What is the dumbest thing you've done in photography?

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.

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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.

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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 this 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 though process. I loaded the wide angle camera... but not the tele.

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To this day, Nikon or Leica, 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.

That's a pretty good anecdote, Al. <p>

Off the top of my head, while not actually photographing, I once put

Photo-Flo into my fixer thinking it was hardner (similar bottles).

Really irked myself because I do all the mixing first, then start the

development. So during development, I had to remix the fixer and I

got all stressed out and well... needless to say, I pay attention to

my chemical bottles. I wonder if it would have hurt anything? I can

probably think of more things. Will be interesting to read further

responses.

I can't remember a particular award winning "the dumbest thing", but

have probably done just about all the classic dumb things at one

point or another. I have certainly shots a roll of air on several

occasions. I have just plain forgot to focus the Leica numerous

times, and of course I have a nice selection of photos of the inside

of a lens caps from some of my range finder cameras. Lets see, can't

forget to mention forgetting to set the correct ASA. One of my

favorites still is not having the camera wound to the next frame, and

going for the shutter during some perfect fleeting moment and getting

zippo. See, this is why they now make these fool proof loading, auto

DX indexing, auto focusing, built in winding, lens cap warning

cameras. Dumbness inspired engineering.

The standard three LEICA disasters: 1)the horrible realization at

about frame 42 that the film wasn't advancing on the most important

roll you've ever taken, 2) The problem with collapible lenses is that

one has to remember to extend them BEFORE making the pictures when

your girlfriend finally agrees to a few nuddie shots, and 3) There

is, unfortunately, not always someone around to ask "why didn't you

take the lens cap off," making you feel like a total asshole, which

at least is (usually) better than discovering a blank frame on the

negative and you have no idea what you did wrong.

How about the most recent thing? Last week on vacation I shot my last

shot on a roll in a sunny spot, and immediately rewound the film,

intending to change it when I got to shade. Forgot. Over the next two

days I exposed about 50 more shots on the pressure plate. I don't

think I've done that in about 20 years or so, by the way, so at least

it's not habitual.

Michael, Maybe you could pop off the pressure plate and sent in for

developing. Now if they could come out with a digital chip imbedded

in the pressure plate that stores digital images if there is no film

present...like a fail safe system on airplanes.

I'm new to the Leica M6, but unfortunately I can already contribute

more than my fair share of film loading/unloading disasters.

Just last weekend, for example, I was shooting my friend's band

playing live. I took a couple of rolls worth of pictures and then

loaded a third. I shot this roll, but was a little concerned when I

got up into the 40's on the exposure counter and the advance

lever just kept going. Being new to the M6, however, I didn't know

that this meant the film was not advancing, so I freaked out and

just rewound the film!

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Later, I developed all three rolls. The first two came out great,

but the third emerged from the tank with nothing on the film but

the familiar "Kodak TMZ" markings--a telltale sign that the film

had been developed correctly but that it had never been exposed

in the camera. I guess that explained why the fixer looked so

weird when I poured it out: I wasn't just taking some of the silver

off of the film--I was taking all of it off!

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Oh well, I learned my lesson: always watch that rewind crank to

make sure it's turning when you advance!

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Buzz

If you all can put up with another boring story, this has application

for rangefinder users. A friend couple of mine told me they were

going to have photos taken of their cute little girl at a super-

store studio. I convinced them to let me shoot her first, promising

better results... not so much technically, but in capturing the

girl's true personality. They have seen my equipment, and

figuring "cameras equal talent", they agreed.

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On the day of the shooting, they were shocked to see me with my toy-

like M6 and 50mm Summicron. They expected one of my motor driven

monster SLRs and long zoom, so I had to explain the "Leica Legend",

and then proceeded. I spent a bit of time sitting on the floor

playing with the kid until she was comfortable. I raised the M6,

focused on the eye, and shot 36 pictures at f2.0... seeing many great

expressions and smiles... I was totally confident in the results.

What a shock.... every picture out of focus. I superimposed the left

eye into the right eye, setting the focus for 25 feet rather than the

correct 5 feet. I later complimented the couple on the K-Mart

pictures that hung on the wall. Ouch!

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The lesson: Watch out for repeated patterns, (chain links, vertical

blinds... eyes!), when focusing. Check the distance scale if in

doubt. adjusting the RF for an object only a couple of inches from

the true subject means many feet on the focusing distance

I regularly break the law (generally b&e and trespassing) to get

interesting photographs. This probably wouldn't be so dumb if I

didn't have a family.

