i recently stopped to drop of my dry cleaning on the way to a wedding. It had been in the back of my truck and and after dropping it off and starting to the brides house i realized the back tail gait of my truck (it is a pickup with a cap on it.) was open!!!!!!!
I called the dry cleaner but he did not have it and started to retrace my rout while freaking out. i found the truck about 2 miles from the dry cleaners where i had pulled onto the high way jumped out and saw my case had been run over... long storry short my 20d and 70-200 took the brunt of the hit and my case a low pro roller 2 was burst apart. I managed to put it aside in my head stop by my wife's job (she sells cameras at a local store and pick up a case and get to the wedding on time and have a decent shoot. thank god i always leave early.
brchan wrote:
Without rehashing a lot of the mistake other's made, here's another one to add to the mix:
I was using the ExpoDisc to get some white balance shots before the ceremony. For those that don't know, you need to take off the auto-focus during that shot. Well, I forgot to take turn back on the auto-focus and the first few shots were lost before I realized what happened. The problem was that just by quick chimping, the shots looked clear. Of course, on the computer, they were just blurry enough to be unusable. Lucky for me it was only about a dozen or so establishing shots. ...Show more →
I don't get it. How could you not be able to tell right away if it wasn't in AF mode?
I forgot to turn AF back on quite a few times when I shot a napkin or table-cloth for WB, but I normally could tell right away when I didn't hear/feel/see the AF point.
I was outside shooting the bride and groom as they were getting into the limo with the rest of the wedding party. When my wife(assistant) notifies me that the church is locked. The minister was in such a hurry to leave he locked up and left during the 10 minutes we were outside. Problem is that we had all of our equipment inside, including our car keys. Luckily I was able to chase down the limo at the stop light down the street. I rode with them in the limo to the reception(30 min away) with the camera I had with me outside. My wife stayed behind until someone was able to get ahold of someone other than the minister that had a key for the church. The minister could not be reached. She showed up at the reception about 30 min after me. Turned out fine but could have been worse.
Happened yesterday! I was at the brides home doing informal, getting ready photos. The bride left in the limo and I chose to try and arrive at the church before the bride via a different route to get photos of the arrival. Mistake! The church was only 2 miles away but I turned down the wrong street and could not locate the church. I used my phone and google maps and found the church but by the time I arrived and got my camera and lens' ready, the bridal party was entering the church. So I end up missing the entrance of the first 2 couples! The rest of the day proceeded w/o incident.
I don't get it. How could you not be able to tell right away if it wasn't in AF mode?
I forgot to turn AF back on quite a few times when I shot a napkin or table-cloth for WB, but I normally could tell right away when I didn't hear/feel/see the AF point.
I have no idea how, that's why it's a hard lesson learned!
We all tend to miss things when we're under the gun.
eyelab wrote:
You guys are scaring me... thought informative...
I will be doing my first wedding, JUST AS A FAVOR... she doesn't expect anything special and I am not gurenteeing anything special. They can't afford a photographer.
I have a D80, but will be buying one more battery for. I hope two is enough (plus will bring my charger and charge if needed)... And then maybe two more sets of batteries for the sb600 flash. Seems like the battery thing you guys are drilling in Thanks for the tips... from your mistakes *smile*
I did the same for my sister..
I had only one body at the time and was using an old 70-210, shooting pictures of family members sitting while we waited for things to start. When my sister began walking, I couldn't back up fast enough with the 70-210 to get decent pictures of her It pays to 1)have two bodies 2) have experience.
I arrived at the brides house. Spent about half hour taking pictures. My 2nd Photographer showed up about half hour later.
We both where taking pictures. Ok fast forward, I get into my truck, and go to the church, park and get out, open my tailgate cause I have an explorer, and said OH !@#$ my 2nd says what, I said I left my camera bag at the brides house.
I have my Canon 20D, 16-35 2.8, 580ex flash, and a 4gig card. My 2nd let me borrow his 70-200 2.8 so I was ok. After the church, the bride’s brother went back to the house, and picked up my camera bag and brought it to the reception hall. I gave him 20bucks. It was worth a lot more then that, but that’s all the cash I had.
So lesson learned, always always always keep your camera bag next to your side.
I shot a reception with a lot of shots where I dragged the shutter to get some ambient light, maybe 1/30 @f4 or so. Usually, I set my WB to incandescent and use a piece of CTO gel taped over the flash to balance the colors. Unfortunately, the gel fell off or something and I never noticed because it was inside my lightsphere. So I had all these shots with orange background and bluish subjects and of course, some areas have both colors. I tried PS'ing one, but it was a total nightmare. I'm just glad the couple liked B&W.
This has been a really fun thread! I read all these stories and feel alot better about the mishaps I have. I pulled the ISO flub just yesterday. I went from indoors @ ISO1600 outside to a sunny day and was so happy with the subject and weather I shot away, ignoring even the visible meter inside the viewer. THAT was stupid. Six or seven shots and I realized all of this but, 6-7 shots are quite a few for something THAT stupid. oh well. So far, a few of things I have taken from this thread:
1. BATTERIES-have alot of them..and buy more
2. Always know where your gear is.
3. Having back-up gear is a MUST
4. Check your settings like a rear view mirror-CONSTANTLY
5. Memory Cards/Film-Just as important as batteries
6. Dont sleep with any of the wedding party. _kinda a given..hehe
Thanks to everyone who keeps posting their stories!
hmm.
1. white balance is important even if you shoot raw! i shot my third wedding thinking that well im in raw, its not too important. well, i learned after way too much time post processing that i could have saved alot of time if had just took the 1min to w/b.
2. dont trust your af points all time time. my 70-200 mis-focused on the minister head. & the couple was blurred. it was poorly lit so i was already at 2.8. yeah. i learned to better anticpate
I don't get it. How could you not be able to tell right away if it wasn't in AF mode?
Thanks for the tips... from your mistakes *smile*