Kindness of Fellow Photographer: It was July 4th and I was gathering my family to attend a Fourth of July Show and Display which was scheduled to start at 4PM and last to the fireworks...

LEGALDR Loc: Southern California

It was July 4th and I was gathering my family to attend a Fourth of July Show and Display which was scheduled to start at 4PM and last to the fireworks finale from 9 to 9:30 pm. The picnic banquet was prepared. Now to load the bottled water, iced tea, cold cans of soda into the cooler, get the folding chairs out of the garage, blankets, potato chips, tripod, camera, suntan lotion, umbrella......got it all loaded. Drove to the site and got the car parked and loaded all of the stuff on the kids, wife and me. Walk to the area and staked out our claim. All unloaded, umbrella up. Plopped down into the chair. Girls started unpacking the food, I reached for my camera and tripod. Set up the tripod, took the cap off of the lens, hit the on switch.................ahhhh.....no live view. I know that the batteries are charged. I should be ready to go. Hit the button, nothing, zip! I then inspected the camera. HMMM, the memory card door is open and...gulp....no card! A quick check of the pockets, nothing, a little lint but no memory cards. I sat back to reflect on how stupid I feel. Five hours to go and too far to go home and get a card. A great shooting afternoon and a fireworks show, all to be remembered but not photographed. What to do, What to do???? I walked around the area and spotted a fellow with a camera. Do I dare embarrass myself and explain my predicament to him? Should I ask him if he has a spare card and will he sell it to me? I decide that it will be better to embarrass myself and shoot some shots rather than sit in my chair staring at a hunk of camera. I approach and introduce myself to him. His family smiles and understands my feelings. He reached into his pack and brings out a card holder, pulls out a large capacity, high quality card and gives it to me, a total stranger. I offer to buy it and he refuses. He does not ask where I live but he gives me his card. I assure him that I will return the card. This morning I mailed a package to him with my humble thanks. My gosh, photographers are a grand lot.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

LEGALDR wrote:

It was July 4th and I was gathering my family to attend a Fourth of July Show and Display which was scheduled to start at 4PM and last to the fireworks finale from 9 to 9:30 pm. The picnic banquet was prepared. Now to load the bottled water, iced tea, cold cans of soda into the cooler, get the folding chairs out of the garage, blankets, potato chips, tripod, camera, suntan lotion, umbrella......got it all loaded. Drove to the site and got the car parked and loaded all of the stuff on the kids, wife and me. Walk to the area and staked out our claim. All unloaded, umbrella up. Plopped down into the chair. Girls started unpacking the food, I reached for my camera and tripod. Set up the tripod, took the cap off of the lens, hit the on switch.................ahhhh.....no live view. I know that the batteries are charged. I should be ready to go. Hit the button, nothing, zip! I then inspected the camera. HMMM, the memory card door is open and...gulp....no card! A quick check of the pockets, nothing, a little lint but no memory cards. I sat back to reflect on how stupid I feel. Five hours to go and too far to go home and get a card. A great shooting afternoon and a fireworks show, all to be remembered but not photographed. What to do, What to do???? I walked around the area and spotted a fellow with a camera. Do I dare embarrass myself and explain my predicament to him? Should I ask him if he has a spare card and will he sell it to me? I decide that it will be better to embarrass myself and shoot some shots rather than sit in my chair staring at a hunk of camera. I approach and introduce myself to him. His family smiles and understands my feelings. He reached into his pack and brings out a card holder, pulls out a large capacity, high quality card and gives it to me, a total stranger. I offer to buy it and he refuses. He does not ask where I live but he gives me his card. I assure him that I will return the card. This morning I mailed a package to him with my humble thanks. My gosh, photographers are a grand lot.

It was July 4th and I was gathering my family to a... (show quote)

Yes, most photographers are nice people.

blue-ultra Loc: New Hampshire

Excellent story. that man knew how it felt to not be able to capture the event. Basically he put himself in your shoes... Love humanity...

Bob

alliebess Loc: suburban Philadelphia

Yes, I agree that photographers are nice people. Some years back I was shooting an event at work and my batteries died. A kind professional offered to share his extras with me!

Lemon Drop Kid Loc: Greeley, CO

Yes, we are pretty nice folks, but try not to forget your camera.

northsidejoe Loc: pittsburgh

Very nice story thanks for sharing saying hello from Pittsburgh.

judy 2011 Loc: Northern Utah

Great story!
And gives me food for thought. Maybe I will keep a spare card on me in case someone needs one.
We keep two in the glove box for whoopies. (They have come in handy....)

LEGALDR Loc: Southern California

judy 2011 wrote:

Great story!
And gives me food for thought. Maybe I will keep a spare card on me in case someone needs one.
We keep two in the glove box for whoopies. (They have come in handy....)

