The ol' Scarriest Moment Thread.

[chitownDSLR]

I would have crapped my pants! I don't like Knives,, I always think of that scene in Saving Private Ryan in the Tower and the Knife fight, Freaks me out thinking about it! Glad you were ok!

 

[chitownDSLR]

Essentially you are into fitness and photography :mrgreen:

That is not easy, and the time involved just hiking absorbs a large portion of the day. Especially if you have to get off that mountain before dark.

I am impressed. I am hiking small 2500-3200ft elevations that really are only about 1500-2000ft climbs.

1500- 2000 feet are still good climbs, I run half marathons and ride Mountain bikes alot, so the fitness side of it allows me to take pictures of areas that most don't go, As nice as that day was, Im not eager to go and hike it again soon! It was hard!

Ok back on topic, I want to see some of the war zone Photos!

 

[pbelarge]

Not really "scarriest", but I have taken thousands of work photos - of electrical installations.
Sometimes the electrician or the property owner may get aggitated and threaten me, although no one threw any punches.

One day I was photographing a job site and within 2 minutes I was surrounded by County and local police. I had wandered onto private property owned by NYC and was photographing sensitive stuff. I had to delete the files off of my camera.

I would show the shots, but...:mrgreen:

 

[Santa Gertrudis]

I used to live in Jackson.

We go to Jackson about every 2 years. I love it up there. I bet you can guess where my avatar pic was taken.

 

[craig]

Ahh yes... The Town Square arches. I try and visit once a year. I recently got back from a trip to Victor, ID. Strangely we never made it to Jackson.

Love & Bass

 

[Snyder]

Not really "scarriest", but I have taken thousands of work photos - of electrical installations.
Sometimes the electrician or the property owner may get aggitated and threaten me, although no one threw any punches.

One day I was photographing a job site and within 2 minutes I was surrounded by County and local police. I had wandered onto private property owned by NYC and was photographing sensitive stuff. I had to delete the files off of my camera.

I would show the shots, but...:mrgreen:

Well legally they cannot tell you to delete your photos but they will bully you until you give in. Unless whatever photos you took delt with national security which I doubt.

 

[Prometheus]

In late 2008 I was in a train yard in midtown with a local graffiti artist I'd gone to high school with scouting out a photoshoot. Suddenly we hear a HOOOONK and see a pin of light in the distance. Knowing the police would show up once the conductor saw us, we scrambled to get out of the yard quickly. It involved us running around cars, jumping up and running down 6 and 7 gondola-cars (flat-bed, low) at a time. Eventually we got around to the exit where I'd parked to see the train speeding toward us at a full, cross-country speed, not the typical train-yard crawl they normally do. My friend leaped across the last set of tracks and I followed, landed off, and tripped. As soon as I hit the ground the train flew behind where I'd just jumped.

I nearly had a heart attack, but it was that or get pinned in the yard by a train that'll take 2-4 minutes to pass, and by the time it does the police would have been waiting on the other side.

Thankfully I was just scouting and didn't have any equipment with me.

I've had several similar experiences in that same yard, so I don't go there anymore. Once was while running across a 50-foot-high trestle ... it was 4 tracks wide and about 200 feet long, but as soon as I heard the trademark HOOONK as the train approached the yard I channeled the energy of every Kenyan Olympian Sprinter from the last 20 years to get across that thing as fast as possible. It's tricky running along a wooden trestle with 1-foot gaps between the planks. It's easier when it's night and you can't really see the ground. And it's easiest when the train is doing its normal train-yard-crawl instead of speeding through it.

 

[Gabriel]

I was shooting a band in a run down neighborhood in Miami, and after midnight I go to my car that's out on a dark patch of gravel on the next street corner. This dude comes up out of nowhere to ask me for money. I had my shoulder bag with a bunch of equipment in it. I have the car door open and put the bag on the front seat, while telling him I don't have anything for him. At this point, he sees the sheathed 3" knife sticking out of the back of my pants.

Now he says how he's "not afraid of no knife," and keeps insisting on my giving him money. Being from Miami, I don't get intimidated by this crap, I get aggravated. So I took the knife in one hand, and put an arm around his neck - he was that close - in a not-so-friendly way. I tell him again I don't have a damn thing for him. The dude turned white as a ghost when he realized that I now had him in a position where I could stab him repeatedly and just leave him there to rot all night.

He backed off real fast and disappeared into the darkness again.

Surprisingly, the only other encounters I've had have been with snakes and alligators out in the Everglades, but nothing more than a hiss or a threatening death-roll in the water.

 

[craig]

Excellent story. I have been in that situation more then once. Not sure how to say this... If you are afraid of the streets they will swallow you whole. Key is to hold your own and form a relationship.

Love & Bass

 

[Iron Flatline]

A different kind of fear: I had one of my first big budget and production shoots last Tuesday - models, location, hair, make-up, catering, etc... I shoot fully manually to ensure that the images have consistency, but I use Auto Focus. About half way through the third session (of five sessions) I realized the lens was switched to MF... and I thought I had screwed up the first two sessions. <fearful_adrenaline_surge>

Wasn't a problem a big problem though... I must have bumped it when getting the camera back out the last time. The prior sessions were in focus. That, or f/8 saved my butt.

 

[Gabriel]

Excellent story. I have been in that situation more then once. Not sure how to say this... If you are afraid of the streets they will swallow you whole. Key is to hold your own and form a relationship.

Love & Bass

Absolutely. I spent at least several of my early years in rough places. There's a balance - don't be scared, just be alert, but don't shut out everyone either because they're not all hoodlums out to get you.

 

[Joves]

I dont think I have had a real scary photo moment. I have slid down grades in canyons getting to shots and, had my feet slip while dangling off of my rope getting shots. Ah but that is part of the fun.