Cameron Downey

Visiting Glacier National Park and seeing the northern lights!

Hey designers! As you may have noticed, many of the photos used on this website and as part of our branding are out in nature. However, you may not have known that these pictures were taken in Glacier National Park, Montana. Here's a little backstory on that if you're interested! If you know me, you probably know that I love nature. Who doesn't, I guess? But I'm particularly quite fond of pristine lakes and rivers, rocky mountains, and alpine landscapes. Pretty much everything you can't see a whole lot of in Florida. So when I first started learning about national parks and discovered Glacier around four years ago, I was awestruck. Anyone who knows a thing or two about national parks probably understands why. It immediately became a top item on my bucket list. It took me a while to get around to it, but earlier this year I decided that I would finally make a trip happen. I gathered Anthony and Michael (fellow Rig Designer co-founders) along with a few others, and we flew out in August. After a couple of days of adjusting our sleep schedules and exploring the beautiful city of Kalispell, we made our first multi-hour drive into the heart of Glacier. Long story short, Glacier is amazing. It's the most incredible place I've seen in my life. The sheer scale of the scenery from the Going-to-the-Sun Road is almost unbelievable. But there's one unexpected memory from this trip that takes the cake for me. At the end of our weeklong vacation, we were out driving late to do some astral photography. We had an early flight back the next day and decided we would simply stay up through the night. We eventually came across a large clearing in a low-traffic area—essentially wilderness with very little light pollution. It was quite serene (though in all honestly we were a bit spooked). After a few minutes of preparing Anthony and Michael's cameras, we set up shop outside of our parked rental car. It took a little while for them to tune their camera settings to the environment. But around 20 minutes into the session, they began getting some beautiful shots. I found my excitement level rising with each new photo. At some point, we also began to notice a strange green haze in the sky. We could only faintly see it with our own eyes. I had an inkling of what it might've been, but didn't think too deeply about it. Our session soon ended and we strapped in for an hour-long drive back to our Airbnb. We ended up making a few short impromptu stops in some more clearings, but aside from that, our trip was over. We planned to spend the rest of the night/morning watching movies. We only had around 10 minutes left in our drive when I heard Michael suddenly exclaim from the back seat, "Oh my god, that's the northern lights!" I looked to my right and there it was. Elegant streaks of green and pink light dancing in the sky. I never even considered the possibility of seeing the northern lights on this trip, but that too was an item on my bucket list. And it was amazing. I will absolutely be taking any opportunity I can in the future to see this sight again. I've attached some of my personal photos from this trip. Full disclosure: I don't actually own a dedicated camera yet. These pictures were taken on my iPhone, and this fact became painfully obvious during our astral photography session. I'll have Anthony and Michael post their pictures from the trip for comparison soon, and hopefully we can share some insight into the various ways a dedicated camera can elevate your photography and videography. See you in the next one!

How to post in "Buy, Sell, Trade"!

Hey designers! Here's some general instructions on how to create a post in "Buy, Sell, Trade"! A few disclaimers: Rig Designer's goal is not to facilitate entire transactions, but rather to serve as a gateway for possible transactions that can occur off-platform. In other words: meet people here, then finalize transactions elsewhere. Do not use Rig Designer to share sensitive information such as phone numbers, email addresses, or bank details. Instead, we recommend providing public socials you are comfortable with sharing (at your own risk of being contacted by people you don't know). From there, you may continue with your transaction off-platform using whatever method you prefer. But please be sure that you trust both the method of transaction and the person you are transacting with. Rig Designer cannot be held responsible for the outcomes (favorable or unfavorable) of using this forum. Now, on to creating a post! Write a title that succinctly describes your desired transaction. Something like "Selling: Nikon Z8 - Good condition - $2500" will do the trick. Further relevant information, such as public methods of contact (as described above) and an in-depth description of the item can go in the content of the post. Following the above title, let's assume you're selling an item. It's necessary to include photos of the item you've taken yourself to distinguish your post from possible scams. Consider including some kind of handwritten note that displays your Rig Designer handle and the current date. This note should be visible in the same image as the item itself, ideally against a solid background. Photos should not include anything private, such as faces of non-consenting people or details that may reveal a private location. If your post is to buy an item, you bear similar responsibility to avoid scams. You should not proceed with any form of transaction until you receive a photo following the above guidelines or another equivalent form of proof. Once you've finalized your post (and triple-checked that you're not leaking any private information), just click "Publish" and wait for the responses! Proceed with caution, and happy designing!