This might be a great "learning curve" type of thing. What is the dumbest thing that you've ever done while photographing. I was reading a book by famous "LIFE" magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, and he had a short section featuring mistakes he has made in his many years. A lot of people think professionals are flawless, but he makes no bones about the times he screwed up. The chapter was meant not to laugh at, but to educate... let someone else do the dumb thing, and learn from their mistake. In that vein, with all of the experience we have in this forum, we should get some good stories... and ultimately prevent some of the other readers from emulating our errors.

My story: In the 1980's I was living in Anchorage, Alaska and was going to a winter carnival called Fur Rendezvous. It is a famous celebration from the old pioneer days, when trappers finished for the year and came to town to celebrate. I was using two cameras... one with a wide angle, and the other with a tele. I was preparing my gear when my shooting buddy knocked on the door, and off we went. It was February in Alaska... freezing; but our anticipation was high for good picture making.

The photo opportunities were excellent... sled dogs, sub zero sky divers, movie and TV stars... images still frozen in my mind. I was using my long lens most of the time and looked down...34 exposures. There was a loll in the action, so I decided to burn through the remaining couple of shots so I could get a fresh roll into the camera before things picked up. One shot, two, three... I anticipated the wind lever locking up. I've always got a shot or two past the normal thirty six, but this was amazing. I bragged to my friend... "man, I really loaded this thing good!" After the frame counter stopped turning, and I was still going strong, a sick feeling settled as I turned the rewind crank which offered no resistance...AAAGGGHHH!!! Every shot lost! When my friend knocked on my door... he broke my thought process. I loaded the wide angle camera... but not the tele.

To this day, I am constantly turning the rewind crank to assure tension. I can still see those shots in my mind 17 years later. The worst thing was returning home to see the film I thought I'd loaded setting on the table... seemingly laughing at me.

LAST EDITED ON Sep-29-00 AT 11:25 PM (GMT)

I sure do remember the dumbest thing I have ever done. That was running over my F5 with a Corvette. Yes, there was a woman involved, yes it was insured, yes the insurance paid off in good time (for the camera not the tire), and yes, I will never do that again (sold the vette). But no, I have not given up on woman.
Doug

"Take only photographs, leave only footprints"

Well, my latest dumbest was to open the camera back without making certain I had it rewinded. Last 4-5 pictures gone. Usually always the best. This time of a precious face.
Have a great time
JRP
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I'd have to say opening the back with film still loaded is it for me. I hadn't done it in quite some time, so I guess I was due this summer while my wife and I were on a trip. We got to the first photo spot of the journey, and I pulled a camera out of the bag and popped the door open to load it. I forgot that I had put a roll in a couple days prior to shoot some deer visiting our yard. I usually shoot a roll as soon as I load it, but in this case I only took a few frames and put the camera away. Oh well.

I'm sure there are a few other bone-head moves I've pulled. I just can't remember them offhand.

Victor Newman

My Nikonians Gallery

www.nikonians.org - Worldwide Home for Nikon Photographers

Wendy L. Folse
http://www.suite101.com/myhome.cfm/wlfphoto

Well, I have made many mistakes so figuring out the dumbest may take a few minutes. It would have to be a toss up between two.

First Rate Dumbest:
I was shooting a formal portrait for a board photo of a soldierin class A's. It was a stressful day and my mind was everywhere but where it should have been. I checked everything, or so I thought. The lights were just right. I had a very nice pose. Everything seemed great. Until I saw the film......then I noticed that the shoulder bar on one side of his uniform was sticking out from under the collar resting on his neck. I was too embarassed to call him back to reshoot so I scanned in the negatives and fixed it in Photoshop. They were great portrataits except for my little faux pas. After Photoshop no one could tell what happened.

Second Most Recent Dumbest:
A few weeks ago, I was in a hurry to get several b&w rolls of film developed. I was tired and should have left it for another day but no. I loaded a 5 reel metal tank, poured in the developer and was ready to go. This particular tank has a sticky lid and it usually requires an act of congress to get it off. On the third minute I went to invert the tank and didn't have a very good grip on it apparently. The lid popped off and three reels and half the developer splashed into the sink. I slammed the tank shut with the remaining two reels still inside and finished the agitation. Tossed two of the reels into another tank and added water to hold them. The third reel was toast and I developed it just for kicks. Pretty good almost slides.

