hit me with your best shot

It was pretty ironic that I was taking photos in front of a boxing gym last week, because by the end of this shoot, I actually felt like punching someone...

As most of you know by now, I usually shoot my photos with just myself and a tripod. Last Thursday, I woke up early to shoot this t-shirt from One Round Jack before work. I headed to Overthrow, a popular, retro inspired boxing gym here in NYC, which isn't far from my office. I set my purse down on a door step, off to the side, and got set up and started shooting. While I was shooting, a guy tried to go in through the door where my purse was, but couldn't because it was in the way. I moved it so he could go in, then put it back and continued taking photos. 

A few minutes later, he tried to come back out the door again, but couldn't because my purse was in the way again. He kept jamming the door against my purse, so I ran over to move it again. My foot accidentally hit the tripod, knocking it over. I tried to grab it, but at the same time a woman was walking by and got in my way so I couldn't catch it fast enough. The camera and tripod hit the ground, and since the lens was extended, it jammed, making the camera unusable. 

The guy ended up going around and exiting from a door on the other side. When I came out I told him he caused me to break my camera. All he gave me was a lackluster "sorry" and walked away, which made me feel even worse about the situation. I was so tempted to throw the camera on the ground and smash it, since I would need an entirely new camera anyway. I was having a bad week already, and this was just the icing on the cake. I pretty much had a mental breakdown on the street and called my mom upset. 

I was miserable for the rest of the morning. Even though I knew it was an accident, I beat myself up with ways I could have prevented this from happening. I should have gotten a sturdier tripod, I should have just stopped and been satisfied with the photos I had already gotten, I shouldn't have put my purse in that spot. I dug myself into a hole of negative thoughts, not just about the situation with my camera, but about myself. 

Then when I was out getting lunch later that day, I saw something that put things into perspective for me. What I saw made me remember that it was just a camera and I shouldn't get so upset about material objects. The purpose of this post is not for sympathy or to complain, but just to give you some back story behind these photos. I saw something recently on Instagram that said, people only post about their successes on social media, not their failures, which is so true. I think it's important to publicly share our struggles from time to time to remind one another that we're only human.  

If you'd like to shop my t-shirt, you can find it here:
https://www.oneroundjack.com/orj-for-women/jack-rabbits-boxing-gym
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T-Shirt: c/o One Round Jack
Cardigan: Vintage; Skirt: May 68; Tights H&M; Shoes: Eastland Shoe; Bow: Claires
Location: Overthrow Boxing Club (NoHo, Manhattan)