Hemlock anyone?

[Alex MacPherson]

How do you handle a blown shoot?

I just did a shoot tonight and had some serious technical difficulties with the equipment which threw my
vibe off.
I had a hard time bonding with the model and getting the look I wanted.  It was a night shoot with a ringflash
which is tricky alone.

I feel like I let the model, stylist and makeup artist down. Thank god it wasn't a paid gig... but I am afraid my
reputation is going to take a beating.

Blaahh

[Rob C]

How do you handle a blown shoot?

I just did a shoot tonight and had some serious technical difficulties with the equipment which threw my
vibe off.
I had a hard time bonding with the model and getting the look I wanted.  It was a night shoot with a ringflash
which is tricky alone.

I feel like I let the model, stylist and makeup artist down. Thank god it wasn't a paid gig... but I am afraid my
reputation is going to take a beating.

Blaahh

Hey, it´s photography. Bailey, Donovan and Swannel are reputed to have sat down once and discussed the many ways in which you could blow it on a shoot (film). I believe they got it into the three-hundreds; take digital and you can extrapolate to your heart´s content; be grateful for two things: it was a freebie and you know what went wrong.

Rob C

[Hank]

... but I am afraid my
reputation is going to take a beating.

Not at all.  We've all had blown shoots, but how we deal with them is the stuff of reputations, not being the perfect photographer every single time.

Be up front with the client/model/whoever, then quit apologizing and figure out how to do it right.
Express your determination to do it again, gratis.
Do it again gratis and get it right.
Your rep will be the determined worker who comes through even when things go wrong, with the client's interest foremost.

The gratis part can be painful.  We had an aerial go sideways on us, kind of a cascading series of failures and most not our own.  We scheduled the reshoot immediately and came through.  We sucked up three hours of helicopter time at $1760 an hour, but it was worth every penny.  The client was overwhelmed and in the years since has become our most reliable advertiser and promoter.

[asf]

Tell your team it didn't go well/you're not happy with it and do it again. Be thankful it wasn't a paid job and keep going until you're satisfied.

[DavidP]

Yes redo it and get it right, you will be more then redeemed. If something goes wrong, and you have proved that you will stand behind your work, it in someways says more about your ethics then if nothing ever goes wrong.
I have had this experience with a client and I think they trust me more. Same would go with crew and models. No one is 100% perfect.  Still it would not hurt to add "errors and omissions" to your insurance policy.

[Hank]

Still it would not hurt to add "errors and omissions" to your insurance policy.

Sound advice.  We pack it, but haven't needed it in 20 years.  But some of our shoots are one-time events, and there are no reshoots.  We've had several of our industrial clients ask specifically if we had E&O, and got the contracts for our affirmatives.  Our competitors were bypassed, and to this day probably have no idea why we got the contracts rather than them, especially since we're much more expensive (2x).

[Alex MacPherson]

It was a creative gig... so there is no need for the errors and omissions bit.

I guess I learned a big lesson. Never shoot a gig without doing a dry run under the same conditions.

The biggest problem was the inability to focus under dark conditions in low light... without the aid of a modelling
light. My Canon 5D was not up to the task and my frustration with that and the glitchy flash sync made me lose
my concentration.

I can see that if I at least had a flashlight for an assistant to put on the model... this could have been avoided.

Live and learn ... still it sucks to let the team down because I couldn't get my sh*t together.

[TMARK]

It was a creative gig... so there is no need for the errors and omissions bit.

I guess I learned a big lesson. Never shoot a gig without doing a dry run under the same conditions.

The biggest problem was the inability to focus under dark conditions in low light... without the aid of a modelling
light. My Canon 5D was not up to the task and my frustration with that and the glitchy flash sync made me lose
my concentration.

I can see that if I at least had a flashlight for an assistant to put on the model... this could have been avoided.

Live and learn ... still it sucks to let the team down because I couldn't get my sh*t together.

Don't beat yourself up.  That's why its called a "TEST" shoot, or at least that's the line I've used when the concept or lighting was a flop.  They want shots for their respective books, so offer another shoot at their convenience, and make them the "client".  No sweat.  

[Hank]

It was a creative gig... so there is no need for the errors and omissions bit.

I guess I learned a big lesson. Never shoot a gig without doing a dry run under the same conditions.

The biggest problem was the inability to focus under dark conditions in low light... without the aid of a modelling
light. My Canon 5D was not up to the task and my frustration with that and the glitchy flash sync made me lose
my concentration.

I can see that if I at least had a flashlight for an assistant to put on the model... this could have been avoided.

Live and learn ... still it sucks to let the team down because I couldn't get my sh*t together.

Sounds like you had a meltdown right along with your gear.  All after the fact and second guessing now, but always scout a location and do some experimental shooting on your own, especially with low light challenges.   Have your model or someone else hold up a sheet of white binder paper, a piece of white trash, anything in the same light to give you an edge to focus on.  If there's enough light to shoot, there's enough for your 5D to focus on it unless the sensor is trash.  Next time you pack your gear, throw in a Petzl headlamp or two.  They're so small you can always have them along, and you can wear and direct one yourself for focusing without having to direct someone holding a flashlight.  And as for no E&O, that's cool if you don't have a client.

[roskav]

Not that you want advice on focussing in the dark at this point... but I had to improvise once with mobile phones and it worked really well .. just activate the screen and place beside your subject, it's a perfect target for the AF.

Ros

[Rick_Allen]

I know its not all ways possible but this is a classic example of when you have a good digital tech on a shoot it can save tyou time and money. For example I have a ST-E2 in my kit that allows you to use AF in almost darkness reliably. check out this article http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/st-e2.shtml

[dwdallam]

I know its not all ways possible but this is a classic example of when you have a good digital tech on a shoot it can save tyou time and money. For example I have a ST-E2 in my kit that allows you to use AF in almost darkness reliably. check out this article http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/st-e2.shtml

I was hoping someone would bring this up. I've decided to keep my STE2 just for that reason alone. However, won't a flash gun, such as the 430 or 550/580 do the same thing--and you can turn the flash off or down so low it won't show.

One good thing about melt downs or near melt downs is that you learn during or after wards to work through it, including how to improvise on the fly--w/o broken or other technical problems flustering you. But the catch is you have to have melt downs.

Last year I had my new 1DSMKIII go through its "cannot talk to lens" breakdown in the middle of a shoot. I didn't have a spare camera and was 1000 miles from home. What I did was take the lens off, snap it back on, focus shoot, wash repeat for EVERY shot (This particular bug allowed on shot every time you connected the lens.) Shots came out great, and when things like this happen now, if there is a way to shoot, I'll find it

Like others said though. In some cases, you just are not going to get it right. In those instances, there is NOTHING you can do except explain to your client(s) what has happened, own up to any wrong doing, if any, and just tell them you want to do it again at no cost. I mean, what else can you do, except get it right every single time, which isn't going to happen.