Ever feel really STUPID???

[Michael Graves]

YI think and I've never done the fixer first, developer second thing.

I haven't done that either. But I HAVE developed two rolls of 120 HP5 in my selenium toner, fixed it and spent two hours trying to figure out why I got no images.

[E. von Hoegh]

You know, I've been developing film for almost 4 years now I think and I've never done the fixer first, developer second thing. Then again, my mixing bottle for developer (brown plastic quart bottle) is significantly different than my mixing bottle for fixer (translucent Rubbermaid bottle).

What I have done, though, are other really stupid things. Leaving the core out of my 35mm development tank. That ruined a couple rolls. I forgot to make sure the Combi-Plan had both caps on...which has ruined most of my 4x5 to date. Or "ruined", still posted it. I've shot film at the wrong ISO before and tried to save it (both successfully and unsuccessfully). I've developed a roll of Fuji 400 that I could've sworn was a roll of TMAX 100 (interestingly enough, that was a happy accident - it's kinda neat in D76, and the time for TMAX was just right). I've pulled the darkslide before I've shut the shutter. I've forgotten to stop down. I've forgotten to PULL the darkslide.

So yeah, I've had my share of feeling stupid. Sometimes it just helps to bask in it with everyone else.

Wait until you pull an 8x10 filmholder after exposing the film (EPP100 color transparency) but BEFORE replacing the darkslide.

As a bonus, a bystander said (as I cursed and tore out the sheet) "Why did you throw it away? It was only in the sun for a little while".

Seriously, I don't think I have ever at any other time become so angry in such a short period of time.

[Mark Stahlke]

OK, I'll come clean.

On my first go at loading 8x10 holders, I spent half an hour trying to load the first sheet. It just would not fit under the rails. Eventually, I decided to waste a sheet loading in the daylight. I closed up everything and turned on the lights and realized I just wasted half an hour trying to load a piece of cardboard. Loading actual film was smooth sailing after that.

It could have been worse. Imagine if that cardboard fit in the holder and I exposed it and then took it to a lab and asked them to process it. How embarrassing would that be?

Cheers,
Mark Stahlke

[joolsb]

While we're getting all confessional, I did manage to drop a 5x4 in a river one time when I reached for what I thought was the lever to release the lock on my ballhead. It turned out to be the quick release lever for the camera. Fortunately, the river was shallow and the camera was easily retrieved - after a lot of anguished swearing. It even had the good sense to wrap itself in the plastic darkcloth before entering the water and only needed a little drying out afterwards. I even got the shot in the end....

And the other stupid thing that I've done more often than I care to admit is to pull the darkslide out that's closest to me, rather than the one that's closest to the lens. Doh!

[Diane Maher]

Wait until you pull an 8x10 filmholder after exposing the film (EPP100 color transparency) but BEFORE replacing the darkslide.

As a bonus, a bystander said (as I cursed and tore out the sheet) "Why did you throw it away? It was only in the sun for a little while".

Seriously, I don't think I have ever at any other time become so angry in such a short period of time.

I've pulled the darkslide before closing the shutter. Why does it seem to happen with either 8x10 color or IR film? Fortunately, it hasn't happened lately.

[Joseph O'Neil]

You know whats *really* depressing? I can read this thread every other day, and find a new post that makes me think "yep, I've been there" or "yep, I've done that."

Instead of this thread making me feel better, now i just feel super-duper stupid.

[EuGene Smith]

Several years ago, at one of our DC area LF club meetings, a local college photography professor was telling stories about crazy happenings similar to the topic of this thread. One of the funniest he told was about two students in his LF class who pooled their funds to buy a full box of lF film. After the film came in, the professor walked in on the students as they were counting out the sheets of film and dividing it up . . . in a fully lit up classroom! Duh!

[EuGene Smith]

Whoops! That is supposed to be LF film, not IF (intermediate frequency?) film that the students were counting out in the room with the lights on. Eu

[seawolf66]

E. von Hoegh :
I remember 30 - odd years ago; my Grandfather was watching me rinse paper plates prior to burning them in the woodstove at hunting camp. He looked, and said "You know, it takes brains to do something that stupid".

Love it ! you can bet you where not the only one in life that has done that!

[Mark Sawyer]

Not a LF mistake, but a dumb one all the same; a few years ago I got my first medium format camera - a Yashica TLR. For days I kept thinking, "Gee, this waist level finder is fine and dandy until I have to shoot in portrait mode ..."

Then my teacher reminded me that the film is square 6x6. Doh!

- Jeff

And after I'd spent soooo many hours designing a rotating back for a Hasselblad...

I was in the hospital a few years back, looking at the x-ray of my slightly broken wrist with the doctor. And the first thing that popped into my mind was "we could just fix it in photoshop..."