And now for the latest ...... (yestarday's)
I left the soft filter on the lens while taking pictures. looking for great sharpness.
Have a great time
JRP
My profile
Previous photography stuff, before Nikonians and Bo Stahlbrandt:
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The dumbest thing I did with my Nikon, was when I left my SB-28 in strobe mode accidentally while taking peoples pictures. I didn't even realize it until someone asked me "Hey, is it supposed to flicker like that?"...Doh!

Dumbest thing I'd done altogether? I was examining my manual camera, and sat on the cable release and took a picture of myself... hehe



Cheeri'o...
Frankie...

Just did a really dumb one today. Put the camera with the 80-200 zoom on it on the back seat of the car while I drove about half a mile along an unfenced road to get to a better viewpoint. A sheep ran into the road right in front of the car: emergency stop time.

THUMP!

Good stories,

About six years ago I bought a N90s and paid the full Nikon price of $1200. This was my first really good camera, up from a Minolta x700. I was photography fly fishing stock on a river when I went swimming with my camera. When Nikon warns you not to submerge your camera beleive them! After that I purchased equipment insurance,,,

Scott Fraser
Canyon Photography
Environmental Photojournalism

LAST EDITED ON Oct-04-00 AT 08:07 AM (GMT)

My collection of my follies is large enough, so it is not easy to choose the "very best of...". Once I was shooting without the film in the camera... another time I forgot to remove the permanent exposure compensation, which remains set even after the camera was turned off...

It was silly enough to develop an unknown BW film in TMax developer without making tests first (I was tired and that 2 rolls were not very important. The result was a heavy fog looking like a 2 stops overdeveloping).

But the absolute dumbest thing is to repeat the same error again and again, isn't it? When I from time to time push the shutter release button without having first visualized the picture in my mind hoping for the first impression and good luck --- that is the favorite!

Cheers!
Andrey

LAST EDITED ON Oct-10-00 AT 10:01 PM (GMT)

Well, fellow Nikonians,

I, like almost everyone else it seams, forgot to rewind the film after a day long shoot. A group of us (3) from school were working on our portfolios, taking pictures of models and drawings, we were using two cameras, one for black and white and one for slides. My friend said "How do you take the film out?" and I said " oh just slide the latch and ..." poof - thankfully, it was just one of his and three of mine that were lost. Luckily, we still had the work up so we could redo the shoot. (I've actually done this more times than I care to admit, but I chalk it up to sleep deprevation.)

The other day the family went up to Lake Tahoe. My wife was feeding the baby in the car and I went to take some pictures at Emerald Bay. I set the camera on the tripod (Manfrotto 3401b/455B with a 3410/329 head), changed lenses, and grabbed a few quick shots. What I didn't do was tighten the quick release lock. When I moved the tripod to another location, my went W I D E as the camera slid and ... stopped. They must have been thinking of me when they designed this quick release to have a safety button that keeps the QR attached to the head. Okay, its not life threatening, but it still made my heart skip a few beats.

Okay, last one, but it wasn't me, it was my brother:

My brother and I were on this boy scout camping trip, I must have been 11 and he was 13, he took my parents camera kit(Canon AE-1 Program and a few lenses - never even touched by my dad, much less even used) and "oops" forgot to tell them. Anyways, knowing that he'd be in trouble if something happened to it - packed in with all the dirty and wet camping gear- he dicided that it should ride with him in the van. So, before we left, he put it down on a table just as we loaded up and left. I'm sure there is some sqirrel out there enjoying it to this very day. At least it wasn't a Nikon.

Anthony

Anthony

The Moderator Page and My Gallery
The important things in life are simple; the simple things are hard.

I’ve also experienced NEF-Syndrome (Never-Ending Film) with a variety of 35mm cameras – oddly, the Nikon F3 can easily fool you into thinking it’s transporting when it’s not – and the usual run of opening the back of the camera with film still inside, but my favourite self-awards for photographic stupidity in the face of danger was this:

Back in 1984 we were still shooting full-length official Army portraits in a weird 10”x4” format using b&w film. Each portrait involved the soldier having his class B uniform cleaned and pressed. I’d spend maybe half an hour on each sitting – a lot of work taping the uniform to eliminate creases, making sure not a hair was out of place, and that all the badges and insignia was straight and in the correct place. Somehow, I managed to load not one, but THREE 12 shot Hasselblad magazines with the backing paper facing forward. I was as popular as a case of baked beans on the Space Shuttle!

