Photo cock ups
Discussion
So what are your missed opportunities for a great shot due to your own stupidity?
Tonight I saw a great moon shot from my apartment, i was rushing around trying to get the camera set up and switching all the lights off in the apartment etc so i could catch the moon, then in my rush a school boy error, asumed the auto focus was on, took a few snaps, then by the time i realised i had switched the auto focus off from my last shot, the moon had disappeared up into the thick cloud
The resulting blur..
20161115-_MG_5940 by justin bowdidge, on Flickr
Tonight I saw a great moon shot from my apartment, i was rushing around trying to get the camera set up and switching all the lights off in the apartment etc so i could catch the moon, then in my rush a school boy error, asumed the auto focus was on, took a few snaps, then by the time i realised i had switched the auto focus off from my last shot, the moon had disappeared up into the thick cloud
The resulting blur..
20161115-_MG_5940 by justin bowdidge, on FlickrI wouldn't call that a c*ck-up! Great shot 
I've made every mistake it's possible to make on multiple occasions - probably the 'best' was racing out to the bridge to catch a sunset, set the shot up, all aligned, light perfect, hit the shutter... no memory card (all 3 left at home somehow). Argh
I'm sure I set up a star trails shot one time where I left the camera running to take a sequence of shots - paced up and down for half an hour or so in the cold - went back to the camera to find I'd only taken one shot (instead of 60) as I'd had the shutter on the wrong mode
I've made every mistake it's possible to make on multiple occasions - probably the 'best' was racing out to the bridge to catch a sunset, set the shot up, all aligned, light perfect, hit the shutter... no memory card (all 3 left at home somehow). Argh
I'm sure I set up a star trails shot one time where I left the camera running to take a sequence of shots - paced up and down for half an hour or so in the cold - went back to the camera to find I'd only taken one shot (instead of 60) as I'd had the shutter on the wrong mode
Back in the film days there was a night with thick freezing fog. I loaded some Tri-X, picked up a tripod and walked onto the campus at Southampton Uni next to where I lived. The light from various buildings and street lights with shadows in the fog was amazing, I took loads of time exposures until I was too cold to carry on.
Rewound the film and took it to the darkroom, these all felt like keepers. The very cold film had torn right on the edge of the leader, the film simply hadn't gone through the camera at all and in the dark I hadn't noticed that the rewind knob wasn't moving when I wound each frame on.
After that I got into the habit of wasting a frame or two just to make sure it was actually winding through.
Rewound the film and took it to the darkroom, these all felt like keepers. The very cold film had torn right on the edge of the leader, the film simply hadn't gone through the camera at all and in the dark I hadn't noticed that the rewind knob wasn't moving when I wound each frame on.
After that I got into the habit of wasting a frame or two just to make sure it was actually winding through.
karma mechanic said:
Back in the film days there was a night with thick freezing fog. I loaded some Tri-X, picked up a tripod and walked onto the campus at Southampton Uni next to where I lived. The light from various buildings and street lights with shadows in the fog was amazing, I took loads of time exposures until I was too cold to carry on.
Rewound the film and took it to the darkroom, these all felt like keepers. The very cold film had torn right on the edge of the leader, the film simply hadn't gone through the camera at all and in the dark I hadn't noticed that the rewind knob wasn't moving when I wound each frame on.
After that I got into the habit of wasting a frame or two just to make sure it was actually winding through.
I left the camera in a field shooting a star trail, went to sit in the car and keep warm. Went back a hour or two later and found the camera completely encrusted with frost and ice.Rewound the film and took it to the darkroom, these all felt like keepers. The very cold film had torn right on the edge of the leader, the film simply hadn't gone through the camera at all and in the dark I hadn't noticed that the rewind knob wasn't moving when I wound each frame on.
After that I got into the habit of wasting a frame or two just to make sure it was actually winding through.
I was taking photos of my puppy's first meeting with his big "sister". I got some really nice shots of very boring content - nice exposure and framing but they weren't really doing anything interesting or interacting.
I got tired after sitting on the ground looking through the viewfinder for literally an hour waiting for a nice shot, so I stood up and put the camera down.
And then this happened:
Mac meets Ellie for the first time by Elad V., on Flickr
When I saw it I grabbed the camera and shot "from the hip" as I wanted to capture it quickly. By the time I looked through the viewfinder properly it was over.
So I have loads of nicely exposed and framed photos of nothing interesting, and this one which would have been the best shot I've ever got of the dogs but it's squint, cropped, Ellie's paw is cut at the bottom, over-sharpened due to poor focus, and despite PP work the lighting is not right.
On the plus side, as much as it annoys me, other people seem to like it. It's my most stolen photo ever, based on a google image search. I saw it on a website once with someone else's copyright watermark photoshopped onto it
... And it reached the front page of Reddit once (again, stolen).
I got tired after sitting on the ground looking through the viewfinder for literally an hour waiting for a nice shot, so I stood up and put the camera down.
And then this happened:
Mac meets Ellie for the first time by Elad V., on FlickrWhen I saw it I grabbed the camera and shot "from the hip" as I wanted to capture it quickly. By the time I looked through the viewfinder properly it was over.
So I have loads of nicely exposed and framed photos of nothing interesting, and this one which would have been the best shot I've ever got of the dogs but it's squint, cropped, Ellie's paw is cut at the bottom, over-sharpened due to poor focus, and despite PP work the lighting is not right.
On the plus side, as much as it annoys me, other people seem to like it. It's my most stolen photo ever, based on a google image search. I saw it on a website once with someone else's copyright watermark photoshopped onto it
... And it reached the front page of Reddit once (again, stolen).Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff