Almost broke my fingers.

Why am I writing about how I almost broke my fingers on my company's  blog?  Well, this blog is about my business and things that affect my business, and having broken fingers is one of them.  It was the middle of the night, the dog had to go out.  I was half awake, and when walking through the kitchen my foot kicked something and I tripped.  My hand went in front of my me to brace my fall (which is not how you should brace yourself at all) and I bent my fingers backward.  It happened too fast to do anything about it, but slow enough that I had the thought of praying that I didn't hear a snap as I watched my index and middle finger on my left hand bend backwards with my finger tips touching the back on my hand.  I laid there in pain, and then I bent my fingers to ensure they weren't broken, but they really hurt.  Two days later, they are still swollen and I have pain when bending them.

When you are a photographer, or a videographer, your hands and fingers are very important.  Taking pictures requires two hands. The right hand holds the camera, the index finger and thumb adjust the exposure, shutter speed, and ISO settings, not to mention access the entire cameras menu structure and operate the shutter.  The left hand steadies the camera and the fingers operate the zoom function of your lens.  Two hands, working in concert together to take on great photo.  When taking video with the same camera, volume control and focus control enter into the mix.  

What happens if I had a serious injury to a finger, hand, wrist or arm?  Well, I carry on in reality.  I make adjustments like any good professional would.  I have recording a wedding video with my right wrist in a soft cast.  The cast actually made holding the camera easier at times because it took the burden off the wrist which at the time had a bruised tendon that I got while putting a roof on my grandmother's house (true story).  Even though I can, I have, and I will still perform all of my commitments even while injured, it's still a relief to know I have time to recover before my next gig.