If I Could

I am sure most of you have seen a meme where the phrase "If I won the lottery I won't tell anyone but there will be signs" was used with a picture of an excessive number of items a person would buy.

For a photographer, it would be a lot of cameras and lenses. This may ring true for many photographers, but not me. Sure, I'd buy a few more lenses and maybe one camera body. But, is that all?

If money was not an issue, as in winning the lottery or getting a large inheritance from a long lost relative, then yes, that would be all for cameras and lenses. But if I could, I would get all the fun stuff that could help a business out. How about a laptop for editing out in the field? Another tripod for those macro shots? By the way, now my camera bag won't hold all that new stuff, so I might as well as upgrade to something that will.

Now that I'm on a roll, I might as well as upgrade my desktop computer. A bigger table for my printer (which needs replacing now that I have the money) and for matting and packaging all the prints I will be making with all that new gear. Oh, don't forget all the things to go with that. Updated software for editing, hard drives to stores those thousands of new photographs, ink and photo paper for the new printer, and plenty of mats and shipping containers.

Of course, with more money means bigger art shows, which will cost more to enter. Add hotel costs to that as well. All this new artwork will require a van dedicated to carrying all this around too. But if I get the van, I might as well as get a bigger, more durable canopy. This will require a whole new display system as well.

A new wardrobe will be needed for those high end shows. I certainly want to look the part of a well paid fine art photographer that produces work or upscale homes and Fortune 500 companies.

So, yeah, there would be signs that I came into money. Luckily for me, I don't play the lottery or have rich relatives, lost or otherwise. I will buy new (used, but new to me) gear when I can afford it. The fun stuff will have to wait on my wish list. The big, expensive shows are just a dream. I will make do with what I have.

To all the other artists out there, stay humble but pursue your dreams. To those who have bought from me, I sincerely thank you.