When I first start processing B&W film in my appartement, I cut corner

on equipment. I use those big "Jurassic Parc" McDonal plastic glass to

mix my chemicals (One for each). One major advice; dont watch TV at

the same tim

Ah, now funny memories. Geez, the stuff I used to say to people

when after spending a half hour with them I realized there was

no film in the camera, or the Leica didn't load properly. "You

know that shot we did earlier, I think I'd really like to do it again in

color." or "uh oh, I'm not sure that other camera was working

right, we better do that ----- shot again.

Here are two other mistakes that commonly happen in the heat

of battle.

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1. Always put your gear back in your bag when working on

location. I've had to go back to peoples houses a few times

because when I got to the next assignment I was missing a lens

or flash. You sit, talk, shoot, talk, get up, move around, shoot,

talk, shoot, say goodbye and leave without a lens. Embarasing,

when you go back they usually have the item standing by at the

door. "We thought you'd be coming back for this." I even had to

call people from the office. 'Hi, you know, I'm missing a lens and

I was wondering if...'

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2. I never carry the 'bug eyes' for my 50 dual range, but I

occassionaly take pictures on the macro setting anyway, I swear

I must have some kind of block or something, but I always forget

to set the damn thing back to normal. The really frustrating thing

is that the rangefinder will continue to work 'normally' with the

lens set in this position. I can't tell you the interesting pictures I've

made with the lens set like this and oh the ones that were

missed! Anybody got a simple reminder for this one?

Dennis, my DR can't be switched into close-up mode without the BE in

place -- that's what the little spring-loaded ball is for. I think

yours needs adjustment.

Forgetting my camera bag was not in the car, and reversing over

it...Amazingly nothing was damaged, only the bag.

Years ago I was shooting a friend's softball game with her K1000. I'd

used that camera many times, but sure enough, the film was NOT going

through the camera this time. I missed the entire game. Man, was she

pissed.

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I don't have a Leica, but I have forgotten about parallax while

shooting with a rangefinder. I go back and forth between slr (35mm)

and rangefinder (6x7), so I suspect I will make this mistake again.

:^(

...switching from 35mm to medium format, from Contax S2 to Pentax 67.

It was a disaster for me, and I have spent the last year or so trying

to get as comfortable, and then some, as I was with the S2. I would

never buy another S2, though, in effort to rectify even that camera's

shortcomings given my style of shooting. I have hardly shot in over a

year, until I discovered a cheap little Olympus SP35. And now,

hopefully, the addition of a Leica will restore my faith in

photography...boo hoo...

I already told my film loading mistakes. The good thing is that it

does not happen again since then. The other dumb thing is that I try

to use my Leica M6 like my previous Nikon F4 (I do not own now). I

tried to focus with moving objects. Nothing works. I should

prefocus or just set the distance and shoot.

I forgot to mention that I shoot almost a roll in 'B' with flash on.

Not to mention that many times not to set '1/50' for flash. My flash

is not big but big enough to cover the speed dial.

Two years ago, start of the final leg of the Whitbread

Around-The-World race in Annapolis. Three cameras with me.

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I had a new Hexar loaded with ISO 800 print film. No way was this

working out with a max shutter speed of 1/250. Then I remember that I

read somewhere that you could rewind the Hexar with the leader out. No

problem, I'll shoot the 800 film in one of the other cameras. Start

the mid-role rewind, wait for it to finish, open the camera, the

leader is rewound all the way into the casette. Strike one.

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SLR with telephoto lens. Shooting the yachts at the starting line.

Shooting the Concorde fly-over. Shooting the crowds on the bay bridge.

Hmm I wonder why I'm past 36 on the frame counter. A few more frames

later, the horrible truth dawns on me. Open the SLR, no film loaded.

Strike two.

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Thank god I had the M6. Congratulated myself on having rewound the

film immediately after finishing the role so there'd be no chance of

any screw-up. Opened the M6 to retrieve the film. Had NOT rewound the

film! Strike three.

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I got a few printable frames from the M6 anyway.

Okay. Here is my dumb story. After getting out of the Navy my friend

and I (both 20 years old) decided to create a local Arts and

Entertainment magazine. We would list concert dates, times, and

ticket prices for musical artists coming into the area, amoung other

things. We had decided to "cover" the Greg Allman concert as a

feature article for the upcoming issue. The writer and I attended the

concert and fought our way backstage telling the handlers how we

needed to interview Greg Allman or our "boss" would fire us. Well,

much to our surprise, all of our pleading worked. We were led back to

Greg Allman's dressing room and started to do the "interview". As I

thumbed the film advance I felt, much to my horror the film break

loose from the end of the cassette. I had brought only two rolls of

film (all I could afford) and this was the second roll and I had no

unexposed frames available. I just continued to crank and click like

there was nothing wrong all the time knowing there was no film. Since

that day I always bring more film with me than I'll ever use whenever

I shoot.

