I’ll be honest. Shooting… probably not my favorite thing to do… not with guns or with cameras. I’m not bad at shooting with a camera. It just makes me nervous. There are so many things to think about. Is the lighting correct? Is the person in focus? Is the microphone on? Did I hit record? Which brings me to a story and a lesson.
A couple of years ago, I was asked to help shoot a segment for Lowcountry Live. It was the Whole Foods Recipe Roadshow. To make a long story short, Ryan Nelson stands there with a guest that showcases their favorite recipe. It’s a 5 minute segment. Fast forward to Ryan Nelson wrapping everything up, and I look at the camera and the little red dot is NOT showing, meaning the entire 5 minutes didn’t get recorded. My heart sunk. Either the guy with me had hit record at the start of the shoot and not knowing that, I hit record as well, which meant it was now in standby mode … or I had just not hit record at all. I’m going with the first scenario. It makes so much more sense, me being the professional that I am.
I immediately had to confess. I felt so stupid and embarassed. But I had made an honest mistake. Trust me, a videographer NEVER fails to hit record on purpose! It only causes headaches later. Everyone was so much cooler about it than I could have ever imagined! Without skipping a beat, Ryan said “OK, let’s do it again!” with a smile on her face. We reshot the entire 5 minute segment … and while she has never let me live it down, she never got frustrated or angry.
The lesson here isn’t “always hit the record button”. The lesson here isn’t even “always admit when you’ve made a mistake”. The lesson here is to always be nice to everyone you meet. It came in handy in a situation that would have gone so much differently if everyone had hated me. Most people call it Karma. I call it making my life easier. When everyone likes you, it’s hard for them to get mad at you for making an honest mistake. When’s the last time you tolerated incompetence from someone you disliked?
docent~prodigy 
Like you I learned a valuable lesson that day…mine was that just like a live show, things happen during a shoot, sometimes there’s no audio, or the camera freaks out or the shooter double-punches but it’s all good and in the end, you can take as many takes that you need. There’s never a need to get upset, just make sure you remind them of it every so often. The look on your face was classic as all the color drained from your cheeks. I could completely understand you being mad at yourself as I would have been mad at myself as well, but everyone makes mistakes. Which is the beauty of life!
And a bit of advice…If your host/talent gets in a tizzy, that’s when you know that person needs to be replaced…with me!
Thanks for sharing this post. It is so important for all of us to remember, we are only human. We are not perfect, never will be. When we share our bloopers with others, it gives them the opportunity to forgive themselves for their own, like mine yesterday. Since it was a live presentation, there’s not chance to do a retake, but the volunteers still walked away with big personal changes and that is the most important part.
Love & Peace, Grace