My first TLR was a Yashicamat 124G. TLRs are very square, boxy cameras, and they like to roll around under certain circumstances. I had that Yashica on the leather front seat of my old Volvo, and was on my way to take some photos – somewhat ironically – of the place where my first wife had just had a minor traffic accident in her own car. Two youths, grinning like a pair of hand-fed hyenas, were sitting together on one single bicycle, intent on a little game of chicken before supper. About 30 meters in front of my hood, they zoomed out across the road in front of me.

With sparks flying off my front number plate, four huge disc brakes somehow managed to bring nearly two tons of Swedish rolling iron to a grinding halt just in front of these idiots. With a roar of laughter, they were gone. Gone too was my Yashica, smashed to bits against the dashboard. Morale? Secure loose cameras before flight…

Mike

Batteries, and more batteries.....

Well, actually not enough battery power.

I went to Big Bend National Park a number of years ago, and I had my trusty AE1-P (Canon) with me, including a small tele plus a wide angle for the stunning vistas that I knew were awaiting me up the Lost Mine Trail...

Well, up and off we went, with me and my camera going to the back of the line....

Well, a nice Turkey Vulture (we call them thar nasty thangs BUZZARDS here) stopped on a branch about 20 feet away and looked like he/she wanted its picture taken...

Well...nothing happened, no metering, no program mode....

I was sick, mad, furious, and shouting nasties to the wind....

Well, what made it worse was that there was nothing close battery-wise to what I needed in the small campground store....

Three more days of camping, with some stunning views, great wildlife, and a camera that stayed in the car...powerless....

Lesson learned??? I went back the following year, with three extra batteries.....HAHAHAHAHAHA....we got stormed out!!!!!

Boy, was the lightning ever impressive though....


Mark

Mark, an Austin Nikonian

Mark,

I feel bad for you. I never go out without my FM2 in the bag. My F3 is very reliable, but as with most cameras today, it needs juice. I keep a FM2 body in the bag... and it saved the day more than once.

Back in the 1980's many of my friends used the Cannon A-1, and I saw,(or didn't see), the results of batteries deciding to quit on the spot. I never regretted my choice of Nikon. It is the only major manufacturer still offering a manual body... one that accepts autofocus lenses too!

I hadn't posted to this subject yet because I had not till recently done anything original. Just the usual no film in camera, open back before rewinding, no spare batteries, no spare film, rushing out with just camera and no bag only to discover I had the wrong lens, etc....

I too have an FM2 and for years I used it as deftly as a chef uses a favorite pan. But since I acquired my N60 I have begun wasting a lot of film in the FM2. (I hear Al saying "I told you so ...) I often forget to focus, set the exposure, or even both! I find myself gently pressing the shutter release to autofocus, but instead fire the shutter. And once I even forgot to set the shutter to the flash sync speed and ruined a great "found shot" of a bee landing on the flower that I was focusing on.

If you are a long time manual user and get a new AF camera, keep using the old one to keep your skill honed---use it or lose it. Scott

--scott

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

I had the usual suspects in my list of blunders but this one sticks out. Being lazy and not labelling the chemical bottles for B&W film development,i mistook my wetting agent as Kodak D76 and proceeded on to stop bath and fixer etc and when it came to the moment of taking the neg out of the tank,Ouch!!!Clear strip.
It did not help later when the protagonists who was supposed to be on the neg asked for a look at the print.Errr Hmmm
Serves me right for being disorganised and now everything is BOLDLY labelled as it should be.

