A great way to start off the year! We got a check for the use of one of my pictures, evidently a photo of a “man using laptop computer.” Awesome! With funds like this coming almost every once in a while, we are set.
I don’t know who bought it, and I don’t know who sold it. The check came from a big publishing house which is known to consort with Getty Pictures, so I have to imagine Getty, the omnipresent octopus of picture sales, is involved in some way.
I have this imagination, I guess you’d call it, about my pictures now, given Getty’s dominating presence in the field, and that family name’s history in the oil business. I conjure that my snaps now run in pipelines around the world, just like crude, but a lot less valuable, and get sloshed onto ocean going freighters, flying the Libyan flag, crewed by a vivid collection of multi-national sailors, insured out of the Netherlands and financed through the Bank of the Caymans. They get transported here and there, and get sold at colorfully vibrant outdoor markets in port cities, say, on the west coast of Africa, pictures by the pound, auctioned off somewhere in between the livestock sales and bull semen futures. The sale gets rung up and then chopped, sliced, diverted, rounded off and otherwise divvied up among unknown but certainly necessary parties, and what makes its way back to my studio through routes apparently as circuitous as the Silk Road, is a remuneration, a sum, a check….for $1.32.
The actual arrival of such an amount usually snaps me out of my admittedly nonsensical reverie, and refocuses me on the question facing us every year: How do we do this?
January is always interesting. Once again, I feel like a weary, overweight Wallenda, stepping out on the wire once more, balance pole firmly in hand, studio staff perched precariously like railbirds on either side of the pole, looking at me nervously. I tell them it’ll be okay, fun, even. I don’t think they completely believe me.
If I were an airplane pilot, I would simply get on the intercom and tell everybody to expect “turbulence for the whole year.”
What is the goal? To make it to 2015? That’s worthwhile to be sure, but hardly an inspired rallying cry. I mean, you wouldn’t imagine a legendary commander, grasping a blood soaked saber in one hand, tattered regimental banner in the other, standing on the smoking ruins of a battlefield, outcome teetering on the brink, urging the lads to follow him into the breach of fire with a cry of, “Let’s make it to 2015!”
I have to admit the uncertainty of it all, not knowing where we’re going, and unsure if we’ll make it, is, for me, part of the fun. (I have a very stretchable definition of “fun.”) I have occasionally closed slide shows with a text frame that, referring to the notion of being a photog, says, “This is a journey without a destination,” which is something a colleague said to me long ago, and has proved true.
The young guys in the studio give me shit about this all the time, of course. On particularly confused days here at the shop, when none of us can find our ass with both hands, and we just lost a job we were bidding on, and someone else canceled some dates we had been holding, and we are definitely feeling like the statue and not the pigeon, it has happened that one of the staff exclaims, “It’s okay, guys. Remember, this is a journey without a destination!” Chuckles all around.
In riposte, I generally offer two words back, and they ain’t “Happy Birthday.”
Everyone seeks survival in this business in many ways shapes and forms, now that many of the tried and true channels of assigning, selling and shipping pictures have morphed into something else or disappeared. For our part, we do pretty much what everybody else does. We shoot, teach, blog, sell fine art prints, lecture, send out proposals, have meetings, chat things up on social media, send out promos, talk with clients, send in estimates, and then re-shape those estimates, sometimes endlessly. Nothing about it is rocket science. After all that, we peer into the mailbox and see if anybody sent a check, and the perpetually imperfect calculus of this business is upon us once again.
But it’s also a miraculous calculus, at the same time. I am still tickled by the fact that I have made a career, gotten paid, put food on the table and a roof overhead by….shooting pictures. It’s still quite thrilling, actually, even at the above rates. So once again, here at the studio, we will shoulder the cameras and resolve to:
Try to do some good work this year. Be straight up with all concerned. Be fair and decent to all the folks around us. For my part, I’ll continue to attempt to be at peace with the absolute certainty that some of my pictures this year will be good, and others will outright suck. I’ll continue to let the ever blessed Lynn pick up the phone, as her good nature, inherent decency, wonderful demeanor, and absolute, fair minded precision with clients is the only way we stay in business. Lord knows where we’d be if I picked up the line even some of the time.
I understand fully at this point the Sisyphean task at hand. I will never shoot my “best” picture. That will always be in the future, out there, like a mirage, receding continuously, even as I stumble towards it, parched and half delirious at the prospect of that potentially momentous click. In the meantime, I will attempt to avoid shooting my worst picture.
