The Perfect All-Weather Photographer's Jacket for Vancouver; Thanks Dad!

When my father passed away in December, I inherited many of his clothes that my mother felt would fit me. Of the many clothes that my father wore that she passed down, one of them would prove to be one of the most useful jackets that I have ever seen. This was an angler’s jacket; a fisherman’s jacket. When my father passed away, my mother gave me his "angler's jacket". He never went fishing...he wasn't a fisherman; he wore that jacket just once because my mother bought it for him and it was cold and wet. Then it got passed down to me after his death. And he didn't know it, but I'm going to be able to make great use out of this jacket.

With Vancouver’s rainy weather, it is not surprising that Vancouver is listed as one of the worst places to do photography in unless you have a weather resistant camera like a Nikon D200/300 or pro-grade D3/D3X camera. I think the Canons are also weather resistant as well, but I’m not as familiar with that brand as with my Nikon cameras.

Many people talk about photographer’s vests: those tacky looking vests that have dozens of pockets to put stuff into like batteries, memory card cases, AA battery cases for one's flash...etc etc etc, your remote trigger cords, filters (in their cases)...and what not. Well up here, a photographer’s vest isn’t enough with the copious amounts of rainfall that we get in the Lower Mainland (it’s raining right now as I write this).

As you can see from the photos, it's got all sorts of pockets on the interior for keeping the spare batteries warm on a cold day as well as exterior pockets for keeping other equipment on your person. That way then you don't have to take a huge day pack, you can get by with a camera bag that's lighter than usual, because your jacket's carrying the rest of your stuff.

The jacket exterior...



The two right pockets (exterior)



The two left pockets (exterior)



These next two sets of pockets are perfect for 2 batteries a piece. So frankly you could potentially have two batteries (EN-EL3s or BP-511s) or one EN-EL4a in each internal pocket (staying warm for use).

Interior pockets (left side)



Interior pockets (right side)



Thanks, Dad...I'll always be remembering you when I'm wearing this jacket during my outdoor shoots.