Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Funny eh?


Photo by: Bruce Buursma- International Aid
Current Location: Midland, Michigan, USA / 43°37′25.0″N 84°13′45.7″W


When shooting in the field, anything can go wrong. You just never know. Luckily for me, I have a team of qualified video guru's to fine tune and inspect every intricate detail of my equipment. But no matter how many times they super-glue a piece together or make sure something doesn't easily break off--I, being the experienced shooter that friends and colleagues adore me to be, some how find myself in creative and uncalled for moments that defy their every wish.

Example number 1: during my trip to South East Asia earlier this year, I came back with four broken filters, each costing over $300. My excuse: butter fingers in hot weather. Example number 2: While in India, the situation called for impromptu run-ins with a certain 'sacred' water buffalo--the result, a shattered microphone holder. The cost to fix that would've been a mere $30 had I given it to an engineer, but being the handyman that I'm not, I tried fixing it myself. Sadly, the final cost to rehabilitate my Sony quickly jumped to $500 and earning it a trip back to its motherland. Sushi anyone? My excuse: Inflation and economic turmoil.

OK, so drilling that hole into the camera was a bad, bad idea. But cut me some slack, will ya? Being a field photog isn't as easy as it looks. Sure I get to see new places and meet interesting people, but think of all the delicacies I respectfully 'have to' savor, the odors I must inhale, and of course, the things I run into. From on coming traffic to stampedes of curious children, my camera constantly acts as my shield. It's inevitable that somethings gotta' break!

As illustrated in the photo above, I tend to attract on-lookers whenever I try repair something. Come'on, it ain't that funny...is it?

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