@ebiggs1 wrote:
"ALL my camera gear has its original packing..."
Yeah, I used to do that but soon learned that was not possible. It is hard enough to store the gear without adding all the packaging. I do keep the original packages on the stuff I know I am going to sell. My "hobby." I have a room in the house that is dedicated to photographic gear. It is my old darkroom slash warehouse.
I used to tell folks you know I could have a pretty nice car for what that photo gear cost you. However, I now upped the quote to say, "I could have a pretty nice house for what that photo gear cost."
Most of my non-essential gear was in storage in NZ while I was in Canada. It was all packed up ready to ship to Canada with the intention of relocating. We sold our house, bought a new place and I moved across. Then we got hit by a tripple whammy - I got pneumonia, from which I got a pulmonary embolism that nearly killed me, and then my wife got cancer. She was in NZ and (unlike me) not a Canadian citizen, so it soon became clear that she could not emigrate. So after a couple of years of shuttling back and forth we finally got our Canadian place sold and moved back to NZ. In the meantime I had bought some gear in Canada. For both storage and shipping it was very helpful to have the boxes and packing. We are getting a new build which will give me a nice big sunny room all to myself, so I can store my gear with no problem!
I might add that my wife is recovering well but it is a journey that will go on for some time. There are things that still trigger a very emotional response in her, and it is my job to make sure she is supported to the best of my ability. I might add that photography is my means of stress relief, and it is nice not to have commercial pressures - I can take photos that (to quote an old aquaintance) "make my eyes smile". I enjoy visiting forums such as this and Cambridge in Colour to be part of a wider photographic community.
cheers, TREVOR
The mark of good photographer is less what they hold in their hand, it's more what they hold in their head;
"All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow", Leo Tolstoy;
"Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase" Percy W. Harris