Jasper

In 1983, I was assigned by the newspaper I was working for in West Virginia to photograph a group of rockclimbers at Seneca Rocks, about an hour and a half away. I met the group at the visitor's center, then followed them to their camp before accompanying them across a foot bridge and up a winding trail that ascended the side of the mountain. We reached the rocks and I spent a couple of hours or so shooting several rolls of film as they (and I) learned to scale the rocks. They, however, were staying until just before dark. I had to get back to the newspaper office. So, I began the descent down the side of the mountain by myself. Before I knew it, I had absolutely no idea how I got up there. I was completely lost. I decided to listen to the river, figuring if I found the river, I could go one way or the other until I found the bridge. As I followed the sound of the water, I came to a field of large boulders (Seneca Rocks is famous for rattlesnakes!) and climbed down them, coming out on a steep river bank that happened to be directly across the river from the visitor's center. Well, I foolishly decided the thing to do would be to simply wade across the river. So, camera in hand, I began to work my way across, stepping gingerly on the rocks that lined the river bed. Things were going fine until I got about two-thirds of the way across and my foot landed on a particularly slippery rock. I soon found myself submerged in the water -- all but the right arm which safely held my camera above the water line. I'm happy to say that my camera didn't even get wet. I, however, was soaked from head to toe and so were several rolls of exposed film which were in my pockets. Only the roll which remained in the camera stayed free of the muddy river water. Needless to say, that water wasn't very good for the film I had shot that day. And I had to drive the 90 minutes home soaking wet. Does that qualify for dumb?

I have no shortage of dumb stuff to work from. Witness my most recent destruction of my brand-new 24-85 Nikkor...

The most slapstick event I recall was many years ago shooting macro images of wildflowers in Albion Basin (part of Alta ski resort in Utah). I found an interesting flower in a rocky outcrop. Working through the viewfinder, I contorted my body into a crevise that required that I use one hand for balance an the other to hold the camera. As I hovered a few inches from the flower, I unconsciously moved my support hand up to adjust the focus. I fell forward onto the rocks, hitting them with my lens and the bashing the camera with my eyebrow and finally landed cursing heap in the dirt. I got an interesting eyebrow bruise, a broken skylight filter, and a dented filter mount on my lens...and, of course, no shot.

BJ

Zenfolio gallery

LAST EDITED ON Dec-26-00 AT 04:44 PM (GMT)

Well,

Last week I taking some flower closeups. They were somewhat high so I said, "Right, let's break out the tripod and step stool." After getting everything together, I said "Hey, let's use the 'new' DR-3 right angle finder." So there I was, holding the finder, removing the rubber eye cup when, it happened...

The DR-3 squirmed out of my hand, much like my seven month son when his gums hurt, and then committed suicide and jumped five and half feet onto the concrete walk. After recovering, I checked it and it "seemed" okay. I checked it again last night and heard a slight noise inside. I think the prism may be broken. I know it has a small chip in a corner.

Oh well, I'm going to bring it in for service, may be it can be fixed. Maybe I'll just deal with it as is.

anthony a.k.a. "fumble fingers"

Anthony

The Moderator Page and My Gallery
The important things in life are simple; the simple things are hard.

Anthony,

Well, let's pray for the best...
Let us know how it goes.

Bo (Nikonian in the Black Forest/Germany)
My profile and My gallery

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Bo Stahlbrandt. Founder and Administrator located in Bratislava/Slovakia and in the Black Forest/Germany.
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I think I have a "new" one to add. Just this past Thursday I might have shot half-a-roll without focusing! I was trying to finish a big job that has to be ready for processing next Tuesday (1/2/2001). It involved 18 "matched" rolls of various targets (color checkers, squarewave resolution, etc.) at exposure variations of 3-under to 5-over using a variety of light sources. The results are to be used to determine what will be shown at the PMA show in a few weeks. After busting my chops, changing targets and power settings on the EF units for 2 exposure series, I realized that I never re-focused on the new target. And it's a "new secret" film so there aren't any "spares" anywhere in the world. I'm really looking forward to going back to work!

Well, Bo,

Just got the DR-3 back this morning. (The repair shop is a block away.) They removed a chipped corner in the prism and cleaned it.

It has a few chips on the prism itself - but were there before - at least thats what I tell myself - looks like dust specks. Annoying, but then again, as much as this costs, its something I can live with.

Oh, well, I'll chalk it up to another lesson learned.

Anthony, aka fumble fingers

Anthony

The Moderator Page and My Gallery
The important things in life are simple; the simple things are hard.

About twenty years ago I loaded up my trusty Spotmatic prior to my son's baptism. I gave the camera to my older brother to take pictures during the ceremony. (He's also an advanced amateur)At the end of the ceremony he tells me he doesn't think the film is feeding. No picturres, my wife was greatly upset.
Seven years later for my second son's baptism I load the same camera and carefully check that the film has engaged the take up spool. Again the film slipped out of the take up spool and missed having pictures during the ceremony.
My N90 has elimiated this problem.

