Photography gear addiction
The dangers that come with photography addiction can be more than just taking up your time. This addiction can turn into gear envy which can put a strain on your bank account.
This was my gateway drug so to speak. I dreamed of owning a Leica MP when I started out in photography. I could only afford a Canon AE-1 at the time. Then after some time I got the Fuji X100 because I still couldn't afford a Leica. This is where my gear addiction grew and my career began as a photographer and my addiction started.
I began to land small jobs but it was work. I was very poor during my career change from graphic designer to photographer, so I relied on the support of my family during this transition period. I was borderline going to go back to my old profession with my tail in between my legs. I spent all my savings, I had to eat only rice to stop going into debt. But I persisted and kept looking for jobs. I started to meet some amazing people during this time. It was because of them I got my foot in the door. I started to land more and more jobs and started getting a consistent income. I was making a living, and that's when I started to invest in photography severely. I purchased Broncolor lighting, more Canon gear and lenses. Because of all these purchases my insurance went through the roof. All my money after paying the bills and buying rice went into photography gear. I was addicted to upgrading and getting new things, instead of having a comfortable lifestyle.
Slowly over time packing my gear became a pain. I had to get it ready for transporting and set it up on location. I quickly wanted to find a way to downsize. My style at the time was heavily influenced by my lighting gear. I used Broncolor power packs, beauty dishes, octa's, strip lights and backdrops. It could only just fit in the car I had at the time. I needed to downscale my addiction. It was here I found Oprah. Oprah said something like if you don’t use something in a year, throw it out. I began selling camera gear I no longer used, it was hard at first but once it was gone I didn’t miss it. This lowered my overhead costs. I started focusing on myself instead of gear. I accumulated enough savings because of this and I could finally get my dream camera, a Leica.
My photography addiction hasn't stopped. But my gear addiction has. I do something involving photography every day. Be it taking photos, researching, location scouting to editing. I keep satisfying my addiction, but this time round it's enriching my life instead of putting me in debt.