The Biggest Mistake I Have Made In My Business To-Date

It's story time! I'm sharing the story of one of my biggest goofs to date in my career. (Thankfully I haven't topped it yet!) Even though this happened years ago, I still remember it so well and all the emotions that went along with it.

I saw the images uploading, saw the letters "J P E G" and started dying a little inside. "No, please God, let this be a mistake". But it wasn't. I was freaking out and when I started explaining what happened to my parents I couldn't hold it together anymore. This was the second time my business had me in tears in the same year!!! Clearly, things were going well :)

My camera at the time was about four years old, which for technology is pretty dated. I was starting to notice some things about my image quality that left me less than pleased. Nothing clients would notice (or so I hoped), but I knew it was probably time to get a new camera body. In an effort to improve things in the meantime (this was early on when I did not have much spare cash or savings floating around for big business expenses) I took my current camera body in to have the sensor cleaned and I cleaned my lenses at home. I was also going to calibrate my lenses but my body was so old it didn't have that capability!!!!

I dropped off the camera and the next day got a call. The guy was looking at my camera and he asked if I had been seeing issues. I told him no, that I was mostly doing it because it hadn't been done in over a year. He said it looked like a brand new sensor so he was going to refund my money and I could come pick it up.

Please notice, he didn't do anything to my camera!!!!

This was the second time I'd gotten the sensor cleaned but the previous time was back when I was still shooting JPEG. Now I was shooting RAW files for better editing. I picked up my camera and a few days later, headed to a senior session.

It never occurred to me to check my file settings. First of all, he didn't do anything. Secondly, even if he had, I would not have thought it would have affected my file choice. So I happily shot away, adjusting my normal settings and posing and doing everything in my power to make the session the best it can be. I had another event that evening and had to download these photos off my camera immediately in the hour I had at home. (Being rushed did not help matters). The good feeling from coming back from a great session and the excitement of the event I was going to evaporated as I realized I had just shot the ENTIRE SESSION in JPEG.

You may be wondering at this point, "Sarah, what was the big deal?". The problem has to do with the difference between JPEG files and RAW files. Simply put, RAW files have more raw data to work with, so you have greater control in the editing process. A JPEG compresses some of the data, to make a smaller file size, and you have less control. In addition, my presets for editing are designed to work with RAW files. Basically I had no idea if I would be able to edit these photos well.

I HATE letting people down. I HATE failure. I know most people do but fear of failure is a big thing I have struggled with in my life. Here I was, staring at what could be a huge failure and I was stressed out. The next morning, I called my client and let her know the general idea of what was going on. I told her I was going to send over some sample edits and if she and her mom liked how they looked, I'd keep going. If not, we'd reshoot the session.

Let me pause and say something important. I NEVER let my clients know if something is wrong. If I make a mistake that they are unaware of, I fix it quietly and they are none the wiser. If something had been off with just a few photos, I would never have said anything. But this a potentially major problem with ALL of her photos. I did my best to frame it in an upbeat way and they were so gracious and understanding. I felt horrible and it was one of the hardest editing jobs I've ever done, but things worked out in the end. She and her parents loved the photos and I was mostly satisfied :)

I learned some important lessons from that experience. First, if my camera leaves my possession, check EVERYTHING upon its return. Second, it could have been much worse. I could have lost all the photos. Then we would have had NO option but to reshoot. I share this story because it's a behind the scenes look at something you would normally have no idea about and hopefully to help out new photographers so they don't have to go through this experience themselves!!




There you have it! The story of the biggest mistake of my career to-date. I am able to laugh about it a little bit now, and the whole thing was made so much better by how wonderful my clients were. It also still ranks as one of the most enjoyable sessions I've ever shot. I must admit that 1,000+ images from a senior session is insane and I know that. I have worked hard to curtail my over-shooting tendencies and I have gotten better. Do I still come home with too many images? Yes. But I've never come home with over a thousand again.