Jim, do you really call that a mistake? Sounds like a no-brainer to me.
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Jim, do you really call that a mistake? Sounds like a no-brainer to me.
i kind of like taking a portrait of a lawyer for a publication and not realizing my light meter was 5 stops off. so when i got home to process my 8 sheets of film ... i did my usual - first sheet and it came out virtually blank. i think my final time was something like 23 mins. then i printed the severly underexposed & overdeveloped film using some weird agfa paper that came in rc grade 5, made especially for underexposed film. i got a 1/2way decent print, lost about 5 lbs from nerves. it was published ( looked okay in print) and paid soon after. now, i always make sure my meter is set to the right asa :)
Is that as bad as going to a site with your lights, camera and bag of film and finding out that you left your tripod at home? I did that this Saturday. I briefly thought about hand-holding the camera, but dismissed the idea completely.
Just this Saturday gone, I made a mistake that I haven't made before:
Arrived on the site with an hour to spare (read my chart wrong, thinking sunrise time was sunset time), took a shot about 30 minutes prior to the best time (hey - it looked OK) but left the holder in place. When the best light did come, I shot over the first exposure, ruining both. Timing was crucial, and a shadow had crept in before I could turn my holder around. I shot anyway, because it still looked pretty good. I found out later that night that I hadn't made any of those mistakes - I had actually forgotten to put film in the holder.
With a dress rehearsal under my belt, things went sooo much smoother on Sunday evening.
Graeme
(PS - my most common mistake is staying home when I should be out there making images.)
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<DIV>It's not a BIG mistake, but my most commonly repeated mistake is best
expressed in verse...</DIV>
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<DIV>Round and round and round we go</DIV>
<DIV>Kick the tripod with your toe</DIV>
<DIV>Readjust the camera then</DIV>
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Left all my loaded film holders at home after a 30-mile drive to a spot. I went by myself and when I returned I lied and told my wife it was "too windy". She *might* have believed me.
On a very rare New Year's Day, Tioga Pass was open due to a freakishly mild winter. I shook off my hang-over from festivities of the night before and piloted my 1979 Mercedes 240D with 350,000 miles over the icy road to one of my favorite overlooks where I set up the 'dorff and 14" lens and...and...and...I'd left my shutter release cable at home!
Imagine opening your Speed Graphic after a 1 hour 45 minute hike up and down some pretty nice mountains, with full gear (heavy tripod, film, meter, cloth, etc.) and finding you had taken your lens board out to use the lens in another camera.
On the smaller mistake side, taking your Yashica 635 out with a full load of 120 film and realizing you don't have an empty 120 spool because the last thing you shot was 35mm.
tim in san jose
Taking the wrong pictures.
Cable releases are always easy to leave behind.