Most of all, I will remain in love with making pictures, still or moving, and consequently, in love with the whole idea of being asked to go out into the world and hopefully see it in a good, interesting, vibrant, refreshing, quirky, or daresay even a memorable way. What an inconclusive, open ended, impossibly wonderful task.
I’ll continue to do this because I love doing it, and because, truthfully, I really don’t know how to do anything else. There are bound to be pictures out there in the year of 2014, and hopefully, I’ll shoot a few of them.
More tk….
I have to say, your year started off better than mine. Maybe by a few cents at least. That is hilarious.
I enjoy your photos Joe. All the best to you this year.
That’s hilkarious. My title when I repost this will be “At least he gets a royalty check when people use his photos” lol. You are about a million dollars ahead of many photographers out here with 1.32 check!
Interesting read. As a “wish I could be a pro” amateur photographer I guess I never thought that someone such as yourself would have to worry about the next assignment or the next sale. Looking forward to what else you may have in future entries as I know your videos have been very good to watch.
Wow Joe, you write as well as you shoot! Hang in there, and happy birthday!
It’s great to know that as I’m just starting out on my photography business that my mentors and heroes have the same feelings as myself.
Nothing in this world lasts forever especially in this ever changing world of photography but the one thing that won’t change is our love and need to shoot.
Thanks Numnuts for all the inspiration you’ve given me this past year and good luck with the your future my friend 🙂
I was sure my $11 start with Getty was very modest 🙂
On the upside they didn’t discount “man working on laptop”.
Tender mercies and all that.
I guess.
Bonne Année à vous et toute votre Famille Joe = Happy New Year to you and all your Family Joe 😉
“Let’s make it to 2015″…yeah, not a rallying cry, for sure, but sometimes, amidst the rubble and the chaos, when, as Kipling would say, “…all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you”, then making it to that next peak can be a wonderful goal, worthwhile of all our efforts and a reward in itself… And for those of us WAAAY back there, seeing you crest that next hill is, sometimes, all the inspiration we need…;-)
Happy new year Joe!
I like the way you write 🙂
After watching videos and researching your work, followed then by this read, I stand with confidence in my choice of this pursuit and profession. I’m becoming a huge fan of your world view through a box and glass. The great drive that so many of us have will lead to many inspirational captures throughout 2014. Here’s to a balance of magnificent vision along with subtle awareness of snaps all around. Happy new year!
E
Thanks, Joe, you’ve said everything many (most) of us are feeling. We are living in interesting times. Everything is in turmoil. And I can’t wait to go out and shoot it all. Maybe, if lucky, even find someone willing to part with a few shekels to allow me a piece of bread in the process. But if not, so be it, I’ll find a way because this way is the only way I know. Head up and camera high.
Happy new year to you!
Baby steps they always say. Our journey is full of baby steps.
Great post, Joe! Another example of what it is we are up against and that it is all about journey for us. And at least we have the images for others who were not able to join us.
Have a great 2014. I look forward to tagging along on your journey, if only through the web.
Joe,
you have a very interesting mind. The way you string thoughts together makes me wonder what goes through your head on a daily basis. Out of that comes a genius mind for creating images that inspires so many(myself included)to develop and grow. I hope that you can take some solace in that, I imagine a check of that nature might feel like a comical low blow.
Daniel.
Thank you Mr. McNally, that was a great read at the stert of my day. My son and I laughed our self silly at the breakfast table as I read your post out loud.
Hey, if you can keep checks like this coming in all year, one a day – every day, you’ll have nearly $482. Pretty sweet.
Looking at the picture of that check once again reminded me why I removed every single image from every stock agency that I was selling on. In a way, for what we get paid, we are “whoring” ourselves which contributed to the significant change that this industry has experienced. I will no longer get emails when a photo is sold telling me that I just made $0.18 which is nothing short of demoralizing. Good day Joe and Happy New year. Press on.
This incident shows one of the differences between a pro like Joe and an aspiring one like me. I got an email from Pixoto saying that I’d made $0.25 for a stock sale. Woo-Hoo, I’m in business!
Have a great year, Joe!
True these words are, Joe. It’s definitely a wild ride most of the time… not for the easily queasy!!
