Your wedding nightmare (and how you dealt with it)

[tom h.]

Just curious- my D-flash 40 died 10 mins before I left for the

church last weekend, after I'd lugged a 503cw and lenses from

Berlin, Germany to Roanoakes, VA. Because of the travel, I didn't

bring a backup flash. Rather than follow my first impulse, which

was to bounce it as far as I could across the church parking lot, I

used the hasselblad for the outdoor formals without flash, and

then did coverage and the interior stuff with an Eos 1n, L zoom

and a 540 ez flash. Worked out ok, but not an ideal situation. It

was actually the only thing I was worried could go wrong on the

day, and it did. Any similar (not necessarily equipment

related)stories?

[fotografz]

Tripod mounted Hasselblad 555ELD with Digital ProBack & D-Flash 40 up in balcony using

a 180/4CFi. The digital back requires a tethered Quantum battery which was on my hip.

Reached for a different lens and pulled the whole set-up over, which promptly careened

down the marble stairs next to me... with sound effects worthy of a disaster movie.

Finished the wedding with my trusty Leica Ms. Turned out to be one of our better shoots.

[al_kaplan1]

I never trust anything that depends on batteries. I always carry a spare flash, extra synch cords, and lots of spare batteries. One of my two Vivitar 283 units needed a new plug-in front sensor within the warantee period back in about 1978. The second unit I bought used a year or two later and both still work fine. I also have a pair of Vivitar 2500 units. I just wish somebody would invent a PC cord that wouldn't suddenly "break" and yet still look like new. Flash cords must be the industry's profit center.

 

I carry an old batteryless Weston Master V light meter in addition to either my Gossen Luna Pro or my Minolta Autometer, and back-up batteries for those.

[mattalofs]

Why is it that something as simple as a pc cord is so prone to failure? And why hasn't anybody come up with anything better?

[kevin m.]

It seems to be Murphy's law, Matt. Even heavy-duty XLR plugs designed for pro use are prone to failure, so what chance does a tiny little pc connector have?

[peter_cofran]

I put down my bag (containing all my film) while shooting the bride getting ready, luckly i had enough time to run back a retreive it before the wedding started. Next time I'm strapping my film to my body. That reminds me anyone know if there is such a thing as a film belt? and where i could purchase it?

[bruce_rubenstein]

Just about any waist pouch is good for holding shot film. A real small camera bag with belt loops would work for unshot film. I usually keep some unshot film in my jacket pockets, and always keep shot film in my waist pack. Losing shot film is a very bad thing. (Using CF cards requires its own disciplined, methodology.)

[cliff_henry]

Tom,

 

As a favor, I went to hotel to shoot reception only for photog shooting wedding that was catching an early flight to go on vacation. I went to reception room and talked with hotel coordinator and DJ. Then left my camera bags in room - in plain site with them - and went to scout out some shooting spots. I returned shortly to find my camera bag gone. Of course, no one saw anything!

 

Panic time! I called photog at wedding and he sent his Nikon N90 & flash over with videographer. Camera and B&G arrived at same time. I shoot Canon and had no idea how to setup Nikon. I called my wife and she brought me my EOS-1, that I had just posted on PN for sale, a 28-70 2.8L that I had just purchased, and a 540EZ flash. I had a bracket and flash cord in bag that was not stolen and film in pouch on my belt. I had a hard time concentrating on shoot but somehow got through it. Actually, images turned out very good.

 

About two weeks ago I received, direct from Canon and B&H, all new replacement eq. thanks to my insurance. Including deductables and upgrades of about $1600 I now have new: EOS-1V, EOS-3 (both with boosters), 16-35 2.8L, 24-70 2.8L, 70-200 2.8L, 85 1.2L, 50 1.4, 100 2.8 Macro, (2) 550EX, ST-E2, a bag full of "stuff" and a new bag to carry it all in.

 

Lesson learned - NEVER, NEVER, NEVER ever let camera gear out of your sight!

 

Cliff

[jonathan_adams]

The bride was walking down the aisle and the batteries in my primary camera went

dead. (Nikon F100 will show you low battery and shut down within a minute, nice

feature) Once that same bride made it to the front to meet up with the groom, the

heavens broke open a hail storm and everybody ran away. Pictures turned out well,

and now I have a huge bag of half-life batteries because I change out all of my

batteries before every wedding.

[stephen hazelton]

Wasn't my personal problem. But I was once at a wedding where several different people had video cameras set up to tape the proceedings. This was in a small church building in a residential neighborhood. Across the street, a guy was using a chain saw, which, while not drowning out the ceremony, was plainly audible the whole time. I've wished ever since that I had just stepped over there and offered him $20 to shut down for an hour.

[picturesque]

Used to use a Mamiya C330f for weddings. Just as the bride and father was walking down the aisle, my lens shutter died ("new" lens, had it only about 4 months). Later I learned it was the shutter spring. No time to get my backup. Later, I tried to restage the shot but the bride was a believer in real action only, and refused to do it. Fortunately, she was not angry at me. I've had other disasters too but this was the worst because I didn't get the shot, even restaged, and it is one of the most important shots in a wedding.

 

Might I suggest that you could have used the 540EZ on the Hasselblad in manual mode?