Well my latest dumbest thing just happened yesterday.
I opened my bag to take out a F5 which had the 80-400mm VR lens on. Put the bag on my chair, in my office. Changed the lens for a 100mm f/2.8 Tokina Macro to shoot a couple of interesting things and test the lens just a couple of feet away, on my desk. But I forgot to zip back the bag, close it When I turned around looking for a filter, I accidentaly tilted the bag and all of its contents fell to the floor (fortunately well carpeted and cushioned) but I almost cried over my stupidity, with over 40 years experience!
So, lesson: always close back the bag. Regardless.
Have a great time
JRP
My profile
Previous photography stuff, before Nikonians:
A Brief Love Story

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I once used a Minolta camera - and I almost bought a new lens for it instead of an N80 body. Lucky for me, I went with the N80.

__________________________________________________________
You don't have to work as a photographer to be a photographer

Very nice I like that one.

np

ohhhh, the humility...

I had rented a used Mamiya 1000s along with a 80mm lens from a local used camera shop (name withheld) to see if medium format was for me. I took my Nikon 5005, the Mamiya 1000s, and an old Ricohflex TLR and packed it up in my LowePro Photo Trekker and up to a favorite spot on the Blue Ridge Parkway I went (near Linville Gorge). I was hiking through the early morning dew, when I came across a small waterfall and some beautiful ferns. I always wanted this picture in my portfolio, so I took my time, composed the shot with the Mamiya perched upon my bogen 3221 tripod, cable release in hand. I looked around for my light meter and noticed it lying on the ground on the other side of my tripod. I let go of the tripod and slowly moved around the tripod, careful not to bump it, because I didn’t want to have to recompose the shot… I picked up the light meter, and again, maneuvered my way around the tripod, trying not to disturb anything… when I thought I was safely around the tripod, I heard the dreadful sound of the tripod hitting the ground, or should I say, the Mamiya hitting the ground! The cable release had caught my my coat as i brushed by...

Ouch! I inspected the damage. The winder fell off and I noticed the dent in the side of the camera... I started to cry. The crank would not reattach, nor could i get the film to advance... this wasnt looking good, so disappointed as i was, it was best that i packed it all back up and headed home. It would only get worse if i stayed and tried to contiune.

I went to the camera store the next work day, and was going to explain what happened, but I knew what the answer would be, “You broke it, You buy it”, so that is exactly what I did, $550. I left the camera store with my damaged mamiya and drove the 5.6 miles to the camera repair shop, wondering how much this was going to cost me, and if it was going to be worth it. The estimate surprised me… $150. It actually cost me $180, but I had learned my lesson.


Bryan
picture taker!

D

U

C

K

Bryan Duckett Charlotte, NC (USA)

Dumbest thing I've ever done was buy a Quantaray lens.

What's the dumbest thing I've ever done in photography? That's an easy one.

About fifteen years ago I was out on my bass boat on a beautiful, calm Minnesota lake. The day was spectacular but the fish weren't cooperating. I'd fished for about four hours, changing artificial baits ten or twenty times, all with no luck.

Then a Loon (an extremely beautiful and photogenic water bird) surfaced only ten feet from my boat, making me think that the expedition wasn't going to be a complete bust. I usually put my camera bag in the boat just in case the resident Bald Eagle or Osprey decides to make an appearance, or the sunset is special so I grabbed the bag from it's place in a watertight cabinet, put a short telephoto on my (then) best Minolta and got some nice shots.

The Loon soon tired of watching me and departed so I went back to fishing. Being a lot dumber than I am today (I fervently hope) I left the camera bag open on the floor, directly below my huge, open tackle box.

Then it happened. Finally, a fish hit my bait and I fought it for about ten minutes. It turned out to be a very nice, approximately nine pound, Northern Pike which I landed.

The fish had five out of six treble hooks firmly into his mouth, making extraction difficult but I finally freed the bait. This left the large, motionless fish lying on the floor of the boat.

Northern Pike are (I know NOW) kind of like sharks in that they will lie motionless for long periods and then "come to life", thrashing and flipping into the air with great vigor. This would be no great problem except that their mouths are loaded with needle-like teeth that can rip skin and flesh with barely a touch.

