Your Worst Picture-Taking Experience.

Today was by far the worst time I've had out shooting photos, and I'm curious what other people have gone through.

 

After waiting about 1.5 years for the tide, weather, and light to agree at a certain spot, everything looked

good, but time was very limited due to the fact that high tide had occurred 30minutes before I got off work, and

the window of opportunity was short. I'm using strong ND filters for long exposures to smooth the water. I raced

home after work, grabbed my gear... can't find my tripod. I frantically search the entire house for 15 minutes as

the tide is going down and finally find it under my living room couch. I decide to only take my 645 system. (Oops...)

 

I hop in the car, and speed towards the spot which is about 20minutes away. Almost halfway there, I reach into my

bag and notice that my tripod quick release isn't attached to my camera. I can't use my tripod without it, so I

drive home then search my entire house again, without success. I've given up, and I'm bringing my camera gear

back inside from my car when I notice that the quick release is on the side of my camera, not the bottom. My

camera has two places to attach a tripod.

 

I hop back in the car and speed even more, because the tide is going down and I'm running out of time. I turn a

corner and suddenly I'm following a police officer. To make matters worse, we quickly come up behind a school bus

that keeps stopping to let kids out. After an agonizing drive I finally arrive, and setup for my first shot.

 

Shutter goes, but my mirror sticks in the up position, and it looks like the battery is dead. I fiddle a bit,

then change change batteries. My camera is still dead, and my mirror is still locked up. I fiddle some more, then

decide to manually wind the roll of film forward using this little thing that detaches from the bottom of the

camera, and attaches to somewhere else on the camera. Only, that's what I thought it was for. Apparently I don't

know how it works, because when I removed the film back, it was still in the middle of the roll which I'd started

but hadn't finished on a different shoot. Oh well - I couldn't even remember what those pictures were (at the

time), and the pictures I'm trying to get right now can be really special.

 

In goes a new roll of film, using a different film back (just in case). Finally, my camera comes alive, but when

I turn it on, it dies. The electronics work when the camera is off, but not when they're on. My mirror is still

stuck up. I fiddle with something, and the mirror comes down, along with the focus screen. I've never changed

focus screens on this particular camera, but I push it back up and it clicks in place, but my camera is not

working. Changing lenses and fiddling with the focus screen don't help, and I've almost run out of high tide, and

I drive back home, regretting not bringing my 35mm system. (Sharp prime lenses and Kodak Technical-Pan film).

 

Now to try to fix my camera...

Wow you've had a bad day. Fortunatly I haven't had a bad day, BUT i'm sure there are plenty to come.

Good lord... I'm sorry. That blows! May you have better photographic days ahead!

Is what you have contagious? Please stay away from me.

Most of my bad equipment days have to do with erratic electronics, and hardy ever with fully mechanical cameras. I'm

starting to see a pattern developing here...

sorry to hear you had such a bad day. hopefully, the nest day would be better,

Hopefully there will be similar conditions in the near future. And the camera is working properly.

My worse time is when I was photographing a wedding. I had posed the entire wedding party and family at the front

of the church. I was talking to the group, giving them my "schtick" for natural smiles when this guy steps in front of

me with his camera and spoils the shot. "Sir", I replied trying to sound patient, "I need you to stay off to the side. I

can't have you in the bride and groom's pictures." Blank expression, he walks off to the side.

 

People have moved from their positions. I have to repose. I get everybody's attention once again. The guy walks out

yet again. I try to explain that the bride and groom's pictures come first, that he can do his pictures after me. After

all, I am the one who has set up this shot.

 

He does it again. This time there is definite irritation in my voice. "Sir", I'm going to have to ask you to stay at the

back of the church. You are spoiling the bride and groom's pictures. I am careful not to say "my pictures".

 

Suddenly this screaming harpy, his wife, appears in front of the group accusing me of just doing this for "the money",

implying her husband was taking his pictures for the bride and groom for free. The wedding contract does have an

exclusionary clause permitting no other photographer but me, but I decline to mention this as the is a PR situation

rapidly going sour.

 

In the meantime, my wife steps in with a firm hold on the harpy's shoulder and escorts her screaming (and swearing

in the church, no less) outside and almost out of earshot.

 

I turn back to the group, wondering how I am going to get genuine smiling expressions after the attack of the harpy.

Oh, well. At least expressions of sympathy are the next best thing to smiles.

It has to be a horse show I photographed in July of this year. I came home drenched after spending much of the day trying to keep my cameras dry with my coat. Using the waterproof camera covers, they very quickly filled with condensation.

