NCmermaid 0 Posted April 30, 2009 (edited) So here's the deal. I'm at the cenotes with some clients and I'm thinking that maybe I'll jump in the water at the next site and get some shots. So I open the back of my SUV, setup a nice working space for my camera rig which is completely setup for W/A in advance but I need to change the batteries in my strobes. First one done, move to second but I can't get the strobe to power up. Off and on I can hear the batteries start to charge it up but light never comes on and strobe won't fire. Double check batteries, not the problem. Disconnect strobe to better examine problem. Meanwhile, my phone rings and it's Scuba Diving magazine calling to tell me I placed third in the WA category of their photo comp. WOOHOO!!!!! I am super excited!!!!!! In my zeal to hear all the details (since the reception on my iphone sucks in the middle of the Mexican jungle) I walk about 20 ft. away from the car. Then I hear a big crash and turn to see my entire camera rig (minus the strobe that was the start of the problem) lying dome port down on the hardpacked parking area, a drop of approximately 3ft. I am still on the phone with Scuba Diving but my excitement has wained as I try to hold it together and wrap up my phone call because I imagine they would probably want to retract my award for such stupidity if they catch on to my distress. I hang up hoping that whatever I win in the competition I will be able to sell to buy a new domeport. I pick up the rig. The Backscatter neoprene port cover is covered in dirt but I don't hear any broken glass (or to be literal, acrylic). I remove the cover and the darn thing appears to be A-OK. The gear ring has dropped off the lens and is rolling around inside the dome, which is bad, but NOTHING compared to what I expected! I try to control my overwhelming sense of relief until I can check it in a freshwater rinse and get it back home for a close going-over with a flashlight looking for stress fractures or other uglies that may be lurking. Results: all initial tests (rinse tank dunk and careful exam) have been positive. I have yet to go on a dive with it because I spent half the night trying to figure out what was wrong with the strobe that started the whole problem! So, in closing...good-I'm going diving, bad-strobe won't fire, good-I'm a winner!, bad-camera falls out of my car, good-neoprene cover saves the day, bad-strobe still won't work, good-I can still shoot macro with one strobe!!!!! Lucky me! Edited April 30, 2009 by NCmermaid Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JackConnick 76 Posted April 30, 2009 Glad you made a good recovery, glad you placed third in the competition. We've all done stupid things. Best one was when I reached in my front car seat to grab something and managed to snare my camera strap. Pulled it off the seat and onto the pavement lens down. lens cap and filter smashed, but my Sigma 17-70 survived with just a small dent. Cheers, Jack Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ce4jesus 1 Posted April 30, 2009 Congrats on the contest! Isn't obsessing over our gear horrible? Its enough to make you crazy BTW, if your strobes are Inon's, sometimes that internal capacitor takes awhile to charge fully and I've seen it take over a couple of minutes on some occasions where my strobes are stored for awhile. The stupidest thing I've done is scratch my port on a rough shore trying to get a photo op. I knew there was surge but forgot that every 10th or so wave is worse than the rest. That one sent me crashing against a shore wall port first I was so mad at my stupidity. You can work out a small scratch in acrylic with elbow grease and some solvent. With glass, it takes a plastic VISA card to work out the scratch. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Williams 0 Posted May 1, 2009 Congrats Karen! Which shot won for you? I'd love to see it. My contact on Flickr, Jim Patterson describes what he calls the Fiasco factor (FcoF). I think it should be part of the EXIF stored as part of the metadata when you take a shot. Nice calm day, no current, clear water = a 1 on the potential Fiasco scale. A 10 on the scale involves a hospital. I think you've managed to recover nicely from about a 5 FcoF. It must have felt awful watching your rig bounce on the parking lot. It makes me shudder just to think about. The good news is that you have an award winning image and a great story to tell. Cheers, Steve Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NCmermaid 0 Posted May 1, 2009 Steve, I love the fiasco factor concept. That explains alot! The image I placed with in the Scuba Diving magazine comp is the same one I placed with at OWU, Deep Indo, and BUIF. I've been really fortunate this year with that image but I'm starting to think it's the only decent photo I've taken all year! http://underwatercompetition.com/Photos/View/24401231812227 That's one of the things that led me back to the cenotes that fatefilled day, I was trying to work on new concepts for shots of the cenotes for next years comps! I'm going to take the empty housing and working strobe on a dive today to double check integrity with a little pressure on it before I take the camera out again. Fingers crossed my luck holds! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scott_nielsen 0 Posted May 3, 2009 wow, such an amazing story and congrats on the pic!!!!!! can't wait to come see you. scott and troy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vetdiver 8 Posted May 5, 2009 Karen - Thanks for the laugh - great story! It is really nice to know that there is a little group of nerds just like me whose mood can change on a whim because of an electronic - or gravity-related - mishap. Hope you dialed in a few kickass macro shots Many congrats on the win! Allison Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
