DISASTER + why im the biggest idiot here

sperera · May 17, 2009

......i took out the Hasselblad for a paid model shoot....I'd done a roll on it a few days before thus I were sure no light leaks on the A12 magazine etc.....so I shot on both digital and film (paid job, i have to use both just in case...i also use the digital as a polaroid so to speak)....

so, Im happy with the results of the shoot and was expecting even better shots from what i shot on the Hassy as the lenses were giving me what looked like better shots......i developed the roll a few mins ago....

DISASTER....the complete roll is crystal clear.....not overexposure of the shots as no frames appear at all.........i have no idea why...this is the first time this has happened to me.....

lenses used....50mm C and 150mm C....the 50mm IS sluggish at lower scale of times but surely if it were the lens causing the problem then it would have appeared overexposed.....

all i got is JUST COMPLETE CLEAR FILM FROM START TO FINISH.

.

Nicholas Lindan · May 17, 2009

Are there any frame numbers? If not then the film never went through the developer or the developer was swapped with the stop or fix.

sperera · May 17, 2009

no frame numbers or anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i think you're right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was a mistake with the fix and developer....i used one instead of the other!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM AN IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT wont happen again.....i will learn from this mistake!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anscojohn · May 17, 2009

As Nicholas said, it is a development problem; not a camera issue. Either the developer was completely--completely--oxidized; or the stop or fix got in to the tank first. No other explanation is remotely possible.

Anscojohn · May 17, 2009

sperera said:
no frame numbers or anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i think you're right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was a mistake with the fix and developer....i used one instead of the other!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM AN IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT wont happen again.....i will learn from this mistake!!!!!!!!!!!!

********
Me, mesself, hase never dun this dumb thang: it was somedumbguy whatlooked persackly like me usin' mah darkroom duh sametime I be indare.

sperera · May 17, 2009

Anscojohn said:
********
Me, mesself, hase never dun this dumb thang: it was somedumbguy whatlooked persackly like me usin' mah darkroom duh sametime I be indare.

MORAL OF THE STORY.....pay more attention to what you're doing as i simply fixed before i developed!!!!!!! I'm gutted and sick to the stomach cos i KNOW i had better shots than on the DSLR.....I was seeing better pictures.....

I hereby claim the award for the dumbest person in the forum....can anyone top this???? c'mon...make me feel better!

papagene · May 17, 2009

Been there... done that!
You will find that you are not alone in this area of goof-ups and miscues. Sometimes I think I am president of the club.

gene

Markok765 · May 17, 2009

Don't worry, you'll just learn for next time. Everyone does that.

mike c · May 17, 2009

Ooh one time, well maybe two,forgot to load film in camera.Invisible film .

mike c.

sperera · May 17, 2009

HAHAHAHA INVISIBLE FILM.....GOOD ONE.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAA

fschifano · May 17, 2009

I had my share of goof-ups in the darkroom to be sure. I haven't done that one yet.

Vaughn · May 17, 2009

I spent 3 months ( and a chunk of money) hitch-hiking in New Zealand with a heavy 4x5 that I thought I had fixed a light leak problem on. Returning home, I found that I had not fixed the main problem. I only got a couple images worth printing from the trip.

But like you, I had actually photographed. That experience of photographing/seeing made the next attempt all the much better.

If all my negs had not been fogged that first trip, I probably would not have had the such a strong desire to return to NZ (4 years later for 5 months on a pushbike, and a lighter 4x5) and I would not have a much stronger portfolio of NZ landscapes.

A heck of a way to learn, but the lessons are not fogotten.

Vaughn

vdonovan · May 17, 2009

Been there, done that, had to re-shoot a paid gig with much loss of face and $$$.

ntenny · May 17, 2009

mike c said:
Ooh one time, well maybe two,forgot to load film in camera.Invisible film .

I just did this one. Set up the shot meticulously, waited for the sun to position itself, metered my little brains out, took the shot, headed into the dark to open up the holder, and...nothing.

I think I read once that this used to be called "French film", but I don't know why.

-NT

Phillip P. Dimor · May 17, 2009

Penn & Teller call it the Chinese Bill of Rights.

