Chapter 3

It is not unusual for Murphy’s Law to apply to photography. When one least expect a failure, that’s usually when it happens. In this particular case, it was the simple fact the battery was low and eventually ran out. Knowing in advance that my friend loves to view her pictures during the shoot, a practice I don’t often allow for battery purposes, I came prepared with additional batteries. I also had other components with me in case I had any number of failures. This is one of the reasons why a photographer’s bag can be a bit heavy and large at times. Not because failures are common practices or standard in the field, but it just makes sense to be prepared.

The other valuable thing to bring to a shoot is humor. I knew that if this sort of thing happened, not having some humor would easily tip things into a less favorable territory for the couple. They need to know they can trust you to deliver the services you agreed to deliver. I was able to apply some humor to this situation and assure them that all was well. I also added, for good measure, that their cooperation had made it such that I was moving along faster in my scheduled shoot than planned. This made the gentleman smile greatly and relax. I also noticed that my friend smiled at that too, which confirmed to me that no matter how agile a lady is in her heels, uneven surfaces of a park will get the better of her at some point.

As the clouds parted even more, recreating that moment was no longer an option. That shot was lost. I had to regroup, relocate, and reset. That way, I could take advantage of the areas of the park I was in and provide the best closing shots I could. Once the batteries were changed, it was back to business, which means back to the story.