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My whole roll from the state fair was blank because of a stupid mistake
I was at the Ohio State Fair last month, loaded up my old Pentax K1000 with a fresh roll of Portra 400. I shot the whole thing, all 36 frames, from the giant slide to the butter cow. When I got the scans back, the lab said the film never advanced. I must have missed the sprocket holes when I loaded it in the noisy crowd. Now I have zero photos from my kid's first fair. How do you guys double check your load in a busy place without a dark bag?
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elliotbell7mo ago
Man, that's the absolute worst feeling. I've done that exact thing with my K1000 before, shot a whole wedding for a friend and got nothing but blank film back. In a loud place now, I always close my eyes and feel the rewind knob turn when I advance the first two shots. If it spins, you're good. Sorry about your kid's first fair, that's a real gut punch.
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owens.matthew7mo ago
But isn't that feeling part of the deal? For me, the risk of a blank roll is tied to the reward of a real surprise. Getting those scans back is the whole point, good or bad. I'd rather have the fair memory live in my head than on a screen.
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christopher_singh926mo ago
Blank rolls are a special kind of pain. I once shot what I thought was a genius series of street photos, only to find the film never caught on the take-up spool. My own fault for not checking, like elliotbell said. That rewind knob trick is a lifesaver, but I'm usually too excited to remember. The gamble is real, but man, losing those shots from the fair would keep me up at night.
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