I've posted this before but it's the biggest photographic mistake I've ever seen:
A few years ago my photographer pal J.E with whom I shared an apartment managed to get himself accredited to photograph the 1000km power boat race from Sydney to Brisbane. J.E. hired a light plane for a complete set of aerial shots from start to finish.
As it turned out the weather was rough and the little plane bounced all over the sky, could scarcely keep up with the power boats, and had to refuel five times. J.E. was horribly
airsick. This was going to be a nasty, expensive, but potentially profitable day!
About midnight I heard J.E. come back to the apartment. I could smell the vomit. He went straight to the darkroom/laundry and the usual film processing noises followed. About an hour later I woke to hear roaring and furniture smashing.
It was a horrible sight. J.E. had loaded the big 8 reel Paterson tank with his film and, in his addle-pated state, went fixer first and developer second. Eight 36exp rolls of crystal clear film, J.E., and a broken chair formed a heap in the middle of the floor.
There was a happy ending. The next morning J.E. looked in his camera bag and saw a Canon EOS1 belonging to one of the boat drivers who was a photography enthusiast. The boat driver had asked J.E. to finish off a roll that was in his camera. The roll was developed very carefully, dev first fixer second, and came out with 24 frames of the boat race. All frames sold and making enlargements was like printing money. Even the boat driver bought a set.
As for the eight clear rolls, well, we never said a word.
I've made plenty of mistakes but never that big. Not yet.
A few years ago my photographer pal J.E with whom I shared an apartment managed to get himself accredited to photograph the 1000km power boat race from Sydney to Brisbane. J.E. hired a light plane for a complete set of aerial shots from start to finish.
As it turned out the weather was rough and the little plane bounced all over the sky, could scarcely keep up with the power boats, and had to refuel five times. J.E. was horribly
airsick. This was going to be a nasty, expensive, but potentially profitable day!
About midnight I heard J.E. come back to the apartment. I could smell the vomit. He went straight to the darkroom/laundry and the usual film processing noises followed. About an hour later I woke to hear roaring and furniture smashing.
It was a horrible sight. J.E. had loaded the big 8 reel Paterson tank with his film and, in his addle-pated state, went fixer first and developer second. Eight 36exp rolls of crystal clear film, J.E., and a broken chair formed a heap in the middle of the floor.
There was a happy ending. The next morning J.E. looked in his camera bag and saw a Canon EOS1 belonging to one of the boat drivers who was a photography enthusiast. The boat driver had asked J.E. to finish off a roll that was in his camera. The roll was developed very carefully, dev first fixer second, and came out with 24 frames of the boat race. All frames sold and making enlargements was like printing money. Even the boat driver bought a set.
As for the eight clear rolls, well, we never said a word.
I've made plenty of mistakes but never that big. Not yet.
