Worst mistakes

[cliveh]

This could be in the wrong forum (moderators feel free to move as I didn't know where to put it) But I’m sure we have all made stupid mistakes in our photography and for me lots in the darkroom, like exposing without removing the red filter from under the lens. But my worst was probably when I first got a Hasselblad and loaded the film the wrong way round. What have been your worst mistakes?

 

[Rick A]

Shooting film in the first place! :crazy:

 

[snapguy]

Haveta

You have to make all the mistooks -- that is how you learn. If it was that easy everybody would do it and would take endless selfies with wild bears and if not, the bears would starve.

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

I never make mistakes. One time I thought I did. But I was wrong.

 

[rbultman]

My first sheet of 4x5 was executed flawlessly. I metered carefully. I set the aperture and shutter speed properly. I cocked the lens, removed the dark slide, tripped the shutter and returned the dark slide. Never once did occur to me to look through the ground glass and actually focus. Mr. Blurry cam struck!

 

[removed-user-1]

The way I learned to make sure a 35mm camera was loaded properly is a good example. I had to cover an event at the culinary arts department when I was working for my college newspaper. Chefs-in-training were cooking, someone was doing an ice sculpture, and it was a big party. I shot more than 40 great photos! (Wow, I thought, I got extra shots!) Upon my return to the darkroom, I discovered that the film had not gone through the camera. At all. I ran back to the event, hoping to get something, but it was over. I did get the people leading the event to pose for a group shot, which ran, but it wasn't as good as the editorial/action photos I thought I'd taken.

Thankfully I figured this out before I became a photographer's assistant.

 

[TheTrailTog]

I think my biggest mistake was with 4x5 too. I had several times when I first started shooting LF where I would spend lots of time carefully shooting a scene, but would forget to flip the dark slide to denote I had exposed that sheet. Then I would end up reshooting the sheet by accident. Got some funky double exposures...doh!

 

[removed account4]

my biggest mistake was opening up a coiled reflector and it unfurlled itself and smacked me in the face.
the nervous subject laughed, and it broke the ice ...

 

[NedL]

One time I innocently asked about disposal of used fixer on APUG....

 

[dpurdy]

Moved to Sacramento Ca for photography school and got the list of items to buy before first day. The 100 sheet box of 8x10 Ektalure K was intriguing so I opened it up to look at the paper. Only later reading the part about opening in dark only.

Thought my beloved Rolleiflex was seated properly in the Rolleiflix adapter but it wasn't, I turned around and it dropped 5 feet from the top of the tripod into the sand at the beach.

Thought I had put my other beloved Rolleiflex away after doing photography on the beach at an APUG gatering only to find out when I got back to town that I had left it on the hood of the car. The luggage rack held it.

Doing a full batch of client film in the dark and had a brain glitch and put the film in the developer and then 30 seconds later took it out and put it in the stop bath...

 

[bvy]

Sending my chromes to that lab...

 

[Sirius Glass]

Since large format does not have the interlocks and safeties that come with 35mm and MF, large format allows one to screw up in many innovative and costly ways.

• Removing the darkslide before take off the lenscap and cranking focal plan shutter
• Inserting film emulsion side down in the film holder
• Opening the sheet film box in daylight
• Forgetting to replace the darkslide
• ...

 

[JackRosa]

My paper safe loaded with 20+ sheets of 20x24 VC paper, another 20+ sheets of 16x20 paper, plus at least 50 sheets of 8x10 paper. Opened the paper safe to take a sheet of paper out, transferred the paper to enlarger and exposed paper, put paper in developer, stop-bath, fixer, turned all the lights on to see my new print and ... on the corner of my eye noticed that I had forgotten to close the paper safe!

 

[dmschnute]

I was once assigned to photograph a wildland fire from a helicopter, using a Speed Graphic. The Graphic apparently was cammed for two different lenses -- there were two stops on the bed. It never occurred to me to take any number of possible steps that would have verified which one was correct. At the outcome, the infinity focus I thought I was using was actually something like 20-feet!

What with the cost of flight time, I was not asked to commit ritual suicide on the front steps, but I was also not asked to shoot the repeat.

 

[Cycler]

Agreeing to be the 'photographer' on a small archaeological site. Director had bought himself a new Zenith TTL, And thought he 'didn't NEED' a photographer. Well he shot a film and told me to take the 'back-up shots' Which took me two hours. Reckoned by my boss, the photo executive to be "About right". Anyway the site director's shots were rubbish and mine were right. But this bloke had lots of 'clout' and a lot of 'mates' and I was edged out. As much by whispers of innuendo.
Politics and photography don't mix; even if you're good at it.

 

[splash_fr]

- I forgot to rewind the film before opening the camera. I even got some useful negatives at the start of the roll...
- Stopping development after phase 1 of a two component developer and getting very thin negs.
- Forgetting to close down the enlarger lens before exposure of the paper.
- Forgetting to switch of the enlarger light source before opening the box with the papers.
- Forgetting to change colors in enlarger after first exposure with split grade printing...

Basically I've done every mistake possible EXCEPT shooting with the lens cap on with my rangefinder!

