This
past weekends photo sale at NAF Atsugi went well.
I took the day off from work last
Friday to drive up to Atsugi so I could get everything
set up. On my way there I stopped by the Yodobashi Camera
store in Machida to pick up more photo frames. (I try
to do that each time I happen to be driving past a Yodobashi
Camera store as it is a lot easier than carrying them
back on a train)
Saturday was better than Sunday, but
in total I sold nearly 60 photos, pulling in almost
$2,900. After the bazaar takes their cut, and I pay
for the materials (photos and frames) as well as my
hotel room, I should clear somewhere around $1,800 for
the weekend.
I wish I could do this once a month,
or once every two months, but bazaars don't happen all
the time, and the big surges are only in the spring
and fall. Next month I will be doing two of them, but
it will once again be pretty quiet until next spring.
(The ones in October are here at Yokosuka and Yokota
air base.
Although this income is not anywhere
near what would allow me to quit my day job, it does
pay for my gear. I count myself lucky that my hobby
pays for itself.
--
This past weekend was a little bit
tougher than usual though. It seems I started to come
down with a cold on Saturday evening, and by Sunday
it was sitting on me with its full head-congesting force.
Thank goodness for "Dayquil" as it was the
only thing that allowed me to function on Sunday.
And since I was not able to get any
rest this weekend, my cold is still not anywhere close
to going away yet. I took both Monday and Tuesday off
from work this week and I'll see how I feel tomorrow
morning. Hopefully I'll be well enough to go to work.
--
My apologies to all those that have
emailed me recently. I've gotten a little behind in
my replies, but I will work on catching up over the
next few days.
--
In today's serving of photos I included
a shot of my camera backpack all loaded up for my recent
trip to Kyoto.
This will give you an idea of what
I take with me when I go out to do some serious shooting.
Not shown in the photo are my extra memory cards, batteries,
map, towel, folding fan, yen, etc...
But carrying all that gear around
can become quite a chore, especially in the heat of
summer. So I also brought along a smaller bag for the
times I wanted to go light. (At night, or on longer
walks, for example.)
When using the smaller shoulder bag
I would usually take the following with me: Rebel XT,
35mm f2, 50mm f1.4, 135mm f2, 10-22mm, spare battery,
memory cards, and Epson P2000.
The 50mm f1.0 and 70-200mm f2.8 IS
both weigh a ton, and it makes a big difference if I
leave them out of my bag.
The Tamron 28-75 f2.8 is a very small
and light zoom, but more and more often I find myself
gravitating towards "primes" (lenses with
fixed focal lengths) and feel I take better pictures
with them.
--
Life presents opportunities to us
all the time. The trick is to see them for what they
are. (Sometimes hard to do with all the flotsam and
jetsam of everyday life rushing at you)
Like a lot of people, I have become
quite comfortable in the life that I have been living.
There is a certain "easiness" in the inertia
of rolling down a well worn path. A path of least resistance
you could say.
But that doesn't mean that I would
not, or could not, make a change if I wanted to, if
the right opportunity came along. Sometimes a bump in
the road, or an unexpected fork can be just the thing
needed to make one think about ones life and what it
means to live, and not just exist.
Existing is easy, but really "living"
takes a little more effort, but the results can be well
worth it.
Let me explain.
In the sense I use it, "existing"
is just getting up everyday and doing the things you
have to do, or doing the things that others expect of
you.
This is a well worn path, and will
lead you to a point further down the road with a minimum
of resistance or adversity.
But adversity can also be looked upon
as an opportunity to affect positive change. So at times
it makes sense to seek out a little adversity in your
life. Challenge the status quo. Ask yourself some really
hard questions.
"Do I like the destination I
am headed for on the path of life?"
"Is there another way I could
get there?"
"Is it really just the destination
that matters, or is it the journey that is what shapes
you into who you are?
Personally, I think that it is the journey that makes
all the difference. After all, for as long as we live
we continue along that journey. So in a sense, life
is never about the destination, as we never really get
"there".
So if change happens to come to my
life, I welcome it. This is not to say I am bored with
my life, or hate what I am doing.
Not at all.
Just that if life throws you a curve
now and then, try to roll with it and hang on for the
ride. You never know what fresh and exciting opportunities
will present themselves to you along your new path.
We're all the star of our own reality
TV show. Let's just hope there are not too many re-runs...^_^
Comment 14
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