Reality check
Tonight I lived out a photographer’s worst nightmare…...well at least one of them.
I shot an 8 hour wedding, feeling as though I was really on top of my game and getting some shots I was really happy with. The day was very long, and I was a little distracted by my babysitting arrangements breaking down, necessitating my poor 10 year old son having to join me for the last 3 hours of the evening. He was great, but from the moment he arrived I had my mind split in two to make sure he was ok.
On my way home I had to pick up my youngest daughter from a friends place, then go to the petrol station for milk, then home.
To my horror, when I pulled out my cards out of my specially designated card pocket, instead of finding 5 of them, there were 4….......heart attack territory!!
My mind raced, it was dark when I left the wedding venue, dark when I picked up my daughter, dark when I went to the petrol station. At $120 per card, anyone could have seen it, picked it up and formatted it for their own use…the thought was sickening!
I couldn’t jump back in the car and go and find it, I’d already tucked the kids into bed and couldn’t possibly leave them on their own, so had to start finding phone numbers and calling every place I’d been.
300 photos, gone – and not knowing which ones I’d lost was even worse.
Luckily, half an hour later, I was informed that the groom had found the card, and its waiting for me at reception for me to collect in the morning. But a MASSIVE wake up call for me, never to trust my pockets, which is where I’d put it. May it be a lesson for us all – it really does happen, I was just lucky!!
Caroline Gorka
Oh blimey…as a wedding photographer…I’m sitting here having palpatations!!!!!
Trish O'Brien replied
I’m so glad you get it Caroline – I nearly died when I realised it…....whatever you do, DON’T use your pockets!!!! Phew…..
Caroline Gorka
I’m a psychiatric nurse too ..
I have two fears ..losing a patient, and losing a card !
Pockets suck !
Trish O'Brien replied
lol, luckily I didn’t kill anyone ;-)
Garth Smith
Alls well that ends well Trish, nothing like a bit of adrenalin to put a spark in the day. :-)
Trish O'Brien replied
True. And it gets all you guys to chat with me :-)
Matthew Dawkins
Heart attack. Fortunately I don’t do weddings. But holy cow. Someone was looking out for you.
Trish O'Brien replied
They sure must have been…...I can’t imagine what I would have done had i not found it…...er, sorry guys, you know that hour that we spent getting those irreplaceable portraits down on the beach, oh and your first married kiss?......
David Hibberd
Very lucky! That aweful feeling is so intense, I don’t want to experiance it ever again. I find after that sort of situation I am ill for days. Good luck to you Trish.
Trish O'Brien replied
Oh dear Davo, has it happened to you?
Enivea
Your story almost got me sweating….very glad it’s had a happy ending – phew!
Trish O'Brien replied
Thanks Enivea – me too!!!!
Caroline Gorka
Haha !! Not dying …running off…going AWOL …the paperwork is HORRENDOUS !
Trish O'Brien replied
ROFLMAO. No, it would be ME running off in that case. I should put something in my contract about insanity, that way if I lose a card, I just went crazy :-)
Jordan Busson
thank goodness that all turned out for the best!
Trish O'Brien replied
I’m a very lucky girl!
Mudsoldat
man…after everything..then this!! who needs it hey??? have you gathered yourself yet Trish???
Trish O'Brien replied
lol, yeah, I’m fine MS, it was just a nasty shock for about an hour or so, but all solved – picking it up this morning :-)
monaiman
Thanks god things turned out fine.. surely someone was watching over you
Trish O'Brien replied
You’re right there Mona, I certainly do seem to have someone watching over me….and testing me a little along the way ;-)
danielklaas
Wow. Lucky. Very Lucky. I had a card corrupt recently (no idea why. something weird happened). Lost some shots that meant a lot to me. Have tried to recover them. Zip. I think a part of photography, is that at some point, we are going to lose work. Thankfully it wasn’t this time for you.
x
Trish O'Brien replied
Ouch, that sounds awful Dan – I’ve heard that cards can suddenly go. I can’t bear the idea of losing a card full of images to card corruption – what on earth are we supposed to do if that happens during a wedding? erghh!
Bob Wickham
Happy you found your card. It’s a shocking feeling when you realise something’s missing, but it’s a wonderful feeling when you find it again. Whether that be cards … or sanity.
Trish O'Brien replied
lol. The sanity may be a way off yet for me Bob, but the card is waiting at the venue for me to pick up :-)
PETER CULLEY
Firstly glad to hear this had a happy ending!
Like others here I was reliving your anxiety… Seems a common bond or is that fear? Two things I learned even in days of shooting 20 or more rolls of film on location… Once out of the camera it is treated like live ammunition, same discipline as handling a firearm. Despite location chaos etc nothing breaks that chain of discipline. One place it goes, one place only. That place is unbreakable, defies gravity and environement, small children and any chaos that Murphy will ensure happens when you can least afford it.
Second… Always use quality cards and treat them as ‘fragile’. I always back my card immediately to hardrive upon return and double check the images are all there before deleting and reformatiing. I then immediately check the card in the camera to see it is all set to go for next time. (Nothing worse than getting read to shoot and seeing CARD FULL!
Trish O'Brien replied
Hi Peter
I completely agree, discipline is the only way. I normally have one place that I put all cards religiously, but with my son there and the chaos of that particular wedding I slipped up. Today I had to shoot 2 hours of a skydiving festival on 2 hours sleep, then a 5 hour wedding, then another 2 hours of skydiving, then a breast cancer womens function – all day I was terrified I would slip up, but I have 6 cards, all accounted for, none of them accidentally deleted – the risk of even that happening are so high with so much on!!!