A few weeks back, I spent the weekend in Toronto photographing the Blissdom Canada conference as second shooter for the wonderful and talented Anna Epp.  It was my second year working under Anna at this particular conference, and I really enjoyed my time there.  Anna is very dedicated and professional in her work, and I love to watch and learn from her.  Sadly, one of the lessons I learned was self-taught, the hard way. 

The wrap-up event for Blissdom is typically a party on the Saturday night, and this year’s conference was no exception.  It’s a really fun event to shoot, and this party seemed especially happy.  I’d turned my camera off several times as the evening wound down, deciding that I had fulfilled my obligations, only to find more moments to capture.   This was how I found myself standing on a chair to get a couple more shots of the room.  When the photos were taken, I crouched down to step off the chair at the same time as the hand that was holding my camera inadvertently pressed the lens release button.  I twisted to get down and the lens twisted off.  It tumbled a good four feet before hitting a table leg and then the floor.  I was shocked and crushed.

The lens that fell is my favourite lens, my first BIG splurge on glass.  It was clearly damaged, and has since been sent off to Sony to see what, if anything can be done.  While I hold my breath waiting, I continue to alternate between missing it and being so very mad at myself for allowing this to happen, even though I know it was an accident.  It’s been two weeks, and now I just need to know.