In my look back at 2016, I mentioned I got a lot on gear. Finishing off the books for the year really drove that home for me. I spent a small fortune on updating the studio. Across these two photos, the iMac and the webcam are the same (both bought in 2016). The iMac alone was a pretty penny.

Then, add in the printer, the storage drives, the microphone... yeah... it's growing. And the lights are new, too. There's a MacBook Pro upgrade that happened after I took the more recent photo. (A word of advice to others... try to avoid needing to update your desktop and laptop in the same year. Ouch.)

Of course, there were reasons behind each purchase. And I'm not quite done with the studio updates. I have one more purchase to make soon. I need a set of baffles or something to help dampen echo when I'm recording videos. That won't be too dear. All in the name of higher quality photo training. :-)

And that's just the studio gear. I got some filters, a backup body, a new bag, and other small toys and trinkets. When you look at the year as a whole... wow... that adds up.

For 2017, I am being more conscious about gear purchases. I'm actually well set for my actual camera work. Depending on how much on location video I do, there might be a tripod upgrade this year for the second camera. I love my Really Right Stuff tripod, but I think the secondary setup will be smaller stature.

And besides it just being a good idea to save some cash, I could use that for other things. I'm talking experiences. I don't need a new camera body. The cost of a new full frame body is a photo trip somewhere. Same with other gear. Skip a few gear purchases, and instead, see a new place in the world. Or revisit a place I haven't been in a while.

I think I'm paraphrasing David DuChemin... skip the gear, buy the tickets.