I jumped back to avoid the teeth, stepped into my open camera bag and SAT on my open tackle box. Since the box fairly bristled with sharp hooks (on maybe a hundred artificial baits) I stood up even faster than I'd sat down and in the process tipped the tackle box into the camera bag.

I had hooks in my butt and leg, the fish was still thrashing around, now with various baits hooked in his side, and the camera bag was full to overflowing with baits.

I got the fish into a live well without further damage to my tender hide, dug out my wire cutters (found in the camera bag), cut and removed the hooks from my backside and headed back to my dock.

She Who Must Be Obeyed (my wife for those of you who don't watch Rumpole of the Bailey on PBS) was shocked at first, seeing all the blood on the back of my pants and in the boat seat, but once she'd heard my story and knew I wasn't seriously injured, she grinned and said, "Bet that smarts."

The fish didn't survive (but he was delicious). My butt healed in a couple of weeks and my pride a few months later. It took about two days to separate my camera equipment from all those hooks and other fishing equipment but nothing was damaged except a bunch of baits that had their hooks cut to remove them from the camera bag fabric.

I have NEVER again left my tackle box OR camera bag open while fishing, and when I open the camera bag on the boat, I ALWAYS put it back into a compartment before even thinking of fishing again.

Photographing Arizona in winter, Minnesota in summer and in-between twice a year

The dumbest....hmmmm.....it just happened last week!
I was shooting a wedding, so I went to the church a few days before & shot a test roll to get proper lighting conditions.

After two test rolls of not-cheap color film, got decent color and exposure readings - I reached into my suit-pocket to load my camera following the ceremony for the posed shots, and accidentally shot 36 pictures of BLACK & WHITE FILM!!! They look good, classic, but B&W! I'm about to deliver them this weekend...hopefully I'll walk out of their house unscathed!

If any of you read this before then, I need some advice on handling the situation. HELP!!

"Shoot pictures and enjoy life in between!"
Chris Taylor

Cheers,
Chris

(Lefty)color="white"]
Taylor
You're
only as good as your last
shot!

Chris,

No, I haven't done that particular boo-boo before, but how about turning a lemon into lemonade? Just say, "... and these are your B&W shots. Which one would you like for the poster?"

BS baffles brains.

Mike

Chris,

I'm with Mike on this one, if the prints came out pretty decent, although it's not what you would have used for the ceremony photos, go with it as though that's what you meant to do.

1 of 2 things happen when you show the couple the prints, a - they freak out and it's chaos or b - they love them and make more prints for family and friends and recommend you to all of thier friends to shoot weddings until your 95 years old. I'm kidding of course, but just act as though you intended for that B&W roll to be there and everything will be ok.

They'll thank you in the long run for taking the time and effort to record thier special day and will love any photos that you have for them.
Remember one thing, non-photographers are amazed by a little bit of depth of field and good composition. If you nailed these, you're in!
Let us know how it goes.

John
Toronto, Canada

"just act as though I'm not here"

John
Toronto, Canada

www.sportsshooter.com/johnriddell
www.torontofirephotos.ca

Hey, thanx fellas - for backing up what my "plan of attack" is.

I just re-read the addendum that she attached to the signed contract saying that she wanted B&W "...in some places, use your best judgement."
WHEW!

Chris Taylor

Cheers,
Chris

(Lefty)color="white"]
Taylor
You're
only as good as your last
shot!

The first dumbest thing I ever did was back in college. I was shooting for my University newspaper an Alumni Homecoming dance:
Shot the whole roll un-synched to the flash! Pentax K-1000 rig.
O' course, every shot was perfectly exposed -- well...half of every shot anyway!

Lefty
"Shoot pictures and enjoy life in between!"
Chris Taylor

Cheers,
Chris

(Lefty)color="white"]
Taylor
You're
only as good as your last
shot!

Mike & John-
Thanks again for the tips - just delivered the package to the newlyweds and they ABSOLUTELY LOVED EM! just wanted to thank you guys and let you know how appreciative they were for a job well done. You were right, I just played along and they went nuts!
Cheers,
Lefty

"Shoot pictures and enjoy life in between!"
Chris (Lefty) Taylor

Cheers,
Chris

(Lefty)color="white"]
Taylor
You're
only as good as your last
shot!

