What investment is right for you? {A blog for my photographer friends}

Running graphic departments in the past has always yielded this question.  What investment is right for {insert company name}?  Certainly it depends on the type of work/advertising you are doing.  Maybe you need Photoshop {a whopping $600} or a new lens {holy bananas another $1500} maybe a hot new camera {ok I'm scaring myself}!  But ALWAYS does this question present itself!


Today I will talk about the photography business {surprise surprise} and the next investment.  Do you take the leap and buy a cool lens that's been on your radar for a long time OR just another camera body {boring}?  The fun choice would be the great lens, wow they can be exciting!  I write this blog as therapy to my own dilemma!  I love lenses, even think I may have a serious need for intervention, but do I need one?  No!  An artist can take a photo with any camera, any lens, any brand because it isn't the materials you use it's the eye behind the camera that invokes feelings to its audience.

Here in lies the problem: A photographer with many amazing lenses and only one camera body.{eeekkk} 

At any moment in a photo shoot, a beautiful wedding or an event that camera can fail.  What do you do then?   Pull out your iPhone, I think not!  You have made a promise to your client to capture that moment forever.  What if your camera is in the shop? Mine is not immune to a hiccup ... no camera is! That can take days if not weeks to get back. We don't have the ability to stay down that long, business is business.

I have recently decided to take the leap and purchase a second camera body.  Maybe partly because I hate to constantly be switching lenses during a photo session but REALLY it is to ensure my client always has their special moment covered.  Yes, it wasn't an exciting decision.  It did not yield the ever wonderful shopping buzz one gets when they open a box containing a beautiful 24-70 2.8, BUT my company and my clients are what is important. 

Now that isn't to say I did not go on a lens frenzy in the past. I am the proud owner of quite a few top of the line pieces BUT I will tell you that I almost always use just one and maybe, now and again, switch to a wide angle for a group shot. But that's it, my pretty investments sit ... lonely ... in a camera bag ... killing my back from the weight ...

What are your thoughts on this?