Thank you. I just bought a dozen 36gb cards. My 4th of July resolution is to not be more than 6 feet from an SDHC card. I'm putting one on my night stand, and the glove compartments (several cars). I am preparing a checklist just like a pilot before takeoff.

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

LEGALDR wrote:

It was July 4th and I was gathering my family to attend a Fourth of July Show and Display which was scheduled to start at 4PM and last to the fireworks finale from 9 to 9:30 pm. The picnic banquet was prepared. Now to load the bottled water, iced tea, cold cans of soda into the cooler, get the folding chairs out of the garage, blankets, potato chips, tripod, camera, suntan lotion, umbrella......got it all loaded. Drove to the site and got the car parked and loaded all of the stuff on the kids, wife and me. Walk to the area and staked out our claim. All unloaded, umbrella up. Plopped down into the chair. Girls started unpacking the food, I reached for my camera and tripod. Set up the tripod, took the cap off of the lens, hit the on switch.................ahhhh.....no live view. I know that the batteries are charged. I should be ready to go. Hit the button, nothing, zip! I then inspected the camera. HMMM, the memory card door is open and...gulp....no card! A quick check of the pockets, nothing, a little lint but no memory cards. I sat back to reflect on how stupid I feel. Five hours to go and too far to go home and get a card. A great shooting afternoon and a fireworks show, all to be remembered but not photographed. What to do, What to do???? I walked around the area and spotted a fellow with a camera. Do I dare embarrass myself and explain my predicament to him? Should I ask him if he has a spare card and will he sell it to me? I decide that it will be better to embarrass myself and shoot some shots rather than sit in my chair staring at a hunk of camera. I approach and introduce myself to him. His family smiles and understands my feelings. He reached into his pack and brings out a card holder, pulls out a large capacity, high quality card and gives it to me, a total stranger. I offer to buy it and he refuses. He does not ask where I live but he gives me his card. I assure him that I will return the card. This morning I mailed a package to him with my humble thanks. My gosh, photographers are a grand lot.

It was July 4th and I was gathering my family to a... (show quote)

Thanx for adding your saga to the holiday festivities. Sounds as though you ran into someone a lot like yourself. Also sounds as though you will never be without at least an extra memory card. How about sharing what you put on the card.

LEGALDR Loc: Southern California

davidrb wrote:

Thanx for adding your saga to the holiday festivities. Sounds as though you ran into someone a lot like yourself. Also sounds as though you will never be without at least an extra memory card. How about sharing what you put on the card.

I have placed a memory card in every place that I can think of to avoid not having a card when I need one. I have attached some of the shots I took.

Military Reservation = Everything in formation

Louie the Lens (really!) my benefactor.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

Very nice story and I love the first fire works shot!!!!

Haydon

Great story. I would have slipped him an extra memory card for his kindness.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

I imagine we have all been in that spot and can relate!

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

LEGALDR wrote:

It was July 4th and I was gathering my family to attend a Fourth of July Show and Display which was scheduled to start at 4PM and last to the fireworks finale from 9 to 9:30 pm. The picnic banquet was prepared. Now to load the bottled water, iced tea, cold cans of soda into the cooler, get the folding chairs out of the garage, blankets, potato chips, tripod, camera, suntan lotion, umbrella......got it all loaded. Drove to the site and got the car parked and loaded all of the stuff on the kids, wife and me. Walk to the area and staked out our claim. All unloaded, umbrella up. Plopped down into the chair. Girls started unpacking the food, I reached for my camera and tripod. Set up the tripod, took the cap off of the lens, hit the on switch.................ahhhh.....no live view. I know that the batteries are charged. I should be ready to go. Hit the button, nothing, zip! I then inspected the camera. HMMM, the memory card door is open and...gulp....no card! A quick check of the pockets, nothing, a little lint but no memory cards. I sat back to reflect on how stupid I feel. Five hours to go and too far to go home and get a card. A great shooting afternoon and a fireworks show, all to be remembered but not photographed. What to do, What to do???? I walked around the area and spotted a fellow with a camera. Do I dare embarrass myself and explain my predicament to him? Should I ask him if he has a spare card and will he sell it to me? I decide that it will be better to embarrass myself and shoot some shots rather than sit in my chair staring at a hunk of camera. I approach and introduce myself to him. His family smiles and understands my feelings. He reached into his pack and brings out a card holder, pulls out a large capacity, high quality card and gives it to me, a total stranger. I offer to buy it and he refuses. He does not ask where I live but he gives me his card. I assure him that I will return the card. This morning I mailed a package to him with my humble thanks. My gosh, photographers are a grand lot.

It was July 4th and I was gathering my family to a... (show quote)

Great story! And I know how it feels to discover something important for shooting is missing. Like the battery that is in the charger at home and did not bring a spare... But I also know how good it feels to be able to help another photographer who is missing something or runs out of room on their [only] memory card!

MichaelL

Thank you for sharing.