How Many Times Do You Buy Stuff For Others?

I don't mean how many times do you come into the shop and spend other people's money. We don't care. If it has Commonwealth Of Australia somewhere on the bill and you can see through the watermark, we'll take it. We have an equal-opportunity till. But how many times have you purchased a piece of equipment to satisfy someone else's desires? A client who demands a certain look or a club committee who awards only certain sorts of photos. How many times have you spent your money to please them? I confess that I used to do it. Someone said they needed a certain coverage or look and I beat my brains until I could figure out how to afford a lens that would do it. And I did it, and got paid, and then the fashion changed and no-one else ever wanted that style of shot. Wanna buy a fisheye lens, anyone? The only comfort in this was the fact that I could buy at a decent price and sell at a slightly lower one, and not drip too much blood in between. Yet I was being whipped around like a puppy's tail in the interim. What should I have done? a. Tell the client that the shot would not look all that good - and that I could make a better one with the lenses I had on hand. And then gone ahead and fulfilled that promise. b. Tell the client that I would be happy to take the currently fashionable shot...if they would pay for the lens to do it. Heck, some of them might have agreed. c. Hired one of the wretched lenses from Camera Electronic for the duration of the shoot and put the hire cost onto the bill. I did do this with a few jobs and never regretted it. It's a bit daunting when you have an expensive piece of someone else's gear in hand and have signed up to replace it if you bust it...but how many times do you sky-dive from 20,000 feet in a pink tutu? The odds have to be on your side to some extent... d. Here's the hard one. Steel yourselves. Tell the client that there are things you'll do and things you won't do...and then stick to your guns. If you tell the client that a fish-eye shot from the pan of the local CWA dunny during a wedding coverage is not a good idea, you make a statement about yourself and your integrity. State it politely, but do not let yourself be persuaded, even if they promise hand sanitiser afterwards. Be in control.