Move over, Filter Boy – I have a new camera assistant!  He’s black and white and pink all over.  I think he’s the most adorable little boy in the whole world. :)

Regular readers of my blog may remember when Whiskey fit into my Beast’s lens hood.  Whiskey is two years old now, and he’s a curious little thing.  He loves to help me with my camera equipment.  I was glad that I had my iPhone handy a few weeks ago when he posed with my gear after a photo shoot.  The sun shone in all around him to create the high-key effect.

As I got ready for my Maine trip, I packed my camera backpack.  I read plenty of reviews before getting it, and all the reviews went along the lines of, “you can fit this body and this lens and this gear” into the bag.  Well, I bet nobody’s ever done a review where they say they can fit a Beast and a kitty cat into the Think Tank Streetwalker HardDrive!  (A very good backpack, by the way.  It fits my Beast and body, an intermediate telephoto and body, and has a huge laptop compartment that often serves me for a rain jacket compartment!)

Loopy also helped me try out my new LensCoat RainCoat.  It’s this great little cover that fits over my camera and lens combination.  You can velcro it in various places to tighten the fit, to keep rain out.  It’s made of water-resistant Neoprene.  It even has a handy side arm pocket so that you can stick your hand in and operate the camera without getting wet.  It was great to have in Maine, and Whiskey thought it was pretty good in Florida too.  He stuck his head in, then pushed on through, turning the Raincoat into a little cat cave.  Again, my iPhone is very handy for snapshots!

Whiskey doesn’t fit into my Beast’s lens hood anymore, but my 70-200 lens hood is a good size for a crown for my little camera assistant.  Never mind Rich’s fingers as he holds the crown in place!