always. always. always check your bag. for every little piece. it’s a very appropriate lesson to remember in the month of december: make a list and check your bag twice!! complete a visual and a tactile inspection of your kit.
last night i got called out for a last-minute photo shoot with a couple from israel who were in town for hanukkah. they were so lovely. the nicest. and i wanted to give them the best pictures possible.
so we met in time’s square where i had a shot in mind that i was really tied to. basically, i set up my softbox, i set for a half-second exposure, and i got the settings dialed in to get that blurred crowd effect around them while they looked up beyond the camera, gazing up at the lights and surrounded by them with wonder in their eyes.
here’s the thing. i checked my bag and thought i felt my flash trigger in my bag. but it wasn’t in there. in my hast to get out the door, i left it at home somewhere. so i had to improvise. since it was a long exposure on the tripod, i set for manual focus and locked them in. then i stood with one hand on my camera and one hand on the pilot aka test button on my flash. i actuated the camera, then immediately triggered the flash. it sort of worked. and truth is, i got a version of the shot that i am happy with.
but the point is,
always check your bag! for everryyythinnggg-gah!!!
because not having something you are counting on to get a certain shot can really mess with your mojo. i basically was relegated to using my canon 430 ex ii speedlight flash in hand with a gary fong mounted onto it. a lot of people give the fong shade, but honestly, it’s a decent little piece of kit and i’ve gotten some great results with it. it’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a solid backup.
just a side note, i have a great pair of speedlights that allow me some pretty great flexibility when shit hits the fan. my canon speedlight, when i hit the pilot button, holds a medium-powered beam for about one second, so i can trigger that and then actuate my shutter, getting a semi-soft light on my subjects as long as the flash isn’t too far away. the pilot function on my yongnuo 560, on the other hand, triggers the flash at whatever manual power i’ve set it to. so for the long exposure shot, the yongnuo worked like a charm, and for the rest of the photos, the canon was my weapon of choice.
but i digress. it’s good to have options. backups. contingency plans. because shit will go wrong and you can’t call a time out when you’re an hour from home and on the clock. what is even better though is to not need them because you