Saw an awful story from a future bride on FB about all of her wedding vendors canceling. That said… you get what you pay for. Never fear, she hired another slew, errrr crew, so I can be a bit critical. Sometimes spending an arm or a leg to save your mind is a good compromise. Social media has given rise to the pretenders that don’t have websites, pay local, state or federal taxes and never took a photo course. They bought a camera, depend on Program mode and might edit the photos. To them, ISO may refer to ‘In Search Of” instead of International Organization for Standardization. For those in the dark, ISO is the standard given for light intensity as it relates to the sensitivity of film/digital sensor. WARNING: Venting Ahead.

So maybe I am a snob and spent waaaaayyy too much money to earn a BFA from university. Since I began my career, I dumped several thousands of dollars into 3 digital cameras, 3 35mm film cameras, a medium format camera, 10 lenses, 3 tripods, 5 camera cases, 2 sets of studio lights, 6 flashes, plethora of light stands, backdrops, 3 MACS, 4 PCs, 6 external hard drives, 10 year subscriptions to Adobe AND Microsoft (not to mention they were originally released on discs), as well as my website that I’ve had since 1999. A glut of cash went to film & processing, prints, enlargements and albums. Obviously, the government doesn’t want me to keep all of my hard earned money, so they collected their share. As a result of paying taxes, I have a CPA to make sure I file correctly every year.

Sadly… I don’t charge enough. I do it for the love of people and the medium. It completely irks me when I hear that someone wants a service, any service, that “doesn’t charge an arm and a leg” while I’m over here like, “Hi”, and waving graciously with my only arm. Please don’t humiliate yourself and the service provider.

So I refuse to add it all up but had I dumped that money into a 401K, I would be living in Tibet now – “the roof of the world”. I am extremely thankful for all the amazing clients that hired me over the years. The camera has been my lucky passport into so many awesome experiences. Phenomenal people and experiences made every dollar spent well worth it. Thanks for listening to my rant. I rarely blast a negative blog but venting is therapeutic. I feel the weight is off my shoulders. Next up: Putting a price tag on my kidney.