If you had no batteries, would you stay home?

[Heroique]

Let's say all your batteries are shot.

Suddenly, you have no meter, no cell phone, no smartphone apps, no GPS unit, not even the MP3 device or transistor radio for those times when you're waiting for the wind or rain to subside.

Would you stay home (or go home) until you got your electricity back? If yes, tell us which items you'd need before getting back to work.

Or would you be brave enough to hit the field anyway? If so, which battery-operated item – if any – would you miss the most? Would you use a strategy to cover the loss?

[djdister]

Some meters don't require batteries... so no problem.

[Jac@stafford.net]

The only battery I need is the one that starts my truck.
None whatsoever needed in the field.
.

[Tin Can]

I shoot 35 mm, 120 and 4x5 all the time by Sunny 16, just as I have for 57 years. 35 mm film used to come with instructions. I used them. Same Pentax H3 for most of the time. I never knew what a meter was until the 90's. Never hung out with other photographers. Didn't hang out in camera stores or read the magazines. I was and still am ignorant of a lot of things.

To check myself, I will shoot a roll of 35mm in many different lighting and apertures and look to see where I screw up.

When outside I listen intently and look at everything. The wilds of Chicago and USA are no place to be distracted by music or machine.

No I'm not a zone guy and I do shoot crap all the time. But coming from 40 shots on a roll of 35mm, I only expect one 'good' image per roll. Maybe.

Usually I have my exposure fine, but maybe I don't like the content.

I use a Sekonic L758DR in studio, but then I'm home. Bigger than 4x5 gets a meter.

[DannL]

Don't need batteries for anything. When in doubt . . . bracket. I have two built-in light meters. One under each eyebrow. Neither needs a battery. And all my shutters are mechanical. We're good to go.

[Peter Lewin]

Other than the car starting, as someone else posted, I would probably wait until I got a spare battery for my light meter. I know I could use the "sunny 16" rule, but I think I would be happier with the control of the light meter. Actually, since I make a point of always having a spare meter battery, it really comes down to the car.

[Jim Jones]

I've never had to change a battery in a Weston Master II or GE DW-68 meter. Some things just aren't made the way they used to be.

[BarryS]

Since I've been shooting wet plate, I've felt much more comfortable shooting film without a meter. I can't think of anything battery-powered that would keep me from shooting.

[Moopheus]

I've got a dynamo hub on my bike that could be used to charge batteries (I admit I don't have the plug-in charger thingy, but they are out there). Otherwise, I suppose I could make do without a meter. Maybe have to bracket more, but I learned without one as kid, could do it again. None of my film cameras need a battery to shoot.

[Nigel Smith]

I could bump start the wifes car (a stick for your Americains... manual for the rest of the world!) down the drive but would have to remember to park on a hill to get going again after photo gathering.