A few years ago, doing some work in Manchester Cathedral, I had my camera on a tripod, with a wide angle lens attached – I was behind the main altar, with one tripod leg on the top step, and the other two on the step below. It was a long exposure, and I was using a wired trigger, attached to the camera.
I took the photograph, and then stepped back, forgetting that I was one step up – as I fell backwards, my arms flailed out sideways, and I didn’t let go of the trigger.
I watched, as in slow motion, the camera, atop the tripod slowly fell over to my left. The crash as it all hit the marble flooring resounded round an otherwise quiet and peaceful place…. The camera hit the floor, and the lens sheared off it – one part staying attached to the body, the other rolling across the floor and under a nearby table…. The door covering the memory card came off completely – the main body cracked, and all sorts of interesting electronics came into view, that I had no idea existed, never mind wanted to see.
So distraught was I, that I sat and tried to put the two halves of the lens back together. Utter madness with hindsight.
I managed to fit the card door back on – reinserted the battery, and put a different lens on – amazingly – the camera actually worked, though non of the buttons would do anything.
I took a few more shots out of curiosity more than anything and left….
On the way home I dropped the lot into Calumet photographic, and they sent the lot off to Canon for repair or disposal, whichever. Amazingly, after a few weeks, it was all returned to me in full working order.
Then, only a month or so ago, I had a major email catastrophe – self inflicted of course – I was sending my laptop off to have a new battery fitted, and so deleted all of the emails on there – forgetting completely that it was synced to the server. It wiped everything clean, and when I turned on my main machine, I watched in horror as all the emails fell off the screen. Operator error………
Why am I telling you this? ……. well, it reminds me that as photographers we are totally reliant on technology. We remember to take with us spares of all sorts of things that we think might fail when we are out and about. Always I have spare batteries, memory cards, and at least one other lens (just in case). After all, if our technology fails in the field, we are bereft, there is nothing we can do – I don’t know anyone who can repair a digital camera, or computer outside a specialist shop.
I even know someone who carries a spare tripod in the car….. just in case a leg fails on the one he uses most.
A friend I go out with sometimes, was upset the other week that he’d got to the venue only to discover that there was no card in the camera….. I was able to assist – I had a spare… well what a shock…..
Photographic Musings......... Or 