What is the worst?

TLTownsend · Sep 30, 2007

Danger you have been or injury have received while taking Photos.

For me I was out shooting shots of Gators and this one Gator was out of water getting some sun. So I decided to take advantage of the moment. Now the Gators I shoot are in a state park but there are no fences and they are free to roam as they please. So you can if you wish get up close and personal with them. They are not tame nor is it recommended to do it. In fact the game wardens get really upset if ya do.

Anyway back to the story. After taking several shots of this gator he/she decided to cross the road and head back to the lake. So I followed I was staying about 4ft away as we headed back toward the lake. The gator had decided he/she had enough of me tagging along and just before we got to the water the gator raised up and turned straight toward me and charged. Not as fast as it good have but enough to make me know I was no longer a welcomed guest. The gator then quietly headed toward the lake and I decided to move on in search of heron and egrets. Something a little more non aggressive.

The worst injury I ever got was trying to take a macro shot of a mushroom. Laying on the ground in a bed of mulch to get the shot and having no idea that under the bed of mulch was some insect that have a real bad dislike and hunger for things had a home. Only laying there for few minutes I began to feel something crawling on me and then a whole lot of pain. These demons tore into me like crazy. My left arm felt like someone stuck a whole bunch of needles in it. These little buggers called Fire Ants now have me checking every spot a ground near me before ever sitting of laying on it. Took a few weeks before all the little blisters and pain to go away. Did learn a healthy respect for them little guys though.

Peanuts · Sep 30, 2007

Ah fire ants, I can completely relate on that note. When I was 5 I went with my family to Peru and I can recall the incidence (not exactly how it happend but man do I have vivid recollection once I was in the bind) where I just stood there frozen as a colony of ants (I was literally right on top of their nest) starting swarming up my legs and all I could do was scream bloody murder - as two people came and started swatting at my legs - crumb that hurt!

In any case for your question, I can't really recall being 'hurt' while photographing anything. I have half submerged my foot in a frozen lake but nothing too exciting

chris_arnet · Sep 30, 2007

mine is bug related also. bees. oh how i hate bees. you know how they have those little boxes where they keep bees in to make honey? i got the guy to open it up so i could take some macro shots right? but i INSISTED on not wearing the gloves (they were to clumsy), and the hood (couldnt see the veiwfinder well. so when the flew out... guess where they stung? that sucked.

Garbz · Sep 30, 2007

I was on the side of a cliff and there was a tree in the way of a potentially good shot. To get around it I asked my bilayer (spelling?) to give me some slack on the rope and transversed sideways. When I got clear of the tree I took a shot (shot was crap). At this point the rope was bent around a rock and sideways, which is a big no no, and an even bigger no no if you slip while putting the camera back around your neck. I fell 5-6m spinning, and swung across. No head injuries but the camera received a nasty scratch and I had some nasty bruises and grazes on my arm and leg for the week to come. Oh and I was injured enough that we gave up climbing that day.

craig · Oct 1, 2007

Getting hit in the face by a street person. Being pushed around by a group of Brooklyn "locals". Come to think of it I been pushed around many times while taking photos. Generally not painful, but talk about scared...

Love & Bass

skieur · Oct 4, 2007

At the age of 12, I was on the very edge of a canyon shooting when I dropped my lens. I caught it but almost went over the edge in the process. Also at a very young age, I learned to sink into the background when my mother and I were shooting bears from about 10 feet in the wild. I was hanging out of an open cockpit airplane without a parachute taking photos when the pilot tilted the airplane well over and asked me whether I could see the airport. I just barely avoided flying without the plane. One assignment I had was to climb over a barb wire fence to take photos in a wrecking yard. Got over the fence only to discover some rather large unfriendly guard dogs...oops! At a much, older but not necessarily wiser age I went out on skis carrying camera equipment in minus 20 with a minus 40 windchill factor. I promptly got lost. After 5 hours, I got to a highway to discover that I was 7 miles from where I started out. Another 2 hours or so, and I got back.

Despite all these kinds of adventures, my only injury was at a school when a very heavy television tripod came down on my foot and broke it.

skieur

JIP · Oct 4, 2007

I had recieved a field pass to photograph a Pittsburgh Steeler game. Not knowing alot about where to stand while shooting I found a spot right near the bench that looked like a good spot to get a great shot. I was stanting there with all of my 6'4 275 and I suddenly went flying foreward like a rag doll. I felt like a bus had hit me and I turned around and found out that yes, I was hit by a bus. Jerome Bettis apparently wanted the exact spot that I was standing in and was apparently not in the mood to ask politely for me to move.