My top 5 "oh darns" as a Beginner/Intermediate Photographer

opfor · 07-10-2009, 04:43 AM

1. batteries
2. having too much stuff in the bag
3. forgetting to take a small pack of tp or baby wipes
4. forgetting to check if there is film in the camera
5. missing a shot because of chimping/playing with equipment

clmonk · 07-10-2009, 06:06 AM

Well, guys, I have been shooting for more than 30 years and I can say I have never experienced ANY of the problems you have.
I guess my only "Oh Darn!" would be lying to my fellow photographers about never making any mistakes!

Plankton · 07-10-2009, 10:27 AM

Heres a few that happened recently:

1. Forgetting the memory card, I now have 4 backups in my bag.

2. Not bringing the tripod when lugging around a huge slow telephoto lense.

3. Having Nikon lenses in my bag when going out shooting with a Pentax camera. No lense changes for me.

-Javin

georgweb · 07-10-2009, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Javin said:
3. Having Nikon lenses in my bag when going out shooting with a Pentax camera. No lense changes for me.

A matter of mercylessness to your equipment I guess, cause you can always put a Nikon lens SOMEHOW onto Pentax .-)

Enjoyed the thread and got sweaty fingers when the SD-card problems were mentioned (I only have one and don't remember were the other is) and also the cable release (forgot it yesterday but just put it in the bag reading this). Sure enough weather was fine yesterday and pouring rain today.

As an ancient manual prime lens shooter here's some added fun:

- break half the lens off the cam: Did this twice but no harm, was a loose lens-lens thread and put it back together
- Of course not having the right lens with you (which will force you to be creative: did some night-stage-shots with a 300/5.6 mirror lens lately)
- Sure enough forgetting to switch back from 'M' to 'AV'. Pics will be black or white, not much in between.
- passing the cam around and then forgetting to put the diopter slider back in the right place: Wrong focus guaranteed .-)
- relying on autofocus to get the quick action shot. Sure enough the cam does lock up more than once and will refuse to release the shutter.
This is partly due to my AF-inexperience but oooh darn.
Best, Georg (the other)

yeatzee · 07-10-2009, 10:43 PM

Deffinently number 1 for me is Forgetting to reset the dang ISO after shooting an indoor event

..... and every time I've done this I've taken some of my best macro shots

Others would be forgetting to charge my batteries , leaving the camera body in AF mode and putting the macro on with manual mode set missing the shot, forgetting to reset the custom white balance after an indoor event, etc.

photolady95 · 07-10-2009, 11:18 PM

1. Forgetting extra batteries when I know I'm going to shoot a long time, in the dark at an arena full of people and horses and my granddaughter doing tricks on a horse.

2. Not taking the cameras. When I had my own vehicle they road in the passesnger seat beside me no matter where I was going. Now I don't have my own transporation, I was with my sister the other day, no camera, Ibis sitting at the side of the road, looking at me as if to say.....forgot camera, didn't ya? How DUH is that?

mungbean66 · 07-12-2009, 04:31 AM

1. Using my Sigma 70-300mm non APO for 9 months and not being able to work out why Av didn't work properly. I had never noticed the aperture ring and had never switched to the 'A' setting. Thought I had a broken lens (still took some good shots though) and just kept taking shots.

2. Beautiful shot with a native bird flying across a lake only to find I hadn't taken the lens cap off.

3. Was taking shots of the family outdoors and when I processed the photos, I noticed a lot of grain. Checked the EXIF and noticed I had been shooting at ISO 1600 from the night before. I check my ISO regularly now.

4. Not taking my camera out of convience (but wanting to) and missing a some really beautiful shots. I do this all the time, some people don't learn ;p.

**NaClH2O** · 07-12-2009, 04:54 AM

Originally posted by georgweb

snip

- passing the cam around and then forgetting to put the diopter slider back in the right place: Wrong focus guaranteed .-)

Best, Georg (the other)

me too, or bumping it accidentally as I have the view finder magnifier and the diopter sticks out a bit more.

