rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Considering the self absorbed people I know, selfish is probably more appropriate.
--Bob

Solo1805 Loc: Indianapolis

Funny stories! I really laughed at "selfish". That's what I'm calling them from now on!

Tracy B. Loc: Indiana

ggttc Loc: TN

Our son and his wife Rachael went to China on their honeymoon. We gave them an sx50 and about 10 minutes worth of instruction,because they had no experience taking photos except with their phones.

When they got back they brought the camera back and we downloaded the pictures. While reviewing them every single one was crooked...after looking at about 30 of them Rachael stood up and asked, "is one of my legs shorter than the other?"

So from then, on when a picture is crooked...its called a "Rachael".

ncshutterbug

My dear neighbor passed away a couple of years ago. He and his wife were very "country" people and the nicest couple you would ever know. When visiting with his sweet wife after his death she brought out a couple of 50's and 60's cameras and presented them to me. She said she thought her husband would want me to have them since I am a "retographer". I had photographed thier two beloved dogs and several other things for them in the past. Such a sweet and thoughtful gesture.

TomC. Loc: Bel Air, MD

robbiedoug Loc: Cuero, Texas

This may sound humorous to some, but it was quite disasterous at the time. While photographing a wedding in a neighboring town we had a small misfortune at the reception afterwards. Just as I was about to shoot the wedding cake scene, with bride and groom starting to cut the cake, the legs at one end of the table decided to collapse and the cake just slid right down and landed on the floor. It was such a mess that they didn't even try eating any of it.

SoftLights Loc: New Orleans, LA

My wife and I moved in with my father in law when he could no longer take care of himself. I was working on some pictures one night and he walked over and became very curious and a little confused at the digital process. I told him to put on a nice shirt and a sport coat and let me take a few pictures of him. He was really amazed at how fast the images loaded onto my laptop, I was shooting tethered, but what really fascinated him was when I started working on them in PS. He was 87 at the time and after shaving 40 years off by returning his hair to it's natural dark color, whitening his teeth, smoothing some wrinkles and brightening his eyes he said "damn, I still look pretty good don't I". I smiled and said, yes you do Pops. After this he was seldom seen without a nice shirt and sport coat flashing that big, friendly smile.

Smudgey Loc: Ohio, Calif, Now Arizona

I didn't marry her, I wanted to, but she married and divorced one of my best friends. One of her best girlfriends told me just a few months ago that she was told by my ex girlfriend that the worst mistake that she ever made, was not marrying me. The girl that I married was a wonderful woman. We were married for 47 years, three wonderful kids, four grand kids, one great grandson, and another on the way, my wife is gone now and I do miss her.

drivered Loc: Capital District, NY

Great interesting story's

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I have another one.

In the '70s the Navy had me and my crew fly a P-3 Orion to a village in south Iran. Americans may not have ever visited there. Like all the Navy pilots, I had a new Nikon because they sold in the Exchange at about a third of the US price.

We'd been taught not to point our cameras at people in Iran. Photography magazine had an ad for a lens hood with a mirror in it. I bought one for my 135mm Nikkor. The effect was that you were shooting sideways and could get true candids. I was sitting on a bench and busy trying to get portraits of people to my left. It never occurred to me that the lens was actually pointing across the street. A couple of Iranians clearly saw my camera pointing at them and I was stealing their souls! When I took my eye out of the viewfinder, I saw these two angry men coming at me with their fists waving. It made no sense to try and explain that I had a mirror mounted so I could steal different souls. Putting a cap on the lens, the camera over my shoulder and apologies in a language not understood defused the confrontation. It was my first lesson learned about being a photographer in another person's culture.

The people to my left did not know I was taking their pictures but were very interested in what was going to happen as I got caught. I got out my old Kodachromes not long ago, found the shots and scanned them. Unfortunately, focus is not quite there. Auto focus had not been invented yet.

It may be that it is unethical to share the pictures hidden in my archives for almost 50 years, but what the heck!

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John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Did you compliment them for having such good scissors!

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

This is a great subject. Latter might we have one on 'photography snafus and fubars. As a take off of a sign in a barbershop might we have a thread on 'I once gave up photography, it was the most terrifying weekend of my life.'

CatMarley Loc: North Carolina

My husband and I were in Yellowstone, and I spied a few bison in a meadow with a convenient path to the left side of it leading to a grove of trees. So I took my tripod, my FM and my 500 mirror and hiked up the 100 yards to the trees, leaving Hubby with the Suburban. I set up my gear, only to find the camera's mirror was jammed, so I took off the lens held it between my knees, while I unjammed the mirror. At that very moment, I felt a hot breath in my left ear. I turned my head and came face to face with a very large black nose inches from mine. A group of batchelor male Bison had snuck up on me and were curiously sniffing me. What do you do with a 500 mm lens between your knees, a camera on a tripod in your hands, a group of curious adult Bison within inches, and by now a slightly alarmed bison stamping and swishing his tail in a field about 30 yards away? Not to mention a husband who is now waving an alarm about the animal in the field, but who knows nothing about the bovine spectators hidden in the trees behind me!

Actually, all went well. I talked to my big friends, telling them I was leaving just as soon as I could reassemble my gear, I simply packed up everything and walked slowly to the car. My spectators just watched me. They were obviously not in an aggressive mood and were used to seeing people, but I have heard stories about serious problems with Bison. The curious thing was that I really was not frightened after the initial surprise of that VERY big nose in my ear, and I still do not know why.

dandi Loc: near Seattle, WA

Another good story with interesting pictures !