Don’t spend it all in one place.
I received a $0.24 check from Verizon last week as part of my reward for a class action suit. OK, not for photography but still…
Good post, Joe. Interesting, as I am the same age as you and came up at the same time. Knew people who knew you, and heard you were completely focused and driven. And alas, that’s why you’re “famous” and probably have a LOT more money in the bank than me.
Anyhow, I somehow survived, raised a family, put kids through college… one assignment at a time… click. click. click.
To all of you starting out, what Joe says is true — not that you have any doubt. It is a life full of uncertainty and stress and, yes, some dark periods. Just 2 or 3 years ago I finally realized that it’s a great way to live! Making your living based on how you see the world in two dimensions, how crazy is that? But man, those prior 30 years, while they had their highlights, did have long periods where the next big assignment just didn’t materialize.
Signed,
Ted (duh, not my real name)
Funny how you can make the reception of a miniscule check such a humorous and positive thing. Hope you receive a hundred thousand or so more of these this year (perhaps in larger sums) and get some good pictures too! Looking forward to living vicariously through your experiences this year… at least the good parts you write about. 🙂
Is the photo of the check for “Man Working on Laptop” taken with the check laying on the laptop a coincidence or another whimsical Joe McNally “production”. Love your work and your training…have a great year!
Thank you Joe for your words of inspiration. I save comments like these and pull them up when I feel like giving up. And then go back to living the dream.
I bet we’ll do just fine @ 2014, just keep on envolving. All the best to you Joe from here cold Finland 🙂
-Veli
It probably won’t make you feel any better, but I read your article and replaced the word photography with my business (website design and content creation) and it rung just as true.
I think this is the way the world is going for most in the field of content creation and design.
Up until last year, our company had an all-you-can-eat Thinkstock account. This year we turned it off because I decided we were being part of the problem. We’re trying to work more with local photographers to get what we need (and better quality). When we do use stock, we buy images as one-offs, which is more expensive for us and the client, but I always assume it means the photog at the end of the line makes more to.
Congrats!! Take the rest of the week off Joe!
You a word out of your resolution, Joe. That’s “inspire.” Your images inspire thousands of people. It’s a word I’ve long thought should describe the job of teacher. Not just to instruct, but to inspire. I look forward to your images of 2014.
After reading about your Rip Roaring Start to the New Year I am once again amazed that Lynn has not gotten a call from Lorne Michaels, who, on his knees, is begging you for an appearance on Saturday Night Live.
Your post, refreshing and candid, which is so great about you. I attended a pre-conference photo session you taught at a NAPP conference several years back. Loved it. I fell in love with your photography when I read about you in Susan McCartney’s book on Flash and saw your indoor-outdoor shot of a student in lab coat (NY’s Stuyvesant HS for Life) holding a gleaming beaker, with the outside NY cityscape lit up like a Christmas tree. Your innovation never ceases to amaze me. Here’s to a great 2014!
But, On the other hand (think “Topol”), imagine if this business we are in was like the Olympics, and you had something like 10-12 years to break a world record at producing your best image in an attempt to beat all comers… THAT would suck exponentially worse. At least at this point, even the Russian judges are giving you a 9.3 🙂
Don’t forget to give a cut to the tax man!
You shot “man using laptop computer”? You should have a chat with David Hobby. He’s been passing that off as a self portrait for years.
I think it’s great that even though we are in two different stages of our photography careers we are having all of the same sort of feelings & are going through the same kinds of situations. All for the love of the shoot!
There is one situation that you have been in that I have not, yet! How do I go about getting paid through a business online?
Did I mention that I’m new to the Photography Business? I’m not new to photography just the money side.
Happy Birthday!
Happy New Year!
Thank you so much,
Ginny Hirst
Amen.
And I have to agree on ALL points – it’s why we continue to do what we do (and love) every year. And going into my 11th year fulltime in this business, I also feel giddy and lucky to be able to continue to do what I love. And get paid for it.
Yet again, well said Joe! Truer words about this profession are rarely shared. Thanks for being open, honest and forthright. Happy New year to you and the staff there and I hope 2014 is your best year yet!
