Murphy Go Away

Last week was yet another adventure dominated by Murphy. (You know, Murphy’s Law?).

I spent Wednesday afternoon scouting some shots that I thought had promise.  I headed out to shoot in the “magic hour,” late afternoon when the light is best. Daydreaming of the shots ahead and failing to pay attention to the very narrow road upon which I was traveling, I was jarred back to reality by the lurch of my Suburban running partially off of the road. I came to a stop with the passenger side of the vehicle (the same side that still bears a dent from an earlier photographic misadventure) tilting precariously toward a catfish pond. Instead of capturing the shots I’d spent all day scouting, I called a friend for assistance and was “rescued” from a catfish pond by a tractor. (At this point in writing the blog, my wife is asking while reading over my shoulder, “Should you really be telling people you did that?”)

Fast forward to Friday. I was working out of a friend’s camp in South Mississippi. I set up for a shot for On A Roll, only to have my depth of field preview lock up, which I have never had happen in 30 years. It shut down the camera. The batteries were low, but not out so I didn't think this was a problem. I always have extra batteries in my bag. ALWAYS. But not today. After 30 minutes of trying to get the camera to work, I gave up, and we headed back to the camp. Later when I replaced the batteries, everything worked just fine. But as I reloaded, I heard the dreaded click of the shutter, exposing a frame to...blackness. It seems while putting the batteries back into the camera, the vertical shutter release switch on the camera released and I hit it. The Nikon F5 has a second shutter release on the bottom of the camera and it does not lock!  It’s a feature I never used...until that accidental usage on Friday.

I'm starting to wonder if this On A Roll project is going to end my career.

# 6) Bullfrog  in Lilies - (H)

Stone County

July 21, 2011, 7:11 am

Sunny, 80 degrees

500mm w/2xTC, 1/125@f8, Tripod 

# 7) Pied-billed Grebe on Nest - (V)

Stone County

July 21, 2011, 7:46 am

Sunny, 81 degrees

500mm, 1/125@f8, Tripod

# 8) BLANK !

Greene County

July 22, 2011, 7:38 am

Cloudy, 78 degrees

  putting in batteries