It only takes one time to learn. I've done this, and still do it especially when i'm drunk or very tired. Probably every time from now on you'll stop and double check your process.

sperera · May 17, 2009

Phillip P. Dimor said:
Penn & Teller call it the Chinese Bill of Rights.

It only takes one time to learn. I've done this, and still do it especially when i'm drunk or very tired. Probably every time from now on you'll stop and double check your process.

the stories are great keep em coming please.....i feel better already!

Mahler_one · May 17, 2009

Well, likely you were concentrating on those gorgeous half dressed young ladies :}...seriously, most of us here have made similar mistakes in the past, and will, no doubt, continue to make such mistakes. A part of the human condition wherein perfection should neither be sought, not expected....

rorye · May 17, 2009

The first time I loaded film onto a reel I turned on the lights to make sure it was in correctly. Lucky I checked, it was kinked.

haryanto · May 17, 2009

count me in, I've done this once, after that I use different color jug for developer n fixer, never happen again

Larry Bullis · May 17, 2009

Anybody who's spent years in photography has made lots of mistakes. I once loaded the magazine of a borrowed Hasselblad 1000F backwards on an assignment where the job could not be redone. A friend of mine with many years of editorial photography experience forgot to add the reducing agent to his developer (he always did that very carefully at the last minute to ensure freshness) and lost a whole basket of 20 rolls, which, fortunately, was only about a third of the shooting for a week long trip involving packhorse trips, airfares, lots of meals on the expense account... They were able to make do with what they had. He'd worked for that outfit for a very long time, so it wasn't his last job for them, but had he been new, that would have been it.

I learned that if I work too late, regardless of how pressing the deadline, I need to stop when I make the first minor mistake, because the next one will be expensive! Get some sleep and start fresh. Don't procrastinate so that a normal job becomes a rush.

You learn eventually not to kick yourself too hard or for too long. Just don't do THAT again. Unfortunately, each mistake is a new one, and while you learn not to do one thing, there are lots of other problems that sneak up on you.

The only way to deal with it, in the end, is to practice awareness of what you are doing. Errors are ALWAYS costly.

Vaughn · May 17, 2009

There was an hour long exposure I did (5x7) by moonlight in Pinnicles National Monument (CA). I did not have a watch so I guesstimated the hour. Got finished with the exposure, was getting cold, and so I looked around for the darkslide. Having no flashlight, it took awhile to search. Finally found it in the last place I looked (I suppose by definition, one always finds something in the last place), which was in the film holder. If the darkslide was film, I guess it would have an ASA of 0. I did not bother to develop the "film", as I probably underexposed it.

Vaughn

J Rollinger · May 17, 2009

I shot both sides of an empty 4x5 holder. I was using an old wooden 4x5 holder that i told myself to never use again.. well.. i did and it fell apart while removing it for the camera exposing both sheets. My third, but im sure it wont be the last was i had a hard time with the darkslide going in and when i went to develop the sheet i noticed again that i had shot an empty holder. On my next shot i was stumped on why i could not focus or see anything then i realized on that last shot with the slide issue i actually ejected the 4x5 sheet from the holder and it was stuck in the bellows. Yeah! 4x5 fun!

EASmithV · May 17, 2009

Anscojohn said:
********
Me, mesself, hase never dun this dumb thang: it was somedumbguy whatlooked persackly like me usin' mah darkroom duh sametime I be indare.

yea mee 2 i can personakly gauantea dat I never done don dis with 4x5 weddin portraitz

jgcull · May 17, 2009

You're not an idiot. You're in school, and learning. AND you're in good company.

2F/2F · May 17, 2009

Too bad. To cover my butt, I always give my chemicals a sniff before I pour them; juuuust in case I have some sort of mental lapse. Fixer is very easily discernible from developer, and pretty easily discernible from stop bath.

I have done what Vaugn has done, and I have also run a 120 roll through a camera backwards. I got the camera ready really quickly, and had not used it in a while! really nice long exposure city shots in the rain from the top of a local rock at night! What a waste of a climb and film, plus getting all wet!

DISASTER + why im the biggest idiot here

sperera

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DISASTER + why im the biggest idiot here

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