Defeated

I failed to blog again yesterday.

I feel like I’m continually finding myself in this spot, this low unmotivated spot. I feel like there are pictures out there everyday that I probably walk by. I feel failed when I prepare for an assignment and fall on my face.

The other day I was covering a doctor who announced that he would treat any of his regular patients for free if they had lost their job and or their health insurance for the rest of the calendar year. I knew I wouldn’t have much time and that a portrait was probably my best option. I thought it out. I came up with three solid portrait options that I could quickly set up and shoot. I packed my light stands, two strobes, light modifiers, and my pocket wizards. When I got there I started setting up the shot and realized I didn’t have the cable that attaches the pocket wizard to my Nikon strobe. Failed.

What do you do now? Well, one of my Nikons has a built in visual slave, which means it’ll flash if it sees a flash. I pulled the Canon strobe out I carry with me (I shoot Canon at work) and put it on an off camera cord, dialed way down so it didn’t show up in the photograph. I pointed the Canon strobe at the Nikon Strobe out of the frame and popped it. So far so good, but nothing like what I was hoping for.

In the end we ran a frame that I grabbed quickly during a five minute examination. So quick that I forgot to get the patient’s name and ended up having to track down the doc’s secretary after her office hours to figure it out. Another fail.

I just feel defeated lately.