owned a Dakine ...