Photography is an expensive business.  Cameras cost thousands of dollars.  Lenses sometimes cost more than the cameras.  Lighting, batteries, flash cards, sample albums, computer programs, websites, and the list goes on and on.  I have come to grips with that over the years and have learned contentment with what I have.  I never upgrade for the sake of upgrading.  I always make sure that the new piece of equipment is needed and won’t put me into debt!

Just this year alone, I’ve upgraded my camera, lenses, software, and bought another flash.  One thing, however, that has not been upgraded since I began shooting about 10 years ago is my camera bag.  I have a big bag that I use to store all the gear I seldom use like backup equipment and such.  But my small bag that I use on a daily basis is a small, black shoulder bag I bought at GAP for $5 while I was in college.  It has served me well, but as I have been building my inventory of lenses and flashes that I use while shooting, I’ve begun to outgrow the bag.

I’ve had my eye on a shootsac for quite some time because that is what all the cool-kid photographers in SoCal use.  I tried my friend’s out when I shot a wedding in Los Angeles this summer.  It was nice, but I can’t seem to stomach spending $179 on a bag!

Well, this morning we hit up a neighborhood yard sale on a walk and guess what I found?  I found an almost new black shoulder bag that is nearly the same size and shape of a shootsac!  Guess how much is cost?  That’s right, $5!  Now, it’s not quite as cool as a shootsac, but it saved me $174!  I like the sound of that.  Maybe if I start charging $20,000 for weddings like becker, I’ll splurge on a more expensive bag, but for now I’m happy with my new $5 bag.  Here it is!

Yesterday was quite eventful!  We packed up here in Charlottesville in the morning and headed to Sarah’s parents’ house outside of Richmond.  We were off to shoot Barbara and David’s wedding that evening in Richmond and my in-laws were gracious enough to keep our kids while we were going to be out.

Our afternoon visit with the family was going well until I stepped out on the porch to enjoy a slab of cake.  I sat down with everyone, but little did I know I sat beside a plant housing a yellow jackets’ nest!  Within 2 minutes, one of those evil creatures stung me on the elbow!  The last time that happened, I swelled up like a balloon and spent the afternoon in the ER!

I immediately popped 2 Benadryl and the waiting game began.  Everyone kept their eyes on me, but thankfully I only had a few hives pop up here and there.  My face stayed pretty much the same – no huge clown nose and lips this time!  After an hour with no huge reaction we all assumed I was ok.  The only problem was that the Benadryl was kicking in and I was trying not to succumb to the lure of passing out on the couch since we were scheduled to be at the wedding in about 2 hours!

I pulled myself up and got dressed.  Sarah drove us to the wedding and we stopped for coffee along the way.  I downed my huge Americano and I started feeling a bit better.  We hopped out of the car at the wedding site a few minutes early and I tried to shake off the last bit of dizzy drowsiness!  By about 20 minutes into photographing the groomsmen, I was back to myself and ready to roll although my elbow was quite swollen and painful.

The wedding went smoothly, the ceremony was beautiful.  David and Barbara were a joy to work with.  And I must say that their reception was one of the funnest (yes, that is a word so leave me alone)  I have ever attended!  We are talking some serious dancing all night long!    Anyway, here is a sneak peek at some images from the night!  I wanted to get some online before they leave on their honeymoon tomorrow.  Congratulations you two!