Recently I ran into this thread and giggled the whole way thru...But, in the spirit of fair play, I should give you the chance to return the favor

Sunday, after work (long story, don't ask!), my sister and I decided to try for some sunset shots at a park near our house where there is a big saltwater pond and some pretty landscaping. I went there straight from work, wearing a skirt and sandals because I was unwilling to lose the good late afternoon light (at this time in Miami it turns a soft gold that looks gorgeous!). So...I'm meandering around this park having fun when I noticed this perfect shot with palm trees outlined by the sun. All excited I set up to advantage and took several landscapes then went in for a closeup. Did I watch were I was going? NOOOOO!!! So I stepped in a BIG BIG nest of fire ants! Today my legs look like I've been used for target practice..
So, it IS the clothes that count!!!

OUCH

"Shoot pictures and enjoy life in between!"
Chris (Lefty) Taylor

Cheers,
Chris

(Lefty)color="white"]
Taylor
You're
only as good as your last
shot!

My dumb mistake happened when I was shooting on an isolated road and I jumped back in the car to move to another location and I set my f2 and 35mm on the floor so it wouldn't roll off the seat. When I took off a coke can that was in a cup holder tipped over and the coke spilled on the lens and camera. I wiped it clean but about 3 days later when I went to use it both were gummed up that the controls barely turned. They both had to go into repair shop to be cleaned.

Steve

Hi Emma and welcome to our small community!

Should you have some of those pain-made pics scanned, just post some here.

Bo (Nikonian in the Black Forest/Germany)
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Sorry to be late into this thread, but I’ve got a different one for you. Back in the early ‘80s my brother and I went backpacking in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state to collect some quartz crystals. I had my first real camera with me – a Yashica TL Electro X. The place we were going to was a very steep two-hour hike, but we finally made it and collected crystals all day.

At the end of the day, I unloaded my pack so I could put the rocks in the bottom, then we loaded everything back up and hiked back down to the car. We arrived at the car just before dark; hot, sweaty and tired. When I went to take my camera out of the pack, guess what? It wasn’t there! Apparently I had left it on a boulder when I repacked my gear. After many colorful expletives, I had a difficult choice to make – hike back up and retrieve the camera or leave it to nature. To make a long story short, I decided there was no way to get up there and return before dark and it looked like there was a thunderstorm rolling in, so I left the camera to the bears and went home.

My wife was at least half convinced that I had done it on purpose so I could upgrade my camera equipment. After a brief stint with a Canon T-70 (which ended as soon as Canon announced their manual focus lenses would not be compatible with the autofocus system), I bought a used F-3 with a 55 micro-Nikkor and have never looked back.

I can still imagine those bears up on the mountainside hamming it up for the camera and taking pictures of each other...

Tad

LAST EDITED ON May-04-01 AT 04:52 PM (GMT)

Tad,

Are you saying that, after all these years, there's a free camera to be had at the top of those mountains? I can get it for nothing? I remember a Hasselblad ad from around 1976, showing a modified motorized 500ELM, left behind on the Moon after Apollo 11. "Here's a free Hasselbald! All you have to do is go and collect it!"

You must have felt like swallowing those rocks!

Mike

http://www.geocities.com/heidoscop/

LAST EDITED ON May-04-01 AT 08:44 PM (GMT)

LAST EDITED ON May-04-01 AT 08:42 PM (GMT)

Yep, if you're ever feeling adventurous and want to go looking, I'll draw you a map. It clouded up and rained that night so I never bothered going back to look for it. The crystals certainly weren't good enough to warrant a return visit.

You might want to look for the Hasselblad instead, though. I'll bet it's in better shape than my Yashica!

Here is what happened to me recently on Padre Island TX. It is proof that when it comes to screwing up, I can run with the best. And when it rains, it pours.

I got up early to go to the beach and get some sunrise shots. I left my tripod in the car so I had to stop by the car before hiking down the beach.

Mistake #1: While looking for the tripod, I managed to set my camera backpack in a rather large fire-ant pile. It was still dark, so I did not notice what I have done and put the backpack on. Off I went to the beach. It took the little critters a while to get through my clothing. I got all set up by the time they started biting.

Mistake #2: At first I thought it was just one or two ants that somehow managed to get me. So, I got a couple shots off before it got really uncomfortable and I ran for the hotel room.

