Reality in the Face of a Dream

Last year in October I had to turn in my budget requests for 2010 at work. I was fresh off a photography trip to the panhandle where I had just gotten to use a new zoom lens, a Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS that allowed me to grab some shots that I had never been able to before because of the distance. The lens is a cheap lens for a zoom at only $250, and it's not the one I wanted. But it was the one I was told I had to get, so I got it and used it. But the images I took were really soft and the lens didn't let in much light at all. So when it came time to ask for new items in the budget, I asked for a more expensive lens, an 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, because I thought I'd be able to get a lens that had a full range of wide and zoom without having to switch lenses. At the time I priced it, it was around $650.

This was before I got the opportunity to use a couple of L-series lenses for a weekend at a work conference last month, including the Dream Lens - a 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM.

I found out last week that I had been approved $650 for a lens. But I had been doing a lot of reading since then and realized that the lens I thought I wanted wasn't going to do what I wanted it to do. No $650 lens would. I wanted a single lens that would have a full range, still be able to capture sharp images, with no distortion or - something that I've come to hate from my images being rejected from iStockphoto - chromatic aberration. In my reading I had come to the conclusion that I actually really do like the two-lens setup I have now at work. I use an 18-55 for wide stuff and group shots, which we take a lot of at work, and the 55-250 for distance shots and artistic stuff. But both my lenses are really, really crappy plastic lenses. But I'm the king of working with what I'm given, so I just did the best I could. And I think I did a pretty damn good job.

I started doing research and found out quickly that I could, in fact, get a decent lens within my budget. But I also found out that if I could convince my boss to spend about $400 more, I could get a really good lens. The thought was that I could get a good lens to replace my every day walking around lens this year and ask for a better zoom lens next year. Then, with the exception of maybe a prime lens or two, I'd have a good all-purpose setup that would work for the way I shoot at work. It was a long-term plan, but one that I felt would be money better spent in the long run.

So on Tuesday I went in to see Rodney, my boss's boss and the guy who I'd end up having to ask for the money anyway, to ask for an increase in my lens budget. I was even prepared to trade my Adobe Creative Suite CS4 upgrade - coincidentally about $400 - for the extra money for the lens. I felt that strongly about it. So I went in and gave him my pitch. I explained that a better lens would give us better images and would be more affordable in the long run. The guy is a fisherman, and I even used a fishing metaphor comparing the lens I have now to a Zebco Barbie fishing pole. I showed him my research and the reviews of the lens that I wanted. I presented him with a couple of alternatives, one priced around what I wanted that was an L-Series with a shorter range and another that was still slightly outside my budget range that would have a pretty good range at the cost of some barrel distortion and vingnetting (which that Photoshop CS4 would come in handy to fix). I was on fire. He listened to what I had to say and took the research papers that I gave him. He said he'd have to check and see and told me that he'd let me know.

I thanked him and walked out of his office, lingering for just a second at his secretary's desk to say hello. I heard him pick up the phone and say "can you come down here. James just came in and asked for a lens." Oh, crap. I knew it could only be one person - Laura, my supervisor. I went back to my desk and somehow didn't pass her in the hall on the way. I had a meeting with the vice president of the company to go to, so I started getting my papers and ideas ready for that.

A few minutes later Laura came to my desk and said "what's the big idea asking Rodney for a new lens?" I told her that he had said at the conference to come see him when we got back (I had shared with him how much fun I was having using the borrowed L-series lenses while we were at the conference a few weeks ago and had already started laying the groundwork for me to start begging and pleading for us to get some better lenses). She said that he wanted to see both of us in his office and asked if I could come down. I couldn't right at the moment because of that meeting with the VP, but said that I could immediately after. Oh, crap.

So after my meeting we went down to Rodney's office. Laura and I sat down in front of Rodney's desk, I being closer to the door in case I needed to bolt if they called security to escort me out of the building. Rodney began.

"So you want a new lens..."

Laura jumped in. "I told you he was going to say no." She had a funny tone to her voice, almost... playful?

"Let me explain my thinking." I said, prepared to go over my entire spiel again.

"Let me stop you right there." Rodney said. His face went from dead serious to a smirk. "While we were at the conference, Laura and I watched you and Matt running around like kids in a candy store drooling about how great these lenses were."

"Yeah, they were awesome" I said.

"We noticed you were having such a great time. So we decided to surprise you by buying you Jeff's lens (the borrowed 70-200mm L-series zoom)."

I chuckled. "Yeah, okay" I scoffed. I honestly thought they were joking around with me.

"I was going to order it today," Laura chimed in. "Actually, I was supposed to order it Friday but got really busy, so I was going to order it today. Then you came in here asking for a lens and so I thought we'd better sit down and talk about it before I ordered it."

They were serious. "You're serious" I think I said. "Are you serious?" Rodney handed me a paper printed from a website with the lens on it. They were serious.

"Wow. Wow. Thank you guys" I said. "Wow!"

Rodney told me all about how they had kept it a big secret and had even consulted my buddy, Jeff (the owner of the lenses and a lot of other cool toys that are worthy of their own post at a later time), and sworn him to secrecy. They told me how they had thought about asking Matt, but decided against it because they just knew he'd get excited and tip me off. Good call on their part, because I had gone to Matt to get his opinion while I was researching lenses.

"And you had to ruin our little surprise" Laura exclaimed.

"When you came in this morning I thought you had been tipped off" said Rodney. I hadn't .

"You've done a really great job with the photography and if there's something that we can do to make it even better then it's worth it," Laura said.

The room was spinning. I couldn't believe it. I had gone in to beg and plead for a thousand dollar lens and they were going to surprise me with one that cost almost double that!

"So decide which lens you want and we'll order it."

I floated back upstairs (with a quick stop at Matt's desk to tell him the story) with a decision to make. Do I go for broke and get the Dream Lens, or do I go with the lens that I had carefully researched and decided would be most versatile 95% of the time? Holy crap, my head hurt. It's not every day that someone hands you your wildest dreams (I had never even really considered asking for that lens).

So I sat down to think it out. And I thought. And I read reviews. I agonized over the decision. I talked to Matt about it. I talked to Kristi about it. And in those conversations, the realization of what would be best slowly crept up on me.

Yeah, I could get some amazing shots with the Dream Lens every now and then (like I said, about 5% of the time - but when that 5% comes, a good zoom lens comes in very, very handy). But I could use the other lens every day and really improve the shots that I shoot the most - the day-to-day shots that aren't always glamourous or end up in the annual report.

So I turned down the gift and asked for the every day lens, with the full intention of asking for the Dream Lens, actually its newly-released younger sister, next year.

I'm grateful for what my bosses tried to do for me, and I'm truly and deeply touched. I'm not sure I've ever been surprised or given such an awesome show of appreciation at work, ever. I sometimes feel unappreciated at work, and this was an enormous olive branch - something that shows me that even though I'm not out there winning awards and making some huge name for myself, that I am appreciated professionally. And that respect goes a long way.