Like many here, you've probably suffered a calamitous moment or two in LF.
If so, it was probably a traumatizing experience (in an emotional sense), and the road to recovery was none too easy ... but now you're healthy again – and a little bit wiser, too.
Perhaps part of the healing process was creating a simple, concrete tip so others might avoid your misfortune. Call it a way to lick self-inflicted wounds, and protect others from a similar fate.
Exhibit #1
Before you drive away from your shot location, double-check the ground on the passenger side (i.e., hidden side) of your car for any LF gear you may have put down while loading.
Let's just say that a Ries tripod is a terrible thing to abandon by a forest service road. You can imagine my horror when, many miles down the road, well after sunset, soon after switching on my headlights, I noticed the empty seat behind me. Distraught and agonized, I returned for the rescue, prepared for the worst. I remember the dread I felt with each winding curve. I was lucky this time – there it was, in the growing darkness, exactly where I'd left it (though someone had apparently inspected it and moved it away from the edge of the road). The lonely tripod looked just as traumatized as I was. After promising I would never leave it behind again, it seemed to forgive me. I haven't forgotten it since – and I hope by sharing this that you won't forget yours either!
Please tell us about your #1 tip – and, if it was born out of a trial, maybe there's an entertaining story to go with it. Veterans who are grey want to hear it; so do beginners who are green.
So much to learn for a lifetime in our work...
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