Over-Prepared

I recently did a photo shoot at a restaurant, which included both environment and foodie shots. I had my trusty Olympus E-3 all set to go, with lots of kit, in order to be prepared for any circumstance. I carried lots of spare batteries, as I always do--"spare juice" is practically my mantra.   

     

I shot a dozen or so images when the battery died, and ALL of backup batteries were inexplicably dead.  I always, always have spare juice with me, and in this case, I had two full sets of charged batteries in my bag.  I could not imagine how I managed to end up with dead backup batteries, but wondering wasn't going to get the job done.

The last thing I wanted to say to my client was "We'll have to reschedule the shoot, because, er, I don't have any power for my camera".  It would have been totally mortifying, unprofessional, and ridiculous all at once!

Luckily I had, at the very last minute, thrown my new and nifty little Olympus E-P1 in my bag "just in case", but figuring that it would not be used, as I had every little thing I needed.  I even just about changed my mind, thinking it was folly to bring it along.

Once things went awry with my pro camera,  I whipped out that little life-saver, and stuck my huge FL-50 flash on top, which is normally used with my big camera (so it looked twice as big as my fall back camera!), and proceeded to do the bulk of the assignment with the E-P1, with my client looking at it curiously. "Not to worry", said I, "it packs a wallop even though it's small." The shots came out great, no issues.  I was so relieved to not have to walk away that day with my tail between my legs.

The lesson, as if I had to learn it again, is that being OVER prepared often means merely "prepared".

The reward was not only satisfaction that I could get the job done,  I also brought home two fantastic dishes from the shoot for supper that evening!