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Photography Question 

RoxAnne E. Franklin
 

What did you do?


I thought, just for fun, I'd throw this out to all of you. When you were a beginning photographer, what was the most embarrassing mistake you made due to the lack of knowledge? And what did you learn from it?
I'll stick my neck out first.
The silliest thing I ever did was..... I was asked to do an industrial shoot. It was my very first payed shoot ever.I was very nervous as I had only been doing photography seriously for about 2 months. The company knew me and wanted to use photos for their brochure. I didnt sleep the night before, had all my gear ready to go for days, thought I was prepared. I wanted to use an FLD filter because of the florescent lighting. I put it on the lens the night before, (at least I thought I did). When I got to the shoot, the guys told me that the lights werent really florescent, so I decided to take it off. I was so nervous that I was sweating bullets. I was struggling to get the darn filter off. I couldnt, so I told everyone that my camera battery went down and I had to get another. They didnt mind because they werent ready yet anyway, thank goodness. So, I ran to the camera shop, so full of anxiety wondering why I couldnt get the darn thing off. When I got to the camera shop, I actually told the gentleman behind the counter that I couldnt get the filter off. He looked at the lens, looked at me, looked at the lens, and then quietly said "miss, there is no filter on your lens" Wow!! was I embarrassed!!! I quietly said "thanks" and beat feet out of there. I guess they all had a good laugh on me.
The shoot turned out great, but I swore I would never do another as long as I lived. Funny, that was 3 years ago and I must have done 300 since then.
Ok, I put my neck out there, now the rest of you have to tell your horror story!
I'm waiting.


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February 17, 2004

 

x
  I can't wait to see what others admit. I just did a very stupid one. I'm not starting, but you could say that both of us "professionals" had a bad day.

Okay...

I was in the heat of the wedding. The couple are saying their vows to eachother. I am shooting on auto-focus, but everything is getting blurry. So, I stop shooting in auto-focus and switch to manual focus...ahhh, that's better.

Later, during the reception I realize that my auto focus was fine. My diopter was out of whack! Oopps! Dumb, dumb, dumb. Apparently, somewhere along the way I knocked it or hit the button and that threw it off.

At the same time that that happened, my friend, who was the lead photographer, and invited me to shoot with her, was shooting her camera wihtout any film (a first time ever for her). And she is far more experienced than I, so you could say that we were having a bad day!

I hope that we got at least a few shots between us of the couple.

There was more, but that was the highlight. I had a very bad day on that one. I really have no interest in seeing those pictures. I haven't seen them yet.

Jerry


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February 17, 2004

 

RoxAnne E. Franklin
  Oh Jerry! What a day. You know the old saying "s... happens" but why can't it happen to someone else right? LOL LOL
You had one of those "bad photo weeks" When those happen, I always say that I'll never pick up a camera again, but that doesnt last. ahhh the challenge of it all.
thanks for sharing!


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February 17, 2004

 

Bob Cammarata
  Late last summer, while exploring a small mountain creek in search of scenics and small critters to photograph, I noticed a large patch of bright orange mushrooms at the top of a steep rocky hillside adjacent to the stream. From where I stood, they looked fresh and vibrant, so I HAD to get closer for a few photos.
I carefully scaled the near-vertical incline to the top. Once there, I removed my photo backpack and wedged it securely against a tree. I balanced my camera (a Nikon FM2, with motordrive, and a Nikkor 180 MM ED lens), on top of the pack while I was setting up my tripod, and thinking about composition.

I heard a clanging sound, and turned around to see my camera tumbling end-over-end down the hill! In a blind panic, I took off after it, and immediately fell on my butt,...sliding down the hill, bouncing off rocks, and grabbing for the camera as I went.
We both reached the bottom at the same time. I stopped, but my camera hit a rock, went airbourne, and landed in the stream.

After the initial shock, and pain subsided,...(and a few well chosen words), I was able to survey the damage. The motordrive was trashed, and the camera had to be sent away for a complete overhaul.
Ironically, the lens survived the ordeal with minimal damage. The built in lens hood slid out and bent over the cap, which kept it from coming off...thus saving the glass. The hood is no longer functional, but the lens itself works fine.

The good news, is that I got some great shots that day, and I returned a few days later with my back-up camera, and shot the hell out of those mushrooms!


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February 18, 2004

 

Andy
  I was using my Canon AT-1 camera for over 20 years without any problem loading the film except that one time I was in Hong Kong. I visited the Lantau Island, the reservoir and the magnificent Victoria Peak at sunset.

After I came back down from the Peak, I realized I had not changed film for the entire day. When I got back to the hotel, I found out that I did not load the film right. That was the first and only time I did that in more than 20 years.

As a serious amateur photographer, I have duplicate of everything. The next evening I went back to the Victoria Peak again and after I set up my camera, the shutter won't click. The battery decided to die at that moment. I have the spare but I left it at the hotel.

Then next night, also the last night in Hong Kong, I went up to the Peak again. I had flesh battery in the camera and I was sure the film was loaded right. Then I set up the camera again and when I took the shutter release out, it was broken in two and cannot be used. Again I had a spare shutter release but I left it at the hotel. I did tried to hold the shutter with my finger (I had to use the bulb setting for long exposure) but the photos were very blurry. Three times at the Victoria Peak and did not get one photo.


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February 18, 2004

 

Wing Wong
  Heh. I remember the first time I went shooting at a convention in Southern California. It was a costume convention and I was overjoyed as it was my first "testrun" of my new camera. I had spotted a couple dressed as a popular character pair and everyone was lined up to shoot them and was only given a few seconds for a shot.

Overly confident in my camera at the time, I had not realised I had it set to ISO100 while in a dimly lit corridor and without flash. I hit the shutter, hear the click, thanked the couple profusely for their time and walked off, but not before hearing the click of the shutter closing after an extended exposure!!

That would not be the last time I make that mistake, but it is the most memorable. :) The picture turned out looking like there were ghosts wrapped around them. Learning from mistakes can be interesting. :)


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February 18, 2004

 

RoxAnne E. Franklin
  I just love this!!! You are all the best for sharing your goof ups. I am still laughing so hard. I hope more people respond to this because it's fun to laugh at ourselves, afterall, photography is a huge challenge.

Thanks so much, best laugh I had in ages. I can so relate to all of you.


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February 18, 2004

 
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