Joe, you should be grateful for small mercies, I appreciate it is a pretty small mercy. It was very nice to read your article, your thoughts on your mind, no wonder you have such great imagination if you can complete writing like that, being dyslexic I find it extremely difficult however it also makes me very creative. I have not yet taken the plunge and started my own business although the thoughts go through my mind each day I currently work for someone else, yes ,oh yes, in an office. But do I long to do the job that you do, even though I know that there is a lot of heartache, I still haven’t managed to get over the fact that I need to pay the mortgage. Maybe one day at least when I retire I will be able to spend all my time taking photographs for me.
Great article Jo your big inspiration keep going love your work.
Joe, what an incredibly inspirational post that was for me to read. I just tickled my toe in the waters of Professional Freelance Photography last year after years building up to it, and man it was scary – but there’s nothing else I want to do! It’s been in equal parts exhilarating and terrifying, and to know that someone so established can feel exactly the same things is such a relief. I should reach out to The Community more, support is good 🙂
Sounds like a great team you have around you!
Keep your head low, camera high and run fast. Be thankful it is not a leap year.
re “I have this imagination, I guess you’d call it, about my pictures now, given Getty’s dominating presence in the field, and that family name’s history in the oil business. I conjure that my snaps now run in pipelines around the world, just like crude, but a lot less valuable, and get sloshed onto ocean going freighters, flying the Libyan flag, crewed by a vivid collection of multi-national sailors, insured out of the Netherlands and financed through the Bank of the Caymans. They get transported here and there, and get sold at colorfully vibrant outdoor markets in port cities, say, on the west coast of Africa, pictures by the pound, auctioned off somewhere in between the livestock sales and bull semen futures. The sale gets rung up and then chopped, sliced, diverted, rounded off and otherwise divvied up among unknown but certainly necessary parties, and what makes its way back to my studio through routes apparently as circuitous as the Silk Road, is a remuneration, a sum, a check….for $1.32.
LOL … Epic! You can have that 2nd career as a writer. Thanks for the chuckle, though it’s a morbid one.
We should collaborate. Together, I bet we could increase that check by a quarter.
Dear Joe,
Do not despair! Just keep a positive attitude….
You just need to wait for another 4,545 checks like that on the mail and you will be able to buy a new D4!
At what point did we photographers allowed the big corporations to take over our lives. Is it possible we just missed the ¨whole picture¨?
A field worker, a dishwasher or a valet parking attendant makes more per hour than we do if you consider the time you took planning the shot, editing, captioning, keywording, etc, etc. before submitting your work in to the pipeline!
The Internet was supposed to help us out by making us look just as big and accessible as the next stock agency, yet we became lazy and thought this guys were really looking out for us!
But I am sure ¨they¨ are aware of this and already considering getting the old contracts back (60-40), being 60 for us of course…
I had the pleasure of meeting you 2 years ago in a Kelby training seminar and it pisses me to see that they have the balls to even sign a check like that to an artist of your caliber.
I just hope we wake up and start a revolution against our oppressors, it happened before in history, so who knows it may happen again!
Happy 2014, Happy Birthday and keep shooting
“…. I feel like a weary, overweight Wallenda, stepping out on the wire once more, balance pole firmly in hand, studio staff perched precariously like railbirds on either side of the pole, looking at me nervously. I tell them it’ll be okay, fun, even. I don’t think they completely believe me.”
I can’t stop laughing at this! What a visual. Please say you will shoot this someday.
Happy New Year, Joe.
I have just reached the frame of mind where I would just do my photography for my own pleasure. However if I could get a cheque like that rolling in!!!! Might have to rethink this professional stuff!
Just got Hot Shoe Diaries in the mail from Amazon. I was hoping one of those flying robots would bring it sooner but I had to hold out three days! I love your writing style, thanks for sharing your passion with us. I hope you made more than a dollar and change on the book 🙂
This is a really great piece Joe. I’ve read a lot of what you’ve had to say over the years that I’ve tried to implant in my brain in difficult times, and some lines here will find a place amongst them. Cheers and good luck this year.
Thanks Joe.
Your para beginning “I understand fully at this point the Sisyphean task at hand …” had particular resonance for me – even if I had to look up “Sisyphean”. 🙂
And yes, I imagine you’ll find a couple of good shots in 2014.
Thanks for your advice – and keeping me grounded.
Shane – in Canberra
Beats my effort “Man working on laptop from above”. I was rewarded with 0.99 cents !
Dang, should have tried another angle
All the best for 2014 Joe
Great comments and likewise looking forward to that best of photo!!
