“Hey, Scarlett Johansson is here! Could you run out and try and get a picture of her?”
I was on a photojournalism assignment for an international art publication and the event I was covering often has celebrities walking in and checking it out.
So, there I was. I was just checking some emails on my iPad before getting started for the day, and my camera was in my Peak Messenger Bag.
Situations like this require quick reactions. It was a large event with hundreds of people and celebrities notoriously disappear into the crowd.
You’re probably thinking, “Does he just grab his iPad and try to get a picture with it or does he go for his camera?”
Of course I go for my camera! I reach into my bag…
And I drop it on my iPad…
Yep! My SLR slipped out of my hand and fell a total of about 5 inches, landing on my iPad screen…
The screen is totally shattered, so is the lens for the camera. The best I could hope for was to plug it in and hope to pull the files off it I had not already backed up.
This should serve as a reminder to always have your gear insured!
While the cost of replacing this (fairly old) iPad would have been less than the deductible on my insurance, making it pointless to file a claim, if things had gone the other way and my camera, or a lens, had been broken…
Well, that’s another story altogether.
Oh, but I did manage get the photo of ScarJo…
Has anything like this ever happened to you? Do you have a cautionary tale to tell other photographers? Leave me a note in the comments and tell me about it!