<br>

This groom summed up the dy for me

<br>

<a href=" title="Rain by Peter Meade, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3124/2645850806_f1f0549066_o.jpg" width="800" height="533" alt="Rain" /></a>

<br>

And I only sold about a dozen images.

Worst for me was a swimming meet last year....

 

I had tried multiple times to contact the host team regarding photos - Typically they get back to you right away either yes, or no or yes, but we've already got someone. No response from the host team...

 

Day 1 of the meet - My kids are in it, so I've got to be there anyway..bring my camera - drop kids off a pool deck - Sponsor comes running up to me... Are you the photographer? Ummm... Well come on - we want you to take pictures of the meet... there was some kind of SNAFU - Person A thought Person B had gotten back to me and Person B, well you get the point...

 

I spend two days there with no sales unit (since they didn't let me know - I couldn't book people to do sales or run the computers) just taking photos from the side and posting on my website. Total sales - $0.00.

 

Lesson Learned - If they don't book in advance - I drop kids off and disappear into the crowd.

 

Dave

Coming back from a trip abroad and realizing I had not properly engaged the last roll of film in the take up spool and the last 72 pictures (half frame camera) would never be seen.

I'm not a wedding photographer, but last summer I shot my wife's niece’s wedding. This was despite the fact that

I had made repeated explanations of why I was not qualified. I even offered to help her find a reasonably priced

professional and to pay for a portion of the expense. Somehow though she didn't hear a word and simply waited

until we were practically on the plane to "remind" me to bring my "camera stuff".

 

These were just a few of the special moments:

 

• The day before the wedding the bride handed me a list of formals to do – 140 combinations. I nod before I

realize I can’t possibly do that many formals in a half an hour (her requested time frame). I explain my concern

and she says Ok, just get rid of some of them(!?) I defer to her mother for deletions, but she hands me back the

list and says just make it work.

 

• The day of the wedding I dutifully get up at 6:00 to shoot the bride and her bridesmaids at the hair salon. I

spend the first ½ hour sweet talking my way past the requests of the all the bridesmaids to wait until they are

done with hair and makeup to begin taking pictures.

 

• Around 8:00 AM the bride announces she’s hungry and says “hey uncle you’re not doing anything are you? Would it

be OK if you went and got us some breakfast?” Sure I say, (it's her day after all), Around noon I get the same

request.

 

• Bride arrives an hour late to the ceremony after the bridal party decided to stop for a bottle of champagne,

only to promptly leave, not only once, but twice. Upon the third arrival however I’m tossed a handful of keys and

told, on the verge of tears, that she can’t find her broach and that I need to go look through each of the

bridesmaid’s cars to locate it.

 

• Ceremony goes well, but as we head to the small deck where we are going to take the formals I realize we are

being followed by 50 or so guests who want to smoke. I discretely ask if we should wait and the bride promptly

boots everybody off the deck, including most of the people who she wants in the actual pictures.

 

• Bride wants Mt Rainier in background; I explain the problem of shooting with blinding sun over my shoulder. She

says do it anyway. Fortunately the 8-yo ring bearer flat-out refuses to open his eyes. This is followed by 2

minutes of pantomime as he digs his fingers into his eyes trying to pry them open. Flower girl, same age, crosses

arms and refuses to look at camera since ring bearer is being a “wicked jerk-head” (her words). Eventually the

formals are moved to a side of the porch where the sun is less of an issue.

 

• Bride and groom start drinking, an hour later I remind them to eat before they fall over.

 

• Time to cut the cake: I ask the DJ to let everyone know, he shrugs and says he just plays music, and he’s “not

that kind of DJ”. I ask the bride whom she would like to make the announcement, she say’s she’ll do it. At which

point she bellows at the top of her lungs “HEY, LISTEN UP, WE’RE CUTTING THE CAKE”. • Bride and groom step up to

the cake (on raised platform where ceremony took place) with back to the audience. Me: Psst…psst…PSST! Bride:

WHAT? Me: Turn around! Bride: WHY? Me: So people can see your faces instead of your backsides. Bride: (giggling

but also realizing no one is paying attention) “HEY, UP HERE PEOPLE! WE’RE CUTTING THE CAKE!”

 

• During another “Uncle” request, I nearly missed the father-bride dance. Fortunately I got it, but barely.

 

Overall, despite the chaos and lunacy, I have to give her credit, because aside from the broach issue she rolled

with everything that happened and laughed and smiled the whole time.

 

But truthfully, I can’t imaging doing weddings on a regular basis...

