I have a bad feeling about this

I have heard so many stories about photographers who have had a real bad day when shooting a wedding. I however have never had a problem (knock..knock). I have a wedding tomorrow. No big deal...usual day. In the last 24 hours I have had not one but 4 main batteries fail to take a charge. My main lens that I have used for years for 99% of everything I shoot (Tamron 28-105mm 2.8) lens is failing to work with any of my three camera bodies. Cleaned the contacts but still not working (error 99). My assistant (my wife) just got a call that her mother is being taken to the emergency room for problems. So she will probably not be able to help me tomorrow which leaves me by myself. This is not looking too good. I have other batteries and other lenses but all of this is very strange to be happening all at once.

Ouch. When it rains, it pours. Good luck, man. You're a professional--I'm sure you'll come through fine.

I'm pretty sure THIS GUY lives in Indiana... Offer him $1000 for the day to shoot with you! Relax, enjoy... and consider it the best $$ you ever spent!!

Listen . . .

what's that music I hear ?

Uhhh . . .cue the Shark


[Scene: A New York apartment. Someone knocks on the door.]

Woman: [not opening the door] Yes?

Voice: (mumbling) Mrs. Arlsburgerhhh?

Woman: Who?

Voice: (mumbling) Mrs. Johannesburrrr?

Woman: Who is it?

Voice: [pause] Flowers.

Woman: Flowers for whom?

Voice: [long pause] Plumber, ma'am.

Woman: I don't need a plumber. You're that clever shark, aren't you?

Voice: [pause] Candygram.

Woman: Candygram, my foot. You get out of here before I call the police.
You're the shark, and you know it.

Voice: Wait. I-I'm only a dolphin, ma'am.

Woman: A dolphin? Well...okay. [opens door]

[Huge latex and foam-rubber shark head lunges through open door, chomps down on woman's head, and drags her out of the apartment, all while the Jaws attack music is playing.]

Drozz119 wrote in post #12186644
I'm pretty sure THIS GUY lives in Indiana... Offer him $1000 for the day to shoot with you! Relax, enjoy... and consider it the best $$ you ever spent!!

Ha Ha.........Yeah I know him......dont need his help.
There is an old saying
......when the going gets tough the tough gets going........

minimalfear wrote in post #12186688
Listen . . .

what's that music I hear ?

Uhhh . . .cue the Shark

[Scene: A New York apartment. Someone knocks on the door.]

Woman: [not opening the door] Yes?

Voice: (mumbling) Mrs. Arlsburgerhhh?

Woman: Who?

Voice: (mumbling) Mrs. Johannesburrrr?

Woman: Who is it?

Voice: [pause] Flowers.

Woman: Flowers for whom?

Voice: [long pause] Plumber, ma'am.

Woman: I don't need a plumber. You're that clever shark, aren't you?

Voice: [pause] Candygram.

Woman: Candygram, my foot. You get out of here before I call the police.
You're the shark, and you know it.

Voice: Wait. I-I'm only a dolphin, ma'am.

Woman: A dolphin? Well...okay. [opens door]

[Huge latex and foam-rubber shark head lunges through open door, chomps down on woman's head, and drags her out of the apartment, all while the Jaws attack music is playing.]

Ummm...not sure what your implying here...didnt make sense. Yeah I saw SNL.....so??????

minimalfear wrote in post #12186688
Listen . . .
what's that music I hear ?
Uhhh . . .cue the Shark
[Scene: A New York apartment. Someone knocks on the door.]
Woman: [not opening the door] Yes?
Voice: (mumbling) Mrs. Arlsburgerhhh?
Woman: Who?
Voice: (mumbling) Mrs. Johannesburrrr?
Woman: Who is it?
Voice: [pause] Flowers.
Woman: Flowers for whom?
Voice: [long pause] Plumber, ma'am.
Woman: I don't need a plumber. You're that clever shark, aren't you?
Voice: [pause] Candygram.
Woman: Candygram, my foot. You get out of here before I call the police.
You're the shark, and you know it.
Voice: Wait. I-I'm only a dolphin, ma'am.
Woman: A dolphin? Well...okay. [opens door]
[Huge latex and foam-rubber shark head lunges through open door, chomps down on woman's head, and drags her out of the apartment, all while the Jaws attack music is playing.]

The most random post, but I think its hilarious! What it means, no idea.

Good luck with the wedding. It looks like its time to invest in some replacement gear for the next wedding.

Red Tie Photography wrote in post #12186743
The most random post, but I think its hilarious! What it means, no idea.

It's an old (VERY old) Saturday Night Live sketch.

I do not believe that multiple bad things portends a bad outcome. In my experience, thinking things will go wrong may make them more likely to go wrong. However, if you do not let those negatives make you believe the event will go wrong, then things can very easily go just fine.

I have had many days where several things were going wrong, and I refused to assume that the rest of the day would be similarly bad. They always turned out fine.

Get more batteries. Bay/rent/borrow from a friend a different lens.

Hope everything is going well. We had a wedding last year where that happened, all but two of our compact flash cards went, a flash acting funny, our main camera kept seizing up. Terrified me, but we ended up with the best portrait session of the year on it.

Can't say for sure, but with batteries and lenses not working, it could be a problem with your camera and not those items. Test it carefully to make sure. You don't want other problems to develop in the middle of a shoot.

Yesterday I had a HORRIBLE start to my day. Bad doctor's appointment, the pharmacy was out of my prescription so I'm SOOL, and then one of my pets died. I was SO sure the rest of the day was going to be horrible that I really just wanted to crawl into bed and be done with it. But that night we went to a friend's house for my birthday (which was last week but we were out of town) and it ended up being a great night and I had a ton of fun.

The moral of this story is- just because something starts out bad doesn't mean it's going to stay bad! It could just be you got everything that can and will go wrong out of the way in the beginning and now you're smooth sailing from here!

Btw, four batteries failing to charge sounds more like either an issue with the charger or an electrical issue with your house. Have you tried a different charger or a different outlet in a different part of your house?

never had gear or technical issues on a wedding day or in the 48 hours leading to a wedding... but engagement session, that's a whole other story... flashes, memory, bodies not responding to any controls but the shutter...

Well, I shot the wedding just fine. I did have back up batteries and lenses and bodies if needed as stated in my first post. In fact I had just bought 6 new batteries from Sterlingtek. The formals were to start at 2pm. The mother of bride showed up at 2:05pm with all the dresses. So formals didn't get started until about 2:45pm. The guys were to start at 3:00pm. The groom didn't show up until 3:30pm. Seems he was out playing golf.
These never seem to run on time so it was not new to me to be running behind. I stayed calm and got it all done in time for the 5pm ceremony.
The whole day was kind of like this. I have always told my wife..."It is what it is". I'm not there to make things happen....I'm there the capture was does. It was a 12 hour day...no meal provided. I'm always pretty tired after a long wedding day like this but the client is always happy and that makes it all worth the effort.

love that!
glad everything went alright for you
weddings are such a stresser!