Steal Me - I'm Worth It

Look at the heading image. Now close your eyes and tell me what you saw.

You saw a $ 50 bill, didn't you? And a cup of hot chocolate, perhaps...but you did see the $ 50 bill.

People are like that. We focus on what we want, whenever we see it. This is the principle that sells the Louis Vuitton bag and the low cut blouse. It drives the new camera sales whenever the manufacturers release a new compact camera - they flood the market with superb photos of the product. The cynics amongst us in the trade then take bets on which 4 x 5 or 8 x 10 studio monorail was used to illustrate it...

Back to the heading image. Did you see the black jumper draped over the bag? It cost the owner $ 7.00 apparently. A cold wind blowing on the way to work or home and that is the most valuable object in the picture.

No food for a day? Blood sugar level at nothing? There's a cup of hot chocolate there...

Somebody ringing on the phone and you need to write down the phone number before you lose it? Pads and pens are cheap things but they become invaluable in 10 seconds.

So what's the blue bit you missed? A Think Tank Retrospective 5 camera bag. You'd never know that it contains a camera, flash, and spare lens worth about $ 10,000. Neither will the bag snatchers or pickpockets. Keep it strapped over your shoulder and it just looks like a tatty old student bag.

It is padded inside, has a general utility pocket, has a rain coat included, and looks like a tatty old student bag. The webbing straps and buckles are military grade and it look like the ones on tatty old student bags.

If you too, contrive to look like a tatty old student bag, you might get busted but you won't get mugged. And your $ 10,000 camera kit is safe.