Awhile ago, I was stopped for questioning by a Department of Homeland Security cop because I happened to be carrying a

small camera, and in the general vicinity of a new EPA building. Mind you, this building sits on a major pedestrian mall, and

there are plenty of people carrying cameras and phones walking by constantly. The cop says photographing the security

system at the building's entrance is prohibited. It's so secret, in fact, that they keep it behind floor-to-ceiling plate glass! A

Starbucks in the same building has a fine view of the entryway.

Back when I was an photographer in the USAF, I was assigned to photograph our new wing commander. This was

staff officer who greeted me by saying, ' I want you to know that I absoluteky hate being photographed, and this

better be quick". Ok, like I wasn't nervous enough. So I quickly thake my SRT out , and hurriedly hook up the flash to

it, and blaze away with a roll of Ektachome. I say thank you sir, and beat a hasty retreat back to the base photo lab

to spend the next hour playing with the E-4 chemistry (nasty stuff). Only to find that the film is totaly blank! I then

realized that in my haste I plugged the flash into the "M" socket, and not the "X". So I then had to make a new

appointment with said officer to reshoot. Maybe that's why I missed that extra stripe.

Thanks for the responses guys. SP, that sounds considerably worse than what I went through. I don't mind that I have to buy a new camera, but missing the only chance I'd had to shoot something for 18 months was pretty disappointing. Ed, that is hilarious.

Neal, you are to be congratulated! You have burned up every bit of bad luck you will ever experience for the rest of your life, and it only cost you one (admittedly good) photographic opportunity. Henceforth, nothing else will ever go wrong. ;-)

Worst: sitting at my desk, a U.S. Army Specialist at the time. My Sergeant comes running in, says get my camera and follow... there is a funeral in progress for family members of a foreign country's consulate, and they want the photos to document it (natural light, no flash, my old, trusty Minolta SRT). Then things gets sticky. The caskets are closed because the people were killed in a car accident and went through the windshield. Family member insists (through a consulate translator) that caskets be opened and photos taken (over the objections of the funeral director). With caskets open and photos being taken, one family member goes beserk with grief, proceeds to climb into casket with one of the bodies. Family member cannot be pried loose. Body is out of the casket and dragged across the floor as consulate members attempt to restrain beserk family member. Order is restored finally, photos completed. Then consul officials demand my film, which I politely hand over (as I'm being reminded constantly that we are on the verge of an international incident). Then I go back to my desk and have a good cry over the frailty of human life.

Being threatened with arrest while using a plastic throwaway camera in the street without a tripod. The offence was to photograph people without first asking permission. Street photography is based on shooting that way. What would have happened if Cartier Bresson had asked the guy in the bowler hat for permission before shooting him jumping over the puddle? The action would be long gone and no photograph. If you ask the average person in the street if you may photograph them, they will usually pose and smile. That is not street photography. My second worst experience was when two old Nikon FM2 bodies broke while photographing the same portrait customer. She said, tearfully "wow, I am so ugly I broke two cameras." The third when a customer got her contact sheets and started crying"I always thought I was beautiful". I thought she was going to have an emotional breakdown in the studio. Fortunately her boyfriend was there to calm her and take her home. The fourth when I used an auto load Nikon for a portrait shoot and it did not load. That was easy to get out of. I explained to the customer that now since he was finally loosened up I would put film in the camera.

Yeah Neal, it's funny now. And Bruce, that's why I seldom do portraits.

In the spring of 2008, went with a photo group, mostly Canon shooters, to photograph in Redwood National Park in Northern California. We photographed for a couple days and then put together presentations. I was shooting "raw" with a new Nikon D300. I could "sort" the images with Photo Mechanic, no problem. Unfortunately, when I went to show my images to the group, I couldn't open any of the raw files since I hadn't upgraded to the latest version of Nikon Capture for $100+. Even the leader of the group was shooting Nikon but couldn't open the raw files because he hadn't upgraded either. I tried to download the latest version of Capture but there was no cell phone reception. I was not happy with Nikon. I mention this because I just had to spend another $100+ for another version of Capture that will open D700 raw files.

Back when I was shooting second camera at weddings, I got some great pictures of a jewish couple being hoisted

on the chairs at the reception. I was so excited because I knew they were great. The main photographer insisted I

give him all CF cards at the end of the wedding and he would provide them back to me the next day. I had another

event the following day, so as soon as I got the cards from him, I had to delete the images...since he had assured

me he had copies of everything and I trusted him. He's a good friend of mine. Well...he made a mistake and didn't

keep the images from that card anywhere. Talk about being disappointed! I understand that accidents happen and I

didn't fuss, but those shots were really good. It taught me a valuable lesson. I never handed over my CF cards again

after that. I would have him wait while I copied everything to my laptop before leaving and he didn't mind waiting. He

felt really bad about that incident.