1. Your Strobe Stops Working
Did it get unplugged, is it uncharged, or does the lamp need to be replaced? Perhaps the problem isn’t your strobe at all, but some disruption between the transmitter and the receiver. Strobe lights are like cars; they’re either old and totally component-driven, or they’re new and computerized.
In either case, you might be able to bust in through the back to check if any of the wires or contacts have been shaken out of place. Sometimes, it might just be one single motherboard or onboard device hanging loose and holding up the show.
There will, of course, be times when the light is simply finished. The most reliable solution to this problem would be to invest in a backup fixture, even if it’s just a continuous and unsyncable work light.
2. Your Camera Battery Dies
You should always make sure that your entire camera kit is inspected, charged, and ready to go before stepping out. Ideally, you have a chance to hook everything up the night before.
A couple of extra batteries and an extra charger are two obvious ways to prevent this unfortunate disaster. Good practices in terms of conserving power when not shooting will also be a few more drops in the bucket.
3. You Missed the Big Shot
Out of every embarrassing scenario on this list, this is the one that truly haunts our dreams at night. A beautiful wedding. Friends and family dressed to the nines. The big kiss? We weren’t there. Why didn’t anybody grab us?
Sometimes, the itinerary for the evening won’t be drawn out for you. Environmental and situational awareness will both be key—stay in touch with your point of contact, if applicable, and try to inquire beforehand about what you can expect throughout the event or shoot.
In the doomsday hypothetical above, one might be able to repose the shot, but your client isn’t likely to be impressed. Do what you can to avoid missing anything important. Be present, interested, and always ready for a candid.
4. Your Card Got Corrupted
There are so many general photography tips that can help you avoid a corrupted card:
Format cards at every opportunity. Remove SD cards safely and properly. Store them securely, and avoid tossing them into your purse or pocket. Use a different SD card in each camera.
Still, despite your best efforts, there will be times when all hope really is lost. To combat this twist of fate, you can run your own data management on set—all you’ll need is a laptop, a small table, and a chair, and you’re pretty much in business.
In a formal shoot where you’re not under the gun, you should be able to swing this. Backing your photos or videos up to at least two places means that it doesn’t matter if an SD card fails; your work will be covered.
5. The White Balance Is Off
Bad white balance isn’t difficult to resolve in post-production, but why give yourself an extra task? This is your friendly reminder to tailor this setting to your shooting conditions in the moment. Your photos will turn out better and the colors will be more vibrant and true to life.
If you’ve already fallen victim to this, adjusting the white balance of each shot can be done in bulk in creative apps like Photoshop. It’s not always easy to mimic the feeling of a perfectly-balanced shot, but you can usually come pretty close with your Temperature and Tint settings.
6. The Sky Is Too Bright
Sunset, high noon, or mid-morning—it doesn’t matter when you’re shooting. The sky is bright, but sometimes, it’s simply a part of the shot. Instead of cropping it out, try to split the difference between your subject, the scene, and the brightest part of the sky in-frame. It won’t always be perfect, but you can gird your effort with a few thoughtful moves in post-production.
We love Lightroom’s sky replacement feature; it allows you to grab anything that’s too bright and selectively adjust its exposure. If you’re shooting raw and didn’t push the sky’s exposure too far when you took the photo, it’ll be shocking how much detail you’ll be able to pull out.
7. The Shadows Are Too Grainy
ISO and shadow quality are intimately related. The higher your ISO, the more adept most cameras will be at reproducing bright objects and mid-tones.
A low ISO favors the darks—it sucks to say, but the lower your ISO, the more silky and smooth your shadows will be in your darkest photos, just when you need the extra boost in exposure the most. The irony pains us, but you’ll notice the difference.
8. Your Perpendiculars Are Skewed
Those shooting on a tripod are probably less likely to experience this problem. Care and attention to detail are really the only ways around it; take your time and recompose yourself with each new setup, using the leveler that’s very likely to be included on the tripod. What if you prefer to shoot without a tripod, though?
The majority of commercial DSLRs and mirrorless cameras boast some sort of leveling assistant; in Canon DSLRs, this takes the form of a digital display option that shows you exactly what you’re doing wrong. Short of this, if you’re using something analog and vintage without camera support, you could always affix a bubble leveler to the bottom of the device.
9. Your Light Is “Sourcey”
Small light sources and improperly placed-and-treated lights, to put it bluntly, look fake. The idea is to illuminate what you would like to illuminate without hinting into where the light is outside of the frame; the focus should be on the spirit of the photo. Beautiful light requires no thinking to enjoy, which is just the way we like it.
Part of the trick is diffusing the light and containing it. It should, ideally, play deliberately on the parts of the frame that you would like to highlight, without spilling thoughtlessly onto the irrelevant and unnecessary. Errant shadows on the wall and things of that nature are distracting. Lighting is like the no-makeup makeup look; if you’re wearing it, it shouldn’t look like you’re wearing any at all.
The day that you try a softbox for the first time will be the greatest day of your life—what was once a clumsy and crude source is transformed instantly into a big, bouncy ball of gentle, flattering light.
10. The Photos Are Out of Focus
It’s a classic tale: during the shoot, everything is going great. You dump your card, eager to crack in, only to find that the majority of your photos are out of focus.
Is there a solution to this problem in post-production? Not really. You might be able to sharpen some minor offenders to within an inch of their lives, but you can’t really mimic the look of a shot in perfect focus after it’s already too late.
We love a wide aperture, but closing the aperture down is one way to increase the likelihood of sharp focus. Tripods will help—they slow you down in a way, and provide a stable base from which you can plan the shot and work it all out. Shooting meticulously is the best way to nail it; involve yourself deeply in the project. You reap what you sow.
Photography Tips for When It’s All Crashing Down Around You
Something is bound to go wrong at some point for every photographer. Hopefully, these tips for the worst-case photography scenarios will be enough to solve your next big problem when shooting. Keep your eyes on the prize.