Mistake #3: I jumped in a hot shower to get the suckers off my body. The hot water spread the poison throughout my body really quick. I started feeling nauseous and my lips, hands etc… started to swell up. And boy, was I itching. I had my wife spread Noxzema all over my body.

Mistake #4: After all that I decided to put some clothes on. Guess what! I had no clothes. The stack of clothes I told my honey to put in our suitcase was still at home on the dresser. So here I am naked, covered in Noxzema from head to toe, waiting for another three hours for the gift-shop to open. Finally the store opened and I sent my wife to get some clothes for me. I ended up driving home wearing some stylish swimming trunks and flip-flops.

Rezman

Rezman: OUCH! Hope it all worked out.

Well, this one happened recently. My son's first birthday just passed recently so my wife, son and I drove down from Sacramento to LA. While in LA, we were visiting friends, old coworkers, etc. One of our stops was at the hospital where my wife used to work. I had been out and about taking pictures of one of my recently built projects (30 units, low income housing, and an award winner from the construction industry - I'll post as soon as the prints come back) and had brought the camera along - can't leave it in the hot trunk of the car, right.

So, it finally slows down, the shifts are about to change, and while everyone was there, I said, hey, lets take the pictures. So I take out the camera. There's two frames left so I thought: "Right, two frames. Not enough, lets rewind and pop in a fresh roll." So that's what I did. Only catch was, I didn't have another roll. I had left the extra film in my other bag, back at my in-laws place. Oh well. I blushed, said that I was out of film, and would run down to the gift shop and pick up a roll. They all though it was funny (my wife didn't) and thought I should go around asking the patients for an extra roll. (They and my wife worked in Post-partum/maternal newborn.) So I get down to the gift shop. Would you believe that they coouldn't find 35mm film. They did have the one use "It's a Boy/It's a Girl" cameras. Eventually they did find one roll - the most expensive I'd paid for imported Kodak Gold 200 (it had what I took to be arabic lettering on it). Oh well, I just hope it turns out.

Anthony

Anthony

The Moderator Page and My Gallery
The important things in life are simple; the simple things are hard.

There have been several times when I shot an assignment with no film in the camera. But my latest... I had a couple hours between assignments (I work for a newspaper) so I stopped for dinner. Went back to the office, checked email, etc. Time for my assignemnt I get in the car and start driving. i get there and realize that I dont have my gear. I figure I left it at the office so back I go. Its nowhere to be found. I start freaking out, mentaly retracing my steps. I have no idea where it was. I always have it on the seat next to me while driving around. About 30 minutes later I finally realize that I put it in the trunk for some reason. I made it the job and manged to get some shots but not the ones that I would have liked.

Steve Fears

"Anyone can be a photographer, even a monkey can be taught to do that..." -HCB

Well, I have done too many dumb things to list! But the other day was a realy good one. The police were closing all the roads and bridges here in Bangkok so this meant that some one important was on their way. I asked a police-man and he told me that the king would be passing by shortly. I stood by the side of the road, F100 ready set to continuous. The king always travels in a lovely old beige coloured rolls-royce. I decided with the light level being low that I would pan the shot. The rolls royce appeared and when it filled the frame I pressed the button and -nothing! I had forgotten to turn the camera on...
I think that I will stick to landscapes, they go a little slower!
khunpat.

,http://www.foto4.com/index.html

This was during a recent assignment on antique collectors. While photographing this guy who bought a 200 year old door, set up lights, took readings, set the aperture (F8)on my 20mm lens, bracketed to ensure right exposure.So fr so good. Then wanted a somewhat closer shot, swithched to 28-80mm, pleased with the composition, bracketed, packed the lights, left the place, on the way back to office, came a thought like a flash. Pulled the cam out to check the set aperture, it was f22. That seris was terribly under exposed unfit for printing. There are no words to eplain how i felt..

Some friends and I were in Southern Wales and we stopped off at the annual Bog Snorkeling competitions. No, that wasn't the dumbest thing I've done.
I had been shooting with my 80-200mm and decided to change lens and get kneel down and get my camera close to the water for a close up of the swimming competitor. I changed lens and handed my camera bag back to a friend to hold while I crouched down. Unfortunatly I forgot to completely close the zip.
She turns around with the bag on her shoulder, bag tilts, lens rolls out of the bag, and in slow motion falls ever so gracefully into the bog in front of me.
Lesson learned.