NaCl(wanted to forget about this one)H2O

benjikan · 07-12-2009, 07:43 AM

From a Pro...How about this week when shooting for two days I overwrote the clothing change I had just shot before by the one I had just done. Had to re-shoot the clothing change...What an IDIOT!!!

chalion · 07-12-2009, 08:20 AM

I shot some film (or so i thought) of the eagles near my work place. Dropped off the film to get developed and don't you know the film lead had broken and all I had was blank film.

lurchlarson · 07-12-2009, 08:57 AM

1. Picking up my camera bag as I leave for a week long trip, thinking my camera is in there but it's not.
2. Forgetting it on ISO 800-1600 from previous nights evening shots.
3. Not bringing batteries.
4. Dropping my lens as I'm changing it (luckily that's only ever happend on carpet and no harm was done).
5. Going on a photo-trip and realizing halfway through that i've been shooting jpeg when I was meaning to shoot RAW.

quantum · 07-13-2009, 12:03 PM

1. Forget the camera in m mode after a night shot (gues how many 100 white pictures I get until I start to review them)
2. Not bringing backup card while the current one is allmost ful
3. Other stuff but I dont want to admit it

Martytoof · 07-15-2009, 04:44 PM

Not checking +/- EV. Shooting half a day at -2EV on my Canon despite the camera clearly displaying the EV bar in the viewfinder

Boy was I kicking myself for that one. Messed up all the good shots in ideal lighting conditions, had to go back and redo them in much harsher light.

Duck Dodgers · 07-15-2009, 05:34 PM

Originally posted by ismaelg

3 - NOT turning off the timer and try to shoot a moving object DUH!

Huh. Did that today.

gfmucci · 07-15-2009, 06:34 PM

Originally posted by benjikan

From a Pro...How about this week when shooting for two days I overwrote the clothing change I had just shot before by the one I had just done. Had to re-shoot the clothing change...What an IDIOT!!!

What kind of setting/camera allows you to overwrite a file? I need to know this so I, too, can do this in the future!

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07-10-2009, 04:43 AM	#31
opfor Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Oxford, UK Photos: Albums Posts: 276	1. batteries 2. having too much stuff in the bag 3. forgetting to take a small pack of tp or baby wipes 4. forgetting to check if there is film in the camera 5. missing a shot because of chimping/playing with equipment

07-10-2009, 06:06 AM	#32
clmonk Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Eastern TN Posts: 269	Well, guys, I have been shooting for more than 30 years and I can say I have never experienced ANY of the problems you have. I guess my only "Oh Darn!" would be lying to my fellow photographers about never making any mistakes!

07-10-2009, 10:27 AM	#33
Plankton Inactive Account Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Shelburne, MA Posts: 131	Heres a few that happened recently: 1. Forgetting the memory card, I now have 4 backups in my bag. 2. Not bringing the tripod when lugging around a huge slow telephoto lense. 3. Having Nikon lenses in my bag when going out shooting with a Pentax camera. No lense changes for me. -Javin

07-10-2009, 10:56 AM	#34
georgweb Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Berlin, Germany Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,386	Quote: Javin said: 3. Having Nikon lenses in my bag when going out shooting with a Pentax camera. No lense changes for me. A matter of mercylessness to your equipment I guess, cause you can always put a Nikon lens SOMEHOW onto Pentax .-) Enjoyed the thread and got sweaty fingers when the SD-card problems were mentioned (I only have one and don't remember were the other is) and also the cable release (forgot it yesterday but just put it in the bag reading this). Sure enough weather was fine yesterday and pouring rain today. As an ancient manual prime lens shooter here's some added fun: - break half the lens off the cam: Did this twice but no harm, was a loose lens-lens thread and put it back together - Of course not having the right lens with you (which will force you to be creative: did some night-stage-shots with a 300/5.6 mirror lens lately) - Sure enough forgetting to switch back from 'M' to 'AV'. Pics will be black or white, not much in between. - passing the cam around and then forgetting to put the diopter slider back in the right place: Wrong focus guaranteed .-) - relying on autofocus to get the quick action shot. Sure enough the cam does lock up more than once and will refuse to release the shutter. This is partly due to my AF-inexperience but oooh darn. Best, Georg (the other)

07-10-2009, 10:43 PM	#35
yeatzee Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Temecula Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,675	Deffinently number 1 for me is Forgetting to reset the dang ISO after shooting an indoor event ..... and every time I've done this I've taken some of my best macro shots Others would be forgetting to charge my batteries , leaving the camera body in AF mode and putting the macro on with manual mode set missing the shot, forgetting to reset the custom white balance after an indoor event, etc.

