Silly Mistakes In Photography.

[SquarePeg]

Forgot to reformat the cards before starting to shoot. After about 50 shots card is full. No back ups. Can’t format now! Have to delete individually. Ugh.

 

[Overread]

Not as much a mistake, but a moment of panic over something stupid.
Was taking some shots in studio, about an hour in all of a sudden the camera stops firing. I look at the back everything is black.... That's odd... Power it off and then back on again.. Still nothing. Like there was no power. I figure I must have not charged the batteries (Although pretty sure I had)
I only have 2 of the canon batteries (both already in the grip) but have a second tray for AA batteries, so pull that out of the bottom of the bag, pop in 4 new batteries, pop the tray in... still no power.... At this point I'm slightly freaking out. I have a backup camera, but there is a big difference in them and dont want to just give up. Figure I'll try running without the grip and try one Canon battery at a time maybe one is good....
As I'm about to remove the grip, I notice it is slightly unscrewed. (2-3 millimeter gap) . Screw it tight again, pop in canon battery tray and power on... voila. Heart starts beating again. 1st time that ever happened in 2-3 years of using it. Model and I had a good laugh.

My 400D has a neat trick where when the batteries get really really low the camera will still let me keep taking photos. However if I use a lens with IS enabled then when I take the shot the combo of powering the sensor and the IS at the same time is too much. The camera dies with the shutter held open! Plus its such a crash it won't respond to any button presses, you have to take the battery out and put it back in to make it respond again (or ideally put a fresh battery in).

First time it happened it really worried me that something was wrong with the camera. It was later I realised how it was all working and failing.

 

[bulldurham]

My worst is setting up for a three shot bracket and forgetting to reset back to normal shooting. Unfortunately, if the bracket is fairly close you don't notice it until post...but after that, you never forget it again.

 

[K9Kirk]

I could be wrong but I think I know why Forrest Gump was so popular. I think we all have a little gump in us, hidden away and waiting to surprise us.

 

[CherylL]

Christmas week was busy taking photos in the basement where I had a backdrop. I moved the light & stand upstairs for family shots one day. Day 3 I moved the light and stand back downstairs and daughter was ready with her baby. Well the flash would not flash. I checked and triple checked it all. Swapped out the batteries and would not trigger. By then baby had to take a nap so I stopped trying for an hour. Came back fresh and the channel on the trigger had been changed. I think with all of the moving around I bumped it. Lesson learned and now is imprinted to check the channel.

 

[limr]

Is this only for digital goofs?

1. Thinking the camera is not loaded and opening up the back.
2. Forgetting that I'm shooting a rangefinder and leaving the lens cap on. Or the yellow filter. While shooting color film.
3. Shooting an entire roll before realizing that no, not every shot was already dead center in the exposure meter because that's what the meter does when the battery has died in my K1000.
4. Forgetting to change the exposure setting when changing to a new film.

Those last two only apply to cameras with a light meter, of course

 

[Derrel]

So far,I have made pretty much all of the above-listed blunders,except for a couple...probably only because I have no daughter,nor have I owned a K1000...

 

[DarkShadow]

Trying to shoot birds in flight in bulb mode and wondering whats wrong with the camera and with settings starring right in my face but still don't get it. it was like the brain went on a vacation and left the body behind. Another one i wont forget is driving 35 minutes one away trying to get somewhere early then realize the only battery i had was in the charger in the wall at home. I probably can come up with more but these have to be the dumbest mistakes i have made camera related.

 

[Barb King]

K9Kirk, The exact same thing happened to me last weekend! I had a great opportunity to take photos of an adorable passing dog, a rare breed and very large and beautiful. I set my settings just right and knelt down to get a low angle shot, and when I pressed the button, it didn't feel right. I had inadvertently turned on the timer, and all my shots occurred two seconds too late. The dog was gone, and the shots were all blurry. So frustrating! At least I know where to find that setting in a pinch now.

 

[DanOstergren]

I forget to take the lens cap off my camera at least twice every photo shoot. Fortunately I always realize as soon as I put my eye to the viewfinder, but not before hearing the model giggle and say to me "your lens cap is still on!". Oh, and I also often forget to turn my camera on before I try to start shooting. I'm a complete airhead, and not just sometimes.

 

[K9Kirk]

K9Kirk, The exact same thing happened to me last weekend! I had a great opportunity to take photos of an adorable passing dog, a rare breed and very large and beautiful. I set my settings just right and knelt down to get a low angle shot, and when I pressed the button, it didn't feel right. I had inadvertently turned on the timer, and all my shots occurred two seconds too late. The dog was gone, and the shots were all blurry. So frustrating! At least I know where to find that setting in a pinch now.

Ha! There's a button right on the back for it on my camera. I'm ready next time!

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Last month I was playing with my view camera. I framed the shot just right, read the light meter, set the aperture and shutter, loaded the 4x5 film carrier, then pressed the release. I was getting ready to move on when I noticed I had not remover the dark slide.

Yup, Photography was a way of making you feel like a mere mortal.

 

[otherprof]

More than once I have spent minutes trying to remove spots from an image that were actually on the monitor screen. Thank you; I feel better now.

 

[Tropicalmemories]

I'm sure I've made all of the above digital and film blunders - but my most common mistake is that I seem to suffer from 'Background Blindness'

 

[Winona]

I am constantly after my daughter to put the lens cap on. Had my new 400mm out this weekend. Took shots at home, then of kids at the ski center. Pull out camera...no lens cap or hood. Hood was on the front porch and cap on the entertainment center! Ugh! I used to use the string holder for lens caps but can’t with a hood. I’d forget my head if it wasn’t attached.

Stupid beginners stuff... I know how and why to adjust shutter speed, f-stop and ISO pretty good. I thought. Figured for skiing I would use 1/1000 because the week prior everything was blurry using sports mode. Couldn’t figure out why ISO was so high on a bright sunny day (TV mode). Duh! Too fast a shutter speed.

And the obvious others -no SD card, forgetting to switch back to IS coming off the tripod, etc. It is nice to here that even the more experienced have those “duh” moments.