I got an email asking why I didn’t have a button on my site for donations. In my view, asking for a gift is like asking for praise. I’m delighted to accept gifts (or praise) but I’m not going to ask for either.
This brings me to an observation I made when I worked for Leitz (Leica). The majority of our customers were doctors, dentists and attorneys. And having worked in camera stores I can tell you that many Canon and Nikon “pros” are in fact, doctors and lawyers as well. This seems to come as a surprise--yet nobody thinks that everyone who buys a Porsche is a race car driver!
Getting back to doctors, besides learning about medical specialties I didn't know existed, I discovered one reason these folks bought top-of-the-line products was to reward themselves for long days of root canal surgery, tedious litigation and so on. These individuals were quite well off, but if told "Your purchase supports my work exploring Yellowstone” they were likely to be nonplussed.
I don't want to make a big deal of this small observation. I'll just say my photographic "work” is also my recreation and I suspect the guys whose work is running photo workshops in Yosemite or testing every new lens aren't suffering too much either. So, if someone’s day job is impacted teeth or protracted lawsuits, or just sitting in a call center, I completely understand why people with those jobs might be reluctant to subsidize someone else's recreation.
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