Mr Rusty's tip for better photos...

[mr rusty]

Remember to check there is a film in the camera!

First time ever I have done this. Grabbed my OM1 which is usually loaded with B&W, checked the counter - plenty left - only on "2". Shot the film, went to rewind and......... no film! Felt such a twonk I didn't let on to my d******l shooting colleagues. Still, loaded a film and carried on.

I normally get in the habit of loading a fresh film every time I take the used one out. I use 3 OMs with B&W, Portra 400 and ektar 100. Somehow, must have forgotten to reload, and never noticed the rewind wasn't rotating..........

 

[nsurit]

I wouldn't think about giving up my screen anytime soon. I've recently done the same thing. Felt like an idiot. Yes, I know the rewind crank turns everytime I advance the film on my OM. Won't do that again, well at least not right away . . . or hope I don't. Bill Barber

 

[guitstik]

Forgetting to load film, not checking that the camera is loaded before opening and forgetting to put the kickstand down on my motorcycle before I dismount. These are a few of my favorite things to forget to remember at the worst times.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

At least you didn't open the camera while it still had unwound film in it!

Jeff

 

[M. Lointain]

15 years ago I hiked over a mile to a frozen waterfall in Colorado only to find the battery dead on my camera. I hiked back to the car and got a fresh battery. Upon arrival at the waterfall the second time I discovered I didn't bring any film. Another trip... A few years ago I did it again, with the film I mean. Was shooting some beautiful stuff on the windward side of Mt. Tamalpais and then I started to get that funny feeling. Yep, after two hours and about 50 shots, no film. Needless to say I am now religious to the point of paranoia about checking film whenever I pick up a camera. Every time. No one is immune to this though. Everyone reading this thread can identify with that particular sinking feeling whether they comment or not.

 

[rrankin]

Wouldn't help my photos any...

 

[benjiboy]

Remember to check there is a film in the camera!

First time ever I have done this. Grabbed my OM1 which is usually loaded with B&W, checked the counter - plenty left - only on "2". Shot the film, went to rewind and......... no film! Felt such a twonk I didn't let on to my d******l shooting colleagues. Still, loaded a film and carried on.

I normally get in the habit of loading a fresh film every time I take the used one out. I use 3 OMs with B&W, Portra 400 and ektar 100. Somehow, must have forgotten to reload, and never noticed the rewind wasn't rotating..........

I've been a photographer for more than fifty years and for the first time in my life I recently shot a roll of 120 film in a Mamiya TLR, and when I opened the back to remove the film the camera empty , fortunately it wasn't anything important, but I felt such a fool.

 

[Rick A]

I shot a 36 exposure roll (or so I thought), rewound it and developed, only to realize it never advanced and only a clear length of film to show for it(dang, the counter went past 36,I thunk I had a bonus). That film is stapled to the front of a shelf in my DR as a reminder.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I arrived at Skyline Drive NP only to discover that the 4"x5" film was still in the refridgerator. I turned around, drove home, picked up the film, drove back to Skyline Drive. Time loss 2 hours, but worth it.

 

[Bill Burk]

I developed a nervous tic this way with my OM...

Carrying camera around neck, spinning rewind knob feeling for tension.

You can overdo this. I have a tiny half-moon kink in several shots.

The imaginary roll of film has shots of a mother bear forcing her cub up a tree to try to get our food despite us throwing rocks at them. Descendents of these talented creatures still roam Paradise Valley.

 

[Monito]

Lens caps are highly effective at being dark filters.

 

[BradleyK]

Best all-time screw-up: In a rush to head out the door, I had my nephew load a pair of A-12 backs for me. I showed him to load, thought he had it, and went on to start carting equipment out to the car. Later on in the day, I clipped on one of the backs he had loaded. First couple of "shots" - no problem. Then at frame number four, the crank refused to budge. So, I gave it a little help. A tearing sound, and then no resistance. Oh s..t! Knowing the roll was lost, I pulled the dark-slide and then opened the back. The film had been loaded reversed: rather than black side out, he had loaded with cover ("Kodak Ektachrome 100G") facing outwards. The only saving grace: by sheer luck of the draw, the two backs were the last of six I had taken on the shoot, so the net loss, after I wrecked a roll, was only one (I saved the second roll when I returned home). Lesson learned: explain carefully and be certain your student has it!

 

[Klainmeister]

Drove 6 hours once from the Valley in Oregon to the desert only to find I forgot nothing.....



...but the camera itself.

 

[perkeleellinen]

Some of my best ever shots were taken when there was no film in the camera.

 

[Black Dog]

Mine too...

 

[Steve Smith]

Remember to check there is a film in the camera!

Can you still get film for that?.........


Steve.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Some of my best ever shots were taken when there was no film in the camera.

Some of my best ever shots were taken with the lens cap on!

 

[PeterAM]

How about driving away with the camera still on the roof of the car?

 

[Vonder]

Darnit. I was going to grumble all by myself... now the confession floodgates have been opened. Shot two rolls of film at my son's birthday party 2 days ago. Got home, started to develop... my my, the developer looks like blix...

 

[erikg]

Been there. To the OP, don't feel bad, your friends didn't have film in their cameras either!

 

[Laurent]

Did it a few times... find the location, unfold the tripod, unfold the Tachihara, put the lens on, put the cable release, put the camera on tripod... hummm, the only tiny part missing is the tripod attachment plate for the camera !

Now I have a plate for (almost*) every camera I own.

* GAS usually does not apply to such things as such humble accessories, so I'm usually one or two behind...

 

[mr rusty]

Thanks guys. Fun reading everybody else's senior moments!

 

[flatulent1]

I've always used auto-wind cameras. So I was jazzed when I got my first Canon F-1 six years back and went out shooting. Finished the roll, started cranking, felt it getting stiffer and stiffer, heard the film rip same time as the crank suddenly loosened... Oh, yeah, so that's what the button on the bottom of the camera is for... Damn. Naturally my friends all stood there laughing at me.

What's really embarrassing is I did the same thing a month later. Duh...