E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

I am not a nervous guy but looking back over 50 years in wedding photography, vis-à-vis WEDDINGS, I lived in a continual state of paranoia. Things like lost film, lab accidents, camera, and flash malfunctions, X-Rays at the airport on destination weddings, "pilot error" (me screwing something up) all loomed overhead like an albatross over a doomed ship- and I always took precautions, spare gear, etc. I had some close calls and near misses but I survived. I can write a book!

Back in the 4x5 sheet film days, I head a funny noise when I advanced my Graphmtic film holder- a sheet of film popped out of the septum and lodged in the bellows. Theses were not SLRs- the had optical or wire viewfinders and rangefinders. Good thing I opened the back and checked out the funny noise.

Tavern on the Green in New York City 1967. I just came out of the service and this was my second wedding after returning home. As I was working the dance floor at the reception, I noticed one of the kitchen staff poking around in my camera case- he removed a pro-pack- 5 rolls of EXPOSED 220- 100- shots of the bride prepping, formals, ceremony, etc. I rushed into the kitchen, threatened the guy's life and retrieved the film. Called over the manager- called the cops- mad as hell! So..Ludacres- I survived Vietnam without PTSD and almost had a heart attack, a stroke, and a nervous breakdown- all at the same time and nearly committed homicide- at a wedding. Ever since then I would have extra-large pockets custom made in my suits to keep the film on my person at all times. I just had to remember NOT to send the film to the dry cleaners!

Nowadays, I do the same thing with cards but I am still paranoid. I imagine that I will unknowingly walk through an electromagnet field and erase all the cards! I know that is ridiculous and I was just starting to calm down and NOW I READ THIS THREAD. I can live with things going south but if I don't know WHY- I hate when that happens!

My all-time favorite teacher was Monti Zucker- King of the Weddings Photographers. At one of his seminars, we were discussing all of the potential malfunctions and "disasters" that bring about nightmares, paranoia, and lawsuits. One of the students asked Monte if HE had ever experienced such a debacle and he responded "yes". Seems his flash was out of synch (set for M instead of X) for part of the job and when he discovers it- it was too late. The student then asked, "what did you tell the bride". He called the bride and said, "your proofs are ready and you have some absolutely lovely wedding photographs, just not very many of them". They went back and restaged the ceremony and re-shot the formals. Tux rentals, gown cleaning, hair and makeup and flowers, ALL at the photographer's expense.

Of course, I was a wiseguy and had all my synch switches screwed down. After I heard that story, I took all my lenses and shutters to the repair guy and had the M-dealy removed- I didn't use flashbulbs. It's like a crazy guy having his perfectly healthy appendix out so he never has to suffer appendicitis.

I'm still paranoid- so I load all my cards to a laptop before leaving the venue- actually I have an assistant do it as we progress. I still keep the cards intact 'till the job is delivered.

Back in the day, a malfunction could be traced back to simple mechanical and electrical issues. I could maintain my own gear or bring it to a local repair guy. I could even fix certain things in my own car. Nowadays, Ii pop the hood and the engine compartment looks like something out of Brookhaven National Laboratories and the innard of my cameras microscopic versions of that. Then, when it gets old, your $10,000 camera expires like a container of milk gone bad- go figure- just lie old wedding photographers!

ndiguy

The other day I had my card out of nikon z7 and not thinking took three quick photos of grandson. Computed the last one sms looked good, then I noticed at the top of the back screen it said demo mode. I can't find tyke pictures anywhere. Maybe the card was not in the camera as you thought?

ndiguy

So should have said I chimped the last image and it looked good.

RLSprouse Loc: Encinitas CA (near Sandy Eggo)

I loved this reference (and your presentation. Nicely written.)! I was not familiar with it, but I loved the story behind it... Or at least the Wiki article condensed digest version.

Your reasoning on the missing files seems sound. The file numbering aspect is most puzzling. It just seems the camera never actually captured the image. Scary to think the file numbering scheme could have malfunctioned. Myself, I would assume pilot error, and watch myself closely for a while. If it happens again, maybe you could capture more forensic evidence or simply have an AHA moment.

If I was in the business, I'd send it straight to the shop. Best of luck!

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Although I only shot a few dozen (film) weddings, I can relate - weddings make me super paranoid, which is why I don’t do them anymore. My worse screw up was forgetting to rotate the back of my RB67 back to horizontal (landscape) from vertical when doing groups during the formals - took the top of everybody’s head off. What saved my ass is that I always used 2 cameras to shoot the formals, and although my backup 35mm didn’t have the nice 6x7 negatives of my MF, it saved my bacon that day.

Boone Loc: Groundhog Town USA

[quote=pbphoto]I will pre-empt this post with a brief summary - I am a professional wedding photographer of 20+ years


I am a professional portrait photographer and I have used Transcend card for many years. There are 2 card slots in my Nikon D750. Use one for a backup. I have never had a card fail. But..."NEVER SAY NEVER"! With all that I have read about your issue today, I am inclined to believe it is a case of: "PILOT ERROR". Understanding you being a professional, sometimes even professionals make mistakes! I have done many weddings in my younger days..."And I know how stressful it is"!!! I hope that it was the cards fault, and not your cameras fault. That's a less expensive item, but not much of a consolation, or an answer.

I hope you figure it out and let us know what the problem was. I do feel your frustration.

Don't be so hard on yourself, I'm sure you will come up with the answer. Good luck to you! And please let us know what you find out, because I too use this card.

Thanks,
Boone.

James Pepoon

Did you shoot the group pictures only with the same camera body. Definitely could be a defective flash card as you suggest or camera body. Did you shoot other photos with that same camera body. How did they come out? Try looking for the group photos in a different file. Good luck!

CaliforniaDreamer

Is it possible that the camera set to shoot even through there was no card in the camera? If so a defect in the card or the camera could have made the card undetectable for a period of time. This would fit the result that you have.

Photocraig

And I thought chimping was bad. I'm glad you checked each shot, and hope you solve this. I'm having difficulty grasping how only this sequence of what was, I'm sure, many shots are missing from the middle of a card. I think E.L.'s onto something. My guess is that, for whatever reason unremembered by you, you have a missing card, hopefully with these photos on it.

I just reviewed my nephew's 21st anniversary of his wedding shots, including close relatives who are no longer with us. These more than document the happy day, they capture smiling images of cherished loved ones NOT in White or a Tux. Best of luck to you and your clients.
C

aikiboy

Might not help, but have your tried using recovery software?

Argus

I've had this happen with thumbnails showing but no final full size photo. If you are removing the cards and connecting them to your computer and having this issue try putting the cards back in the camera and connect the camera to your computer. This way you can see the file numbers in order and then try to transfer them one by one if they survived. This happened about a year ago and to me on a Nikon D300s and once connected I saw all my files. Don't know if it will work for Canon but it's worth a try.

johngault007 Loc: Florida Panhandle

You can click Sort -> Filename and get the same results using a card reader.

tinwhistle

This is probably not the issue, but it may be worth a thought. Your Canon cameras can, via a setting in the menu, be set up to write images onto different and separate folders on the card. In the heat of the battle, i.e. a wedding shoot, strange things happen.

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

Glad I bought the RZ, it had auto masking in the view-finder, when the back was rotated.

David Taylor

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