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Regards,

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Jim

"Dumb" in my definition would mean to act against better

judgment, or disregarding judgment altogether and hope

for the best. So I guess I qualified when I rented a

flash generator with two heads and umbrellas to photograph

my sisters wedding. I decided that there was "no wind"

outside and set up the flash heads on a lawn placed on

rather flimsy light stands. Sure enough, after a while

there was this horrible sound when the umbrella

to the right of me were smashed against the ground.

That was rather dumb of me but the really stupid

decision was that "it will probably not happen to the

other one, no one can be that unlucky". I was kind of

blocked, photographing under stress just before the

ceremony. Well of course the other umbrella crashed

to the ground as well, making both $80 umbrella useless.

Well, at least the umbrellas protected the flash heads...

Well, It takes a wise man to leran from his mistakes, and a genius to

learn from the mistakes of others. For you geniuses out there, I'll

try and relate what things I've done that have hopefully made me

wiser.

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Make sure the lens on your Canon FD camera is carefully bayonetted to

the camera. It's really easy to get it on there, but not have the

diaphram pin engaged, which means the lens won't stop down.

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It's easy to take a picuture of the inside of your lenscap with a

Leica. This most wonderful of 35mm cameras is also the most

unforgiving. It does exactly what you tell it to, including taking a

picture of the inside of your lenscap.

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ALWAYS check that the film is winding when you wind the camera. I

once mis-loaded one of my Canons, and only realized my error when I

was on about frame 50. Arrgggggg!

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If you shoot ISO 50 film as if it were ISO 800, you'll have horrible

results.

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Focus carefully. My SLRs often let me down here. Focus twice, shoot

once. I loathe autofocus for this. It's almost perfect 90% of the

time, but it focuses on the wrong thing the other 10% of the time.

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Never sell a good lens. I'm still kicking myself for parting with a

50mm f/1,9 macro-Switar on an Alpa 6C. It did something special with

colors, they seemed more vibrant with that lens. You have to got to

go through quite a few lenses before you figure this one out. My best

current lens is a 90mm f/2.5 Vivitar in Canon FD mount. Who'd have

suspected *Vivitar*? Yes the Leica lenses are also superb, but at

that price, one expects perfection.

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Try to have a camera with you any time you expect to see something

worth seeing again. My dumbest errors are ones of omission, not

having the Leica along for a decisive moment.

During one summer vacation during my university days, I travel to Shandong province to the famous

Thai Mountain. I loaded up my Leica and climbed the stairs to the South Heaven Gate. The scenery along the way was excellent, I took many pictures along the way

and stayed over night at a monastery at the peak of the mountain. The monks fed us with vegetarian noodles. The next morning, I arose early to get good spot to shoot sunrise on the Thai Mountain. I got many nice shots.

I took the west route down, there were great scenes too. I took about thirty pictures.

I boarded another train to Nanking, visited the famous Dr. Sun Yat Sen Tomb. Finised the rest

To my horor, I found that the film was'nt advanced ! All my Mountain Thai pictures were never taken !

Yes, some day, I shall go back to the Thai Mountain with my Leica and wait for the sun rise over the "Ocean of Clouds"

After the legs acking Thai Mountain 'aerial photography' expedition, I always make sure when loading film to see that the rewind film crank turns.

And 'film not wound' incident never happens again.

Hoever, many years later, in Canada, I took another 'aerial photo' trip

to Algonquin Park. It as Autumn, great color foliage season. I captured many good shots.

But.... the Leica was empty, there was no film in it. I fogot to check check the film window at the back !

I take a picture for 3 years, using Nikon FM2, and traveled many

places inside and outside my country,Thailand. The thing I've ever

done the dumbest was not load the film in the camera and always

forget to adjust the aperture.

Dumb Mistake #1: Take the film out after rewinding in midroll;

reinsert later; on reloading it, overlook my notes slipped into the

film can, and start shooting as if it were a fresh roll, from frame

#1.

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#2: At the completion of development, pop the top off the tank

before the stop bath & fixer. In full roomlight.

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#3: Experiment with a developer of my own concoction on a roll that

had a shot I've never since been able to duplicate. Result:

dramatic but too grainy.