[picturesque]

Peter, Lowepro and other bag manufacturers all have belt systems. I use the Lowepro with their "Film Drop" bag. The bag is constructed so that exposed film is dropped into the iris style opening and does not come out until you unzip the bag to take the film out. If you ever have bags stolen, having exposed film on your person at all times safeguards the film being stolen along with gear. They make other types of bags for unexposed film as well.

[derek_c.]

Peter, Sometimes I use ammunition belt for films.<br>

Not at the weddings, and I stopped using it since 911.<br>

<br>

The only true back ups I carry are extra films, extra batteries, extra flash, and two forks (to eat).<br><div></div>

[tom h.]

Marc Williams is winning so far..., and tho my personal mantra

about weddings has always been that you could shoot one with

a Contax T2 if you A), had to, B), must, and C), had no other

choice, there's STILL nothing quite stings like equipment failure,

it's the least dignified way of f***ing things. Apart from that

obligatory gum-chewing-couldn't -smile-if-I'd-just-won-the-lottery

bridesmaid/groomsman. Really man, you can't pay me enough.

[tom h.]

Cliffs doesn't sound like much fun, either. (I certainly don't

compare nightmares, just my personal

take on them)

[medina photography cherry]

Not at a wedding, but after I did an outdoor shoot for a family, I leaned my Elan 7E, 70-200 2.8L, Sigma EF 500 Super DG flash (mounted on tripod) up against my leg to give the client something out of my pocket. As I reached into my pocket the trpod slid to my left and the weight of the lens caused the whole rig to go lens down into the rocky parking lot. A rock was kicked up by the lens hood into the front element (which caused a small nick in the lens) the sigma flash snapped off at the hotshoe. The flash hit the distance scale and broke the glass on it's way down.

[Jerry_]

One would never wager a war with a single bullet...why would you go to a wedding with a 2-1/4 camera and a single flash unit?

[adrian_morgan]

I'll second the film drop - never go to a shoot without it. Keeps the film safely on my body, and never out of site.

[cjogo]

I carry back-ups of all my gear in the car...But at the wedding > I carry all the film in my pockets and carry a EOS 3 w/ 28-70 L and a QUantum Strobe, hand meter & softar 1 >>> nothing else

[scott_ferris]

Not a winner but, I normally carry my film in my jacket pocket, new in one pocket exposed

in the other and just switch it all out to my bag when I get a chance. I always keep a close

eye on the number of rolls. Well on getting to the reception I find there is a roll missing

from my new brick, sent assistant back to church with instuctions to not come back until

the roll was found. Two hours latter one assistant no film, pull car apart looking for roll,

no film. Nothing to do but hope I'd taken enough shots with my second camera with

different lens inside church to cover up the loss. Several days later assistant works out that

I'd shot a test roll the day before the wedding so the brick was one roll short all the time,

hey who said I could count and take pictures at the same time?

 

A real horror story was the time I mis-loaded a Canon A1 and didn't realise until I was on

frame 36+++. I did cover it up but not very well, it was far and away my worst pro

experiance and I vowed that kind of incompetance would never happen again. But hey who

said I could count and take pics at the same time?

 

Take care, Scott.,

[bruce_rubenstein]

"Nikon F100 will show you low battery and shut down within a minute, nice feature"

 

An even better feature of the F100, and I think some other Nikon film cameras, is that it uses a separate battery holder. They cost under $20. It takes only a couple of seconds to swap holders. (It's like the difference between reloading a gun one round at a time and changing clips.) I keep a holder loaded with fresh lithium batteries in my pocket at all times while working.

[picturesque]

Problem is, with the bride/father walking down the aisle shot, unless the aisle is very long and you start shooting just as they begin walking, you won't have enough time after shooting and discovering a problem, to even perform a recovery taking only a few seconds. Especially if you are told to stay toward the back of the church, etc.

 

About keeping film in coat/pants (in my case, skirt) pockets--I have had them drop out of my pockets when I used to do this. Fortunately, I found them (happened once or twice) but after these experiences and having my gear stolen, I started using the Film Drop bag and counting rolls before and after each event.

[derrick_morin___fallon__ne]

I shot an entire portrait shoot with my ISO on my 10D set at 400 by mistake. I rarely shoot at other than 100 - especially outside, like this shoot was. I was lucky: with great light and a camera I have very few complaints about, the results were very good. That's the best I can do for a nightmare... knock on wood.

[craig_gillette]

I was shooting (informally) a family 50th wedding anniversary reception when the sound of the film advance changed on my old Maxxum, yep, by the time it got to 36, I was counting each shot. By 39 it was obvious there was a problem. I "forced" rewind. Developing showed some good ones, a couple of mega-multi-exposures and a long strip of unexposed film. Fortunately it was informal and there were lots of others shooting and one I did get was a group of my wife's uncles, one of the last of all of them together.

 

At an outdoors wedding a couple of years ago where besides me as a guest with a Fuji S602 and Smartmedia, only the late arriving "pro" was shooting digital (with an Olympus E-10), I found a CF card on the ground outside during some of the reception activities. Since he was going to be the only likely user, I asked if it was his. He glanced at it and said "Yes." I gave it back, he brushed it off on his shirt and dropped it back in his pocket. New, used or from his previous shoot? Who knows.

[sbp studios]

Gansgster Wedding. Was told that a rival Gang might come by and shoot the place up.

 

Stayed on my guard through the whole wedding. Not much else I could do. NO problems happened.

 

Never shoot a wedding for a Rapper who was a gang member :)