Best wishes to you and your team for 2014
Cheers
Grant – in Sydney
Ps – when are next in Sydney
Sorry, the first thing that popped into my head was “Man getting hit by football” (Simpsons fans will get it)
We’re dinosaurs. And a meteor is coming.
At least it’s $1.32 more than folks who shoot for a byline.
Just one comment Joe, don’t forget to subtract the amount that you have to pay to Uncle Sam….Great article, looking forward to meeting you here in Dubai during 2014.
Joe, once again, you say it like no one else. You may never shoot your best picture, or like many of us, be able to find your ass with both hands, but if all else fails, you can always write! All the best, John
I too received a very small amount as my first income for 2014. $11.14 However, it is also the very first income as a photographer I have ever received as a business. I am on my way to becoming a paid photographer, so for now, I’m overjoyed that even this small amount indicates I can make a living taking photographs. A big thank you for all your helpful insight on all things photo.
Mitch
Sad sign of the times. But that’s a $1.32 more than all the viewers of the news channels that are today asking viewers to send in their cold weather pix / video – for free and with rights grab.
I also have an imagination. When the Discovery Channel says a Pope decided what would appear in the Bible, I imagine, or truly believe actually, that the one part edited out went something like this: And God said “let there be light and upeth popeth Joe McNally.” To the one who can shoot from the highest point of the Empire State Building untethered, 🙂 , you’ll always be the best. No worries.
I love how you are positive over an income that is far less than a coffee! I have pretty much forgotten photography all together as a hobby (blame it on an ex who is very much into photography as well and hooked up behind me to a guy who does photography/videography for a living).. what a turn off….but this year.. I am trying to get back to it.. and hopefully one day.. get some money back for the efforts.. even just a small penny! lolz..
You must be a healthcare provider!
Thank you for the deep belly laughs, aka the truth!
Dammit Joe! Stop gloating over the poor bastards who got a buck thirty one…
Joe: I have not had the pleasure of taking in one of your programs in person. Seems I’ve been on the same schedule with you at NAP a few times in the past. I hope to become more familiar with your work in 2014 as I surely enjoyed you commentary here. All I can say is “Been here and doing that!” I’ve hear nothing but positive things about your programs. Maybe we can get you to Bend, Oregon, for a seminar. We’d pay you more than $1.32. We’d also take you out into the Cascades to look for those better images that we continuously strive for. Really a great article!
1 000 000 more of those and you can retire!
i’m glad you liked it. . thanks for reading!
Hey Joe
Did you know that you have big fans even in the tip of Africa?
I am a huge fan, got your books, watched every u tube and love your approach to light.
One day, come visit us in South Africa, we’ll take you into the best wild game private lodge in SA. Imagine your control of light in an uncontrolled big game environment.
You’re approach to photography is inspirational and I hope to attend one of your courses soon.
Don’t let all the fame change your style,
Cheers
Brad
You are a writer. Now if you / we photographers can show businesses, other businesses how to make money with our photographs then we really have a business that can will make sense. Why can’t we or don’t we do that. Photographs. We’d to be more than feelings. They need to be calls to action. They need to motivate markets to action. When we can demonstrate the economic value of our pics to someone else we have a real business. And we need to stop crying about our income and focus on what we can do for others and their incomes. That’s what business is all about. Wanna be one start thinking like one.
You dog 🙂
Hi Joe!
Thank you so much for sharing this with us, because this happens all the time and I think we then all wonder the same think : am I the only one that kind of incredible nonsense happens to ? I m right to accept this, what future do I have as a photographer if I don’t fight it ?
You are a daily source of inspiration for me and my team, surely to a lot more people out there, I wish you and your family all the best for 2014 !!!
Sincerely yours.
SA is amazing. Was there last year. Many, many thanks for stopping by the blog. And, I hope to be back in SA anytime I could manage it. best, joe
Thank You Joe!
I have been a faithful reader of your blog for a couple years now. What never stops amazing me is that your writing is just as good as your photography. Maybe in some cases better. This post is so good I just had to comment. I have been in love with Photography since I was 12. It put me through college. It bought my first house. I died a little when digital took over. Thanks to you and your willingness to teach and share I am back in love in every way with taking pictures. Thank you. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for your generosity. The very best to you and your family in 2014.
Stop bragging and leave some monies for the rest of us, please. 😉
$1.32, man that’s unfair.