 

[removed account4]

One time I innocently asked about disposal of used fixer on APUG....

yeah, that could have been a hummdinger of a mistake !

 

[Kyle M.]

When I first started shooting medium format I bought a Yashica D that had been recently CLA'd by Mark Hama, so I knew that the problem did not lie in the camera. Anyways every roll I develped (about 5) would be half black and half fogged. At the time I didn't know enough about light leaks to even suspect such a thing, so after asking all around and being told that I had a camera that had had a bad CLA a flickr user solved my dilemma. Turns out dummy me wasn't putting the little black sleeve/spindle light baffle in the center of my paterson reels, therefore light was coming right down through the funnel and exposing my film. You can bet I won't make that mistake again. I have had a few instances of not loading 35mm cameras correctly and therefore the film never advanced, but I have yet to expose any frames on the backing paper of 120.

 

[CropDusterMan]

I've got one for you....years ago, I worked in a camera store and we sold an oil man a Nikonos system...Ikelites and
several lenses. He came back after a vacation diving trip and was ticked..."the camera flooded". We felt aweful, so
Nikon/the shop replaced the camera and lens. He went away happy enough. A month later, he was back with the same
problem...this time, furious, having lost a roll of apparently great images.

We were totally confused...how could this happen twice? Jim, the store manager said, "Walk me through the dive and all
of the steps you did". He told us the story and then said "I was swimming to another reef to do some close up work
so I switched lenses". Jim looked hard at the oil man. "You switched lenses for close ups"?, he asked. "Yes", he replied
with some attitude, growing more agitated. Jim then paused..."You didn't switch lenses underwater did you"?
"Yes", he snapped. The room grew silent. We all watched the oil mans eyes roll back in his head. He reached into his
pocket and pulled out his platinum AMEX.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Learning late how to do b/w film developing and printing by myself...

 

[BradleyK]

snip But my worst was probably when I first got a Hasselblad and loaded the film the wrong way round. What have been your worst mistakes?

I made the same mistake, but compounded the problem by taking the camera with me on a long weekend trip to Banff, AB.

Background: I first shot with Hasselblads back in the early 1980s before selling my kit (a 500c w/50,80,150mm lens) to fund a couple of my lenses for my Nikon system. Basically, I then went almost two decades before returning to medium format.

Around 2002, I decided to put together a new kit, and picked up a 500c/m with 50, 80 and 150mm CFT* lenses and four A12s. Thinking all should be familiar, I picked up a couple of pro-packs of Velvia 50 and a brick, I believe, of PanF. I did not load anything until I arrived in Banff. Getting ready for an outing very early the next morning, I managed to destroy two rolls of Velvia by loading the film bass ackwards into the A12s. Scrub the early am shooting for that day. Not having brought my laptop with me, finding a manual, etc. online wasn't an option. In something of a panic, I grabbed the Banff telephone book to check camera stores, and drove to the first one open. By some miracle, one of the staff was a film shooter and showed me how to load the back (while probably wondering why someone in possession of a Hasselblad kit couldn't figure out how load the thing). We ended up chatting about film photography for close to an hour (Why PanF and not a tab grain film? Color vs black and white? Why you shouldn't use a polarizer with Velvia?); I managed to pick up a few locations to check out to shoot before I left.

Lesson learned...lol

 

[jibbalee]

Loading 2 rolls of 120 film into a steel tank for developing in a dark bag. Then running water for the pre soak, and viola, I take the whole lid instead of the top light tight lid, completely off. Look down for a second, furrow my brows, "This isn't right." ... "OH MY WHAT THE, YOU IDIOT!" Still developed it, and actually got some interesting results. AAAnnnd it happened again. Then I started using the tape from the 120 backing paper to tape down the lid. Yeah. :crazy:

 

[gordrob]

Shot a 25 sheet box of Ektachrome over a weekend and thought to be on the safe side I would split the box and send half the film to two different labs. Both boxes were clearly marked E6. Both orders came back processed in C41. One lab did give me very nice print from the cross processed film though.

 

[gone]

This should be a long thread :}

Mine is easy. Spending years and years sending my work out for developing, then inkjet printing it at home instead of optically printing it. Spent more money than you can imagine doing that. It has been easier, although challenging, and a lot more fun doing it all myself than I ever could have imagined, and I'd like to thank all the fine people here who have listened to my idiotic questions and given me such wonderful guidance and advice. Don't think I'm not grateful either, because I am. The money will never come back, but if I work much harder and much more smartly, I aim to make up for the rest of it.

We won't go into the shots I took of my wife and I on the beach w/ a camera w/ a self timer that I had never used before on our 10th anniversary. Yes, the shutter did not work on any of them. Made a very nice "snick" sound though.

 

[frank]

Not knowing to thread the first film between the first 2 rollers of my new to me Rolleiflex, and then winding the whole film onto the take up spool.

Leaving gear on the car roof and driving off. Did this 2 times, once with a Canonet RF, once with a lunasixF lightmeter.

Opening camera back thinking it was empty, and not loading film properly resulting in 40 air shots.