Photo Equipment Backpacks Part I: Avoid choosing the wrong backpack

I've found that serious photographers understand the importance of careful, meticulous, product research, before they purchase new photo equipment. It's not surprising, considering the cost photo gear these days.
For backpacks, photographers seem to typically investigate capacity, flexibility, zippers, flap pockets, tripod mounts, rain protection, axillary handles, security, and other features.

Unfortunately, by the end of the first day using their new backpacks, despite their research, far too many photographers, immediately relegate them to a closet, learning the hard way, the one attribute they never considered was whether the backpack would fit them well, allowing them to comfortably carry their gear hour after hour, day after day.

Regardless of its capacity and feature set, a photo equipment backpack has to fit the photographer's body well. A poorly fitted backpack, will result in sore shoulders, and/or a sore back. It can turn a great photo hike/walk into misery and exhaustion.

A photo equipment backpack, first and foremost, must be designed as a great backpack, with a well designed harness, and must fit its user properly.

Copyright Alliance issues challenge after revealing major corporations unknowingly support copyright piracy

The Copyright Alliance has sent an open letter to the CEO's of major companies advertising on Internet ad-networks, which use network and server hosting companies, that distribute pirated creative content of independent artists, authors, small businesses, and others, asking them to immediately halt such advertising.

If these legitimate companies would stop advertising via these pirates, the pirate companies' income stream, keeping them in business, would be seriously reduced, and therefore, their ability to continue to pirate the hard work of authors, artists, photographers, and even the casual work of ordinary people writing in personal blogs, or posting their wonderful vacation images, would be seriously impaired or halted.

The Copyright Alliance is asking these legitimate companies to stop “turning a blind eye” to the pirate companies' illegal activities.

Camera Gear, Tripods, TSA, and the Airlines

TSA's (US Transportation Security Administration) website used to state, “You may carry on one (1) bag of photographic equipment in addition to one (1) carry-on and one (1) personal item through the screening checkpoint. The additional bag must conform to your air carrier’s carry-on restriction for size and weight.”

The problem is, since TSA was created, that was never true, nor is it today.

On both US domestic and international scheduled commercial flights, you are allowed no more than one carry-on and one personal item. The airlines haven't, nor do they expect to in the future, permit a third carry-on.

National Press Photographers gravely concerned about "orphan works" - copyright proposal

The National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA) has submitted comments on the issue of orphan works and mass digitalization, with the US Copyright Office, to advise Congress on how to address current issues involving copyrights and orphan works.

The comments, written by NPPA attorneys Mickey Osterreicher and Alicia Calzada, with contributions from others at NPPA, discuss the myriad of issues currently facing visual journalists regarding their copyrighted images, and offer proposed solutions for creating a system which would treat copyright holders and users of orphaned works fairly and efficiently.

NPPA stated in its comments that it “is gravely concerned that in seeking to address the frustration of ‘good faith users’ of Orphan Works in order to cure their potential liability and ‘gridlock in the digital marketplace,’ the Copyright Office may create a far more serious problem for authors/owners of visual works.”