It’ll cost 5X that to drive to the ATM to deposit it.
I went through a similar thought process several years ago, when I decided to dip my toes into the murky water of stock photography.
When I realized that iStock would pay me 20 cents (!!!) for a killer shot of a Snowy Owl – a shot that I spent several hours in -20F temperatures to shot with over $20,000 in gear, I walked away from stock and never looked back.
Running nature and wildlife photo tours has proven to be a lot more fun.
I know this was more about how things are changing in the world of photography, but this struck me:
“I will never shoot my “best” picture. That will always be in the future, out there, like a mirage, receding continuously, even as I stumble towards it, parched and half delirious at the prospect of that potentially momentous click. In the meantime, I will attempt to avoid shooting my worst picture.”
Seriously? You must have a photo you consider your best shot so far?
Joe, I got a spare room. Come on over. I’ll even feed you if you are willing to help out with the laundry.
Cause that’s how I roll.
Yes, for sure. But the key part of what you ask is, “so far.” That’s the deal, is the continual hope for the best image you might shoot to still be out there….Joe
Sometimes reading that even you are scared or at least nervous about the coming year, makes me feel discouraged. Discouraged because if someone like you who’s a legend, struggles with finances shooting pictures, how’ll I even start?.. But it’s the truth all newbies need to hear. It’s so damn hard. And it’s worth it because of that same reason I guess…thanks for sharing all your thoughts on your blog.
Image-making inspiration, business-making slop.
Joe, “So far” makes sense. Guess when I read you would never shoot your best picture, I felt a sense of despair thinking that if you haven’t managed to get your “best shot” then I might as well pack up my photography gear and give up. (Of course I’m kidding, no despairing here…well not much anyway). 🙂
I love your work.
Joe!
Awesome, real words and thoughts from you, but we have come to expect such greatness! Thanks for the inspiration. Learning heaps from your Lighting CD’s too. Hope to see you again in Australia soon.
Wow, how the world of commercial photography has changed! I still recall reading an interview with Pete Turner in the late ’80’s. He talked about his relationship with The Image Bank, one of the top stock photo agencies at that time, and how he had made over $250,000 on his stock sales the previous year. As Pete said, “not a bad chunk of change”. Joe and I are about the same age, so I’m sure Joe recalls those days. One thing has not changed; Joe McNally is still shooting great photos!
All the best, Joe!
Curt Clayton
Outstanding post! Enlightening, but sobering. Welcome to the brave new world!
I work an 8-5 job in a non-photography field. At my workplace, many of us “older” coworkers are encountering serious age discrimination and fear for our jobs. You are not alone. We are hoping to make it to 2015 and beyond.
a buck 32 !!! .. damn, if you’re ever in Kansas CIty stop by and I’ll split a Big Mac with ya. 😛
Don’t spend all at once.
Wow…I thought my stock check for $13.15 was bad. You nailed this one Joe. What to do? I guess raise the bar and keep making GREAT images because that is what we do and we love it. We have no choice. Thanks Joe for your creativity and knowledge. On ward, damn it! All the way to 2015. WHOOP WHOOP!
Click on brother….click on…….
Joe:
I have been a Getty photographer for 30 years. They recently sold one of my photos for $0.10! It was royalty free which means they took 80%. Your check tops mine for $0.02.
Will Clay
This is really excellent!!
Joe:
I enjoyed your sense of humor and your talent for words. I am sure you are a good photographer as well. Thank you for your contribution. Stay Calm and Carry on 🙂
I understand what you mean Joe. Thanks for sharing so candidly and honestly. We all aim high and try to control the outcome. We plan, and create backup plans…yet so much of how 2014 will unfold is out of our hands. Do we expand? Do we scale down? Do more commercial stuff or shoot more our personal project? It like walking on a tightrope, as you pointed out, trying to balance food on the table and food for the soul on the other hand. Wish you and every in the studio the best in the Year of Horse!
*ahem*
You still make more than musicians, Joe
Joe, one of the best posts I’ve read in a long time and true for just about all creatives who write, speak, paint, shoot photography, etc. The whole time I was laughing because I’ve felt all those things each year. I’m saving this one for the times when it just doesn’t happen even close to what I envisioned. Thanks.
Joe, you could be a comic for photographers or our shrink ! 1.32 in canadian funds is even less !