07-10-2009, 11:18 PM	#36
photolady95 Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: May 2009 Location: Cruising the forum watching his back Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,712	1. Forgetting extra batteries when I know I'm going to shoot a long time, in the dark at an arena full of people and horses and my granddaughter doing tricks on a horse. 2. Not taking the cameras. When I had my own vehicle they road in the passesnger seat beside me no matter where I was going. Now I don't have my own transporation, I was with my sister the other day, no camera, Ibis sitting at the side of the road, looking at me as if to say.....forgot camera, didn't ya? How DUH is that?

07-12-2009, 04:31 AM	#37
mungbean66 New Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Sydney Posts: 10	1. Using my Sigma 70-300mm non APO for 9 months and not being able to work out why Av didn't work properly. I had never noticed the aperture ring and had never switched to the 'A' setting. Thought I had a broken lens (still took some good shots though) and just kept taking shots. 2. Beautiful shot with a native bird flying across a lake only to find I hadn't taken the lens cap off. 3. Was taking shots of the family outdoors and when I processed the photos, I noticed a lot of grain. Checked the EXIF and noticed I had been shooting at ISO 1600 from the night before. I check my ISO regularly now. 4. Not taking my camera out of convience (but wanting to) and missing a some really beautiful shots. I do this all the time, some people don't learn ;p.

07-12-2009, 04:54 AM	#38
NaClH2O Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bronx NY Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,631	Originally posted by georgweb snip - passing the cam around and then forgetting to put the diopter slider back in the right place: Wrong focus guaranteed .-) Best, Georg (the other) me too, or bumping it accidentally as I have the view finder magnifier and the diopter sticks out a bit more. NaCl(wanted to forget about this one)H2O

07-12-2009, 07:43 AM	#39
benjikan Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Paris, France Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,308	From a Pro...How about this week when shooting for two days I overwrote the clothing change I had just shot before by the one I had just done. Had to re-shoot the clothing change...What an IDIOT!!!

07-12-2009, 08:20 AM	#40
chalion Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: SE Pennsylvania Photos: Albums Posts: 628	I shot some film (or so i thought) of the eagles near my work place. Dropped off the film to get developed and don't you know the film lead had broken and all I had was blank film.

07-12-2009, 08:57 AM	#41
lurchlarson Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Oregon, USA Photos: Albums Posts: 681	1. Picking up my camera bag as I leave for a week long trip, thinking my camera is in there but it's not. 2. Forgetting it on ISO 800-1600 from previous nights evening shots. 3. Not bringing batteries. 4. Dropping my lens as I'm changing it (luckily that's only ever happend on carpet and no harm was done). 5. Going on a photo-trip and realizing halfway through that i've been shooting jpeg when I was meaning to shoot RAW.

07-13-2009, 12:03 PM	#42
quantum Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Photos: Gallery Posts: 53	1. Forget the camera in m mode after a night shot (gues how many 100 white pictures I get until I start to review them) 2. Not bringing backup card while the current one is allmost ful 3. Other stuff but I dont want to admit it

07-15-2009, 04:44 PM	#43
Martytoof New Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Hamilton, Ontario Posts: 14	Not checking +/- EV. Shooting half a day at -2EV on my Canon despite the camera clearly displaying the EV bar in the viewfinder Boy was I kicking myself for that one. Messed up all the good shots in ideal lighting conditions, had to go back and redo them in much harsher light.

07-15-2009, 05:34 PM	#44
Duck Dodgers Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: in the 24½th Century! Photos: Gallery Posts: 439	Originally posted by ismaelg 3 - NOT turning off the timer and try to shoot a moving object DUH! Huh. Did that today.

07-15-2009, 06:34 PM	#45
gfmucci Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: The Villages, FL Posts: 70 Original Poster	Originally posted by benjikan From a Pro...How about this week when shooting for two days I overwrote the clothing change I had just shot before by the one I had just done. Had to re-shoot the clothing change...What an IDIOT!!! What kind of setting/camera allows you to overwrite a file? I need to know this so I, too, can do this in the future!