Flying Egret

Friend Fred came back all hyped about his great day photographing Grebes dancing across the waters at our nearby Wildlife Refuge. "Great Stuff" was the enthusiastic comment used to describe his take on film. Grebes dancing right into the lens, across the front of him, away from him, backlit with sun dancing off the splashing water, and on and on and on. "Great Stuff" and a great day for him.

Then, he got the film back.

A nice newer pro model AF Camera with a 400mm lens he has used often to get good results. Trouble is, he was shooting with a brand new teleconverter. One he had never used before. Three rolls of film with images of Grebes dancing their hearts out. Good images, good lighting and nice composition.

Except, almost nothing on the rolls was either sharp or in focus. Three rolls of Provia F suitable only for the trash can. Not even Photoshop and sharpening filters would be any help with these photos.

Thus, Friend Fred follows the sure fire path to photo disappointment. Using brand new and/or untried gear on something important.

A simple test roll would have told him the autofocus with this combination wasn't doing well. It would have told him if the images would be sharp with the new addition. It would have given him practice in using more power for a subject that moves somewhat erratically. It would have prevented, or at least minimized, disappointment and failure.

To add insult to injury, Fred mail ordered the teleconverter & now must pay a small fortune to get it shipped back, IF the shop will take it. Seems he also held the darned thing for a month before using it for the first time. If you were the dealer, would you take it back? Or would you tell him to send it to the maker to have it checked under their warranty? Or, if it is Gray Market goods, would you look forward to sending it to Lower Slobovia and waiting and waiting... You get the picture.

Buddy Barry went on a trip, a long way from home. A trip that involved pretty much a full day riding airplanes to get to "Photo Nirvana", the location of 92.789 percent of the worlds finest photos. A place where wildlife throws itself in front of your lens and poses for calendar images. A place where God herself has signed an agreement with all creation to guarantee perfect settings, weather and animals for us fools to take pictures of. Trouble is, Buddy Barry went with the latest, greatest, brand new 'flavor of the month' film. One he had never used before. One with every recommendation known to humankind saying it was better than good.

Yep, you guessed it. Barry got back film that would make a throw away camera look good. Latest, Greatest unusable crud in slide mounts was the result. Now he wants to sue somebody, but, after our talking, can't figure out if he would win or lose in suing himself for abject stupidity. If he wins, how will he collect. If he loses, how will he pay the attorney fees?

Mainly, he can't stand the constant questions of all his friends & buddies asking to see the "worlds greatest pictures" he trumpeted from the rooftops before going on the once in a lifetime trip. Imagine, spending around $12,000 and coming home with nothing usable, on a Photo Safari. Until you have had to listen, nothing in the world is as boring as hearing someone describe a photo. (rather than showing you one)

Both of these guys hit the wall due to their own photographic practices.

Never, Never shoot anything important with gear you are not familiar with.

We all see the advertising telling us how great the newest whateverflex is. How it will revolutionize our photography. So, being foolish & believing there is a shortcut & advertising copywriters know something we don't. we buy the latest film/flash/camera/lens/accessory, and rush out to use it.

If you use your head you will see a flaw in doing this. (you have to take the brochure with you so your new gear will understand your desires for perfection) Not really. But you can see, especially since none of the rest of us have ever done something as dumb as these two, that using brand new anything, without checking it out first, is a surefire recipe for disaster.

It is a universal truth. The more important the job, the greater likelihood any brand new, untried tool will fail to deliver good results.

It doesn't have to be photography, either. Get a brand new car & watch it lose the roller bearings out of the muffler as you are showing it off in front of the crowd. Use the latest wonder adhesive to put on your hairpiece & watch as your rug flies off as Monica Lewinsky comes by to personally demonstrate her new diet program.

Faith does little good if you don't back it up with preparation.

We all read the ads telling us of the newest and greatest "whatever" yet to come from the sellers. Film that will send out subliminal signals to portrait subjects making them smile. Film with color so true that bees will try to pollinate with your camera as you use it. Cameras that focus so fast you can take photos of tomorrow before the sun comes up. Lenses so sharp you can shave with them.

All great products, the advertising says so.

Reality may bear this out but too often, it sings a different tune.

For every wonder camera out there, you will find an owners manual slightly less complicated and about two ounces lighter than the one needed to run a Nuclear Attack Submarine. Every new wonderfilm has graphs, curves and photos for you to drool over and technology so complicated that new names have to be made up to even attempt to describe it. Every new accessory has the ability to render otherwise sane people drooling idiots the moment you lay eyes on it, a condition cured only by purchasing the thing.

Now you have to actually use this stuff. The new camera. The new teleconverter. The new film.

Anyone who does so on something important should be elected to public office as you just passed the IQ test to qualify.

Friend Freddy & Buddy Barry believed the hype & bought the products. Good products in both cases but defective reasoning on their part in using them as they did. They used them without a tryout or test period to see if they products worked as advertised, in their particular application.They immediately used the gear & film, trusting all was fine.

Maybe it was & both made the simplest of photo mistakes-they screwed up. We all do it sometime. Certainly something was wrong in both cases mentioned. But, with the variables involved with both of them and their results, pinpointing what went wrong is difficult at best.

Both failures could have been avoided by performing a basic test of each product before committing it to use on something that mattered.

It is simple, the old saw of "if something can go wrong, it will" is still true often enough to encourage us to test our materials before trusting them to an important job.

Yes, even with the finest gear in the world something can still go wrong. But using brand new, untested and untried products is tempting fate. Using what you have tried & proved works is cheap insurance. Certainly less expensive than wasting film on a natural display that can't be repeated until next year. A lot less expensive than blowing ones life savings on a trip & coming back with no photos, when photos were the goal of the trip.

This is why you see stone pro's carrying a backup body or two & more than one lens. This is why you see them shooting test rolls of film & then getting all the same film emulsion for a shoot. This is why you see them using what works even if it isn't the latest version.

Photographers use what they use for a number of reasons. We tell ourselves that camera Y is really good & we use it for that reason, even if the real reason we use it is because by saving $800 we can live with the compromise & buy more film or another lens. But, we use what works no matter what it costs. We use it because it is familiar and dependable. Both contribute significantly to better photos by removing the worry factor. Yes, anything can break or malfunction. But if you are using gear or supplies you aren't familiar with, how will you know unless it is a big enough failure that you can't miss it. A motor drive that doesn't work is obvious. A meter that is off may not be. A film counter that continues to work even if the film never goes through the camera may not be. If you are familiar with your gear, many of these little problems won't become major ones. If you have a roll or film or two developed part way through your trip you might avoid coming home with nothing.

Testing and trying out gear before using it solves a lot of problems before they start. If that had happened, the incompatable teleconverter and the film from hell wouldn't have been a problem. Or at least not one to ruin the efforts of the photographers.

Most of us are perfectly capable of making enough errors on our own that we don't need a new, untested and untried product to do it for us.

The message is simple. A few simple tests, a shakedown or familiarity with our materials is worth the effort. If nothing else, read the directions, they just might help. This is especially true with todays ever more complicated "simple" cameras.

I know how to set shutter speeds, lens stops and focus & that works for a lot of images. I tend to use manual gear but do know AutoFocus is excellent for some work. But, no matter how advanced the gear, in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use it: it just won't do well. The more options it has, the more complicated it is and the more experience you need with it to make use if its advanced capabilities.

No matter what it is though, you still need to check it out before using it for anything important.