It's not a career until...

[Robin Rowland]

You arrive at the scene of a standoff a half hour after the cops used tear gas, which still irritates the hell out of your contact lenses and you shoot the cops standing around as your eyes water like Niagara Falls.

You brace yourself against a cliffside on the Lake Superior shore in a September gale while hoping to get the waves crashing just right before you get really soaked.

And an all time favourite.....you spend all day working on a shoot, get back to the office (in the days before cell phones and Twitter text alerts ) and find out that something happened somewhere else and now there's no room for your shot.  Or closely related, because of the event the only pix they want is a small version of your worst shot on the bottom of the page (in newspapers) or smallest thumbnail pix size (on the web)

[Warren Toda]

You have your camera bag urinated on by a hugh Rottweiler.

After your subject confirms that you're shooting just a head-and-shoulders portrait of him, while the two of you are standing next to a four-lane city street, he unzips his pants and starts urinating while still posing for pictures. At this point, you decide to back up and shoot with a longer lens, just to keep your shoes dry.


• Getting up off the grass after a great low-angle photo, you notice a horrible smell and realize that you've just been lying in a pile of dog sh!t for the past 15 minutes.

• During the coldest and worst blizzard of the century, when snowplows refuse to venture out and police warn everyone to stay indoors, you get sent out to drive around and shoot a few features.

• You're first on the scene of a bank robbery, and because you bear a similar description to the suspect, the arriving police assume the worst and draw their guns on you.

• The CEO of Goodyear asks if you want to go for a quick flight on his Lear jet.

• After a presser for Rolls Royce, the PR person asks which car you'd like to take for a spin.

[Andrew Vaughan]

You travel all the way to a remote Labrador community only to have your borrowed Ski-Doo stolen and wrecked. Not mentioning any names but Fred Lum could probably tell a good version of this one.

[Ron Bernardo]

- you realized shooting with 2.5 fps on film is no longer the trend,
- your bathroom starts to look like dark room and your living room a studio,
- saving the last three frames is so very important if you happen to only have a 12 roll

- listening on a scanner, you arrived earlier than the cops on the scene
- driving and breaking the road speed limit
- you have a spot of thick skin on you shoulders for carrying too much gear and heavy lenses

[Dan Janisse]

You've been hit by a puck, stick, baseball, football....while covering a game.

[Blair Gable]

You've shot a Sunshine girl....

[Jonathan Currie]

Threatened by the corrupt local police captain in a foreign country to get out of town, or else.
Fingers gotten so cold you can't feel them and the only way you know you're still releasing the shutter is by the sound of the mirror actuation.
A gash on the knee and a sprained ankle is all you really have after chasing a photo that didn't turn out to be worth it.

[Ray Bourgeois]

You are assigned to take a picture of a guest speaker at the YMCA. When you get there you find the topic is men beating their wives. In a room with thirty women and you are the only male.

[James Garnett]

Caught in a crossfire, you try and dig a foxhole with a lens hood

A prospective Sunshine Girl asks you if there's any way you can guarantee her timely appearance in the newspaper whilst [apparently] looking for parking meter change in YOUR jeans pocket

You are shooting a serious crash when the husband of the victim you are photographing decides to take you on a guided tour of the neighbourhood by your camera strap, which somewhat unfortunately, is around your neck

You are sent to photograph David Bowie and Peter Frampton at Pearson. You discover both are under the influence and you and your wallet are invited to their hotel bar for an extensive session

[Scott Clouthier]

You go in for the closeup of moving ice jams during spring break-up and pull your eye away from the viewfinder only to find you've been surrounded by water on all sides...

(anyone? no, just me?)

[Colin Corneau]

- listening on a scanner, you arrived earlier than the cops on the scene

Happens all the time here... Being 10 minutes from anywhere else helps, though.

Having some politician making a speech mention you as the butt of a joke to make him look better, and point you out to the crowd.

Having someone on the street ask you which TV station you work for.

Having someone look at your 300 2.8 and ask how far you can see with that thing.

[Mathieu Belanger]

Having someone look at your 300 2.8 and ask how far you can see with that thing.

Or when you shoot a hockey game with your 300 and a spectator stops to tell you that you probably only see the eyes of the goaltender with that kind lense! Only answer I got to that is...do you really see a lot of eyes pics in the papers?

[Jason Franson]

Having Gene Simmons of Kiss point to you at an interview and refer to you as a possible drug addict  "for all I know this photographer is a drug addict." and the quote makes it into the story printed in the paper the next day.

[David Rossiter]

Every single game of hockey Darryl Dyck has ever shot includes filing at least
one frame to CP of a tight shot of the goalies head with the eyes on the puck near his mask
 --- sorry DD just couldn't resist that one  

 I love Ray's post about the YWCA -- have been in that position a few times myself .....
 
Being asked by passing motorist and pedestrians on what's going on at a scene and stealing a
line from the movie The Paper by answering "You'll have to read about it tomorrow's paper"

[Fred Lum]

geez thanks andrew, I'd buried that deep in my memory until your post  but yeah, pulling plugs is a good thing...not that I speak from experience of course.