Hey guys, two years ago my garage was featured on the workspace of the week.
Because of that, I have got several questions about my workspace over at flickr, and have answered them there. I have uploaded pictures of my garage that I took a year ago, and added them to the unclutterer pool. I haven't taken pictures of my garage this year, but that it likely coming. In the mean time, I'm going to share last year's pictures, then I will add more commentary on the pictures as I have time, but it will mainly be adding the sort of things that I elaborated on when I was answering questions on flickr.
First, this is my garage as you would see it when you drive in.
And on the left side.
And on the right side.
And above.
As I had stated before, I'm a photographer, and two years ago, I added a rack between the car stalls to hold the photography equipment (backdrops, props, posing risers, etc). By this time last year, I had added another rack on the right side of the garage, and a frame above the car so that I could store more backdrops and other stuff that is relevant to my business.
So, why are the pictures a year old, and why have I not posted current pictures? Well the answer is in the purpose of the photos that I took.
I took the photos for insurance and tax purposes. Every year, I have to inventory and take photos of all of my photography equipment as documentation for my business insurance. It is January again, so I'm doing an inventory of my equipment, and when I'm done, I will photograph it all and file it away for insurance purposes.
As for taxes, it is kinda complicated. I never buy photography equipment new. If a contract requires more equipment, I either pick it up used, or rent it. I average 3,000 to 4,000 shutter clicks per week, and shutter clicks (actuations) are like mileage on a car. In general terms, between all the cameras that I own, I put run through 200,000 clicks every year. As you might expect, this tears up the equipment, and as a result I have two camera body failures every year. Normally these are minor mechanical failures, like a sticky shutter blade, or a stuck control dial. As an aside, I have only had one lens failure in ten years.
In any case, the typical life cycle goes like this; I buy a lightly used camera (one generation behind the current). I use it for about two and a half years. It has a minor mechanical failure. I send it to canon or nikon for a complete overhaul. I sale the camera as refurbished. Repeat.
Because of this, sometimes I don't have proper documentation of purchase. However, I have documentation of what equipment I had in January of 09 (and 08, 07, etc), and I'm documenting what I now have, and the fair market value of the new equipment is what is going to be claimed as personal property converted to business equipment. My tax preparer has worksheets, and other inventory forms, but it is very similar to the Know Your Stuff program that was featured on this site.
Right now, I'm adding more stuff to my garage space because between when these pictures were taken, and today, I bought out the equipment from a photography studio that went bankrupt 'in these troubled times.' Every January, I inventory and reorganize. When I'm done, I will post pictures.
Anyway, if you want to see some of the other pictures before I get around to commenting on them, check out my flickr stream.
If you have any questions, post them up.
