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03-18-2012, 08:08 PM   #31
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You are not the only idiot.

Once, due to "I don't know what," I set the exposure value to -1.5. I don't know how I did it. Yes, I did notice the shots were coming out a bit dark, but since I was doing interiors of a series of houses, it was a little dark inside anyway. Try as I might, I couldn't figure out why the shots appeared dark at the time. Since I didn't think I had touched the EV, I guess I just didn't look there. The next day I discovered it and was kicking myself from here to Timbuktu.

Things happen. Lots of great advice in this thread. No matter how much you know, it never hurts to review the basics. :-)

05-07-2012, 11:20 PM   #32
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I made a stupid mistake on the weekend .

Last Saturday night, I’m at a family event, I get the request to take a few group photos as we rarely gather together. No problem I say, I grab my K-5 & flash, switch to manual mode, dial in exposure, mount flash, check FEC is -1/3, OK all set…. take photo. Chimp to check exposure and to my horror it’s almost black. Dial FEC up to 0, take another shot. Still black.

At this stage I panic a bit and decide to swap out my K-5 for my K-x. I go and get my K-x but realise it is set up for tripod shots with a 10 stop ND filter, so I have lots of settings to adjust and check before I’m ready. By now another family member had picked up their P&S and started doing a whole sequence of different group set ups. Finally I have my K-x ready and fire off a test frame. Still black!! Damn Damn. Had a thought, maybe I took it too soon and before the flash was ready? So I take another shot, phew, perfect exposure! So finally I’m ready. I take 1 more shot, literally 1, and get the “OK lets finish this, dinner is getting cold”. Ahhhh!!!!!!!!!

Turns out a few weeks ago I’d used my pop-up flash on my K-5 for a bit of fill and dialled it down by 1 2/3 stops, and I'd forgotten about it and that is what caused severe under exposure. I even had a “indoor flash” user setting on my K-5 which is set up for just this purpose, but I stupidly forgot about that mode in the heat of the moment.
05-08-2012, 07:37 AM   #33
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Didn't happen to me, but was talking to a family friend. They decided to go out for a photo walk (with her rebel XSi I should add). Took some snaps of geese, dogs out for a stroll with their owners, flowers and other interesting happenstances in the street. When she got home, she realized there was no memory card in the camera.
05-08-2012, 01:58 PM - 1 Like   #34
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Some guidelines for public confession:

* Never admit your absolutely dumbest mistakez. Mine are my secretz.
* Never admit to crimes, not even if the statute of limitations has expired.
* You don't need to exaggerate; your actual f*ckups are bad enough.
* Dumb photographic mistakes are usually minor, compared to real life.
* Remember and learn from your mistakes, but don't flog yourself over them.
* Don't blame your shortcomings on others; self-delusion doesn't help you.
* Practicing self-affirmation exercises does NOT repair your blunders.
* As long as you live, you'll f*ck-up again. The only perfection is in death.

Wisdom of the ancients, folks. Read'em and weep.

05-08-2012, 05:20 PM   #35
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I have made a couple of mistakes over time, especially during the film era, I had an ME and was in charge of a church choir slide show, I was taking a bunch of shots and when I got to 36,37,38,39,40 on a 36 exp roll I got a little concerned about whether or not I got the lip of film all the way into the take up spool of the camera, I just reached over and tried to see if the rewind crank had tension and it didn't, I popped open the camera and there was NO film in it! Luckilly those days I only wasted about 36 of what I thought were some good shots. Now with digital I could lose a WHOLE shoot if I forgot to load a memory card!
Another note is the time I was on vacation down in Florida I had my camera set on RAW+ but somehow or another about ten shots in I inadvertently changed the settings to JPEG only, this was not really a deal breaker but it showed me that ANYTHING can go wrong no matter how miniscule, I have learned that I should always be aware of my settings.
05-08-2012, 08:00 PM   #36
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QuoteOriginally posted by bigdavephoto Quote
LOL

I think my biggest mistake was the night I got lucky (not that way) and security let me take my *st DL and 28-200 into a concert. Good thing I was sitting front row. Bad thing, I didn't think about the lighting. 101 pictures later, I got 4 or 5 really good pictures 7 or 8 ok pictures and the rest were just blurry messes. Learned my lesson, always check ISO depending on where and what you are taking pictures of.
HA! HA! reminds me of the time I was able to get my Super Program and Telephoto lens into a Steely Dan concert. I had various run ins with Security
but that night they actually WERE allowing cameras. I was in the forth row and was looking forward to seeing all these killer shots I was getting of the band and stage. When I got home to REWIND the film it re-winded awfully fast. The film had once again slipped out of those "Magic Needles" they used on the Super Program and left me with ZILCH!!!. AAARRRGGG!!!
05-11-2012, 11:16 AM - 1 Like   #37
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hmmm, ok a few of mine:

1) not checking the settings on the camera from the night before and realizing i shot that outdoor birthday party at ISO1600!

2)driving 3 hours to an evening photo hike and discovering i left my quick release plate for the tripod on my tele lens AT HOME!

3) shooting long exposures with a 9-stop ND filter without covering the viewfinder and getting a whole batch of ruined photos from light leaks

4) first time i used Live View for shooting, i mistook the half press of the button (which clicks to lift the mirror and focus), as the actual shutter releasing. Thus, i thought i had taken all these pics and there was not even one to be found later on the card, lol. ooh, that was bad.

05-11-2012, 11:20 AM   #38
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QuoteOriginally posted by mikeSF Quote
4) first time i used Live View for shooting, i mistook the half press of the button (which clicks to lift the mirror and focus), as the actual shutter releasing. Thus, i thought i had taken all these pics and there was not even one to be found later on the card, lol. ooh, that was bad.
Or the flip version that I'm guilty of: mistaking the mirror lifting as the shutter release and then not holding steady as the actual picture is taken... or trying to use live view on a smiling child - that extra delay as the mirror lifts is enough to cause every smile to vanish because the subject thinks the picture has been taken
05-11-2012, 11:29 AM   #39
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QuoteOriginally posted by Jimkol Quote
Am I the only idiot?
we will only see the end of idiots when the world ends later this year

actually don;t feel too bad, and you really arn't an idiot yet, but do it again and you might get some consideration.

So you made an error shooting. we all do, learn from it, get into the habit of looking at your settings before you start. If you establish a routine you will be much less likely to make a mistake like this again.

ALso part of your routine should be to set the camera back to one specific setting each time you use it.
05-11-2012, 02:25 PM   #40
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My latest stupid mistake, on another thread here: I made a pronouncement about the Raynox not vignetting on my DA18-250 without double-checking first, just relying on my leaky memory. Duh. Time for a brain transplant.
05-12-2012, 06:43 PM   #41
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Inserted and formatted an SD card that has always been reliable, Took some shots of a butterfly on a flower. Chimped 2 lesser duplicates. Wanted to review all the shots on the card. Pressed the arrow key, nothing happened, Pressed again, nothing, Pressed the left arrow, nada, Figured it was an odd time to have my first card failure. Swapped out a partially filled card. It reviewed fine, It was not until I transfered images to my netbook that I discovered there was only one shot on the other card, so it would only review that image regardless of the button-pushing.
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