Erin McCarthy Greene Photography

Just sharing a don't-let-this-happen-to-you moment for my photographer friends. This afternoon, my husband and I visited Massey's Ranch in Watertown, NY, a local maple syrup farm that is taking part in the regional Maple Weekend events. We planned to load up on maple products, and I planned to make some images of the process and products to share on Instagram. I snapped and snapped, hoping to document the experience, starting with images of Molly, the ranch's gorgeous golden retriever, who acted as official greeter. I probably took 30-plus images, using my Nikon D3400 (my first "real" camera)...with an old memory card in it. You know where this is going, right? On the way home, I went to review my images...they weren't there, nothing. The most recent images were some I had taken two weeks ago using that camera. I didn't receive any kind of a "card is full" message, as I have in the past with my Z50, so I had no idea I was shooting but capturing nothing. The images DID show up in the LCD screen right after I shot, so I assumed (we all know the adage) they were there. The lesson? I will ALWAYS take a test shot before I try to document an experience, and I will make sure that image is actually on the card and accessible. And I will pay closer attention to how full my SD card is before I give myself an assignment. Thank God this wasn't an official assignment, a paid gig. But I was excited about some of what I had captured at the busy, cozy, yummy (maple frosted raised donuts!) sugar house, and I really wanted to share the photos. I had extra cards with me, so I COULD have gone back to recreate the experience, but we were both ready to just head home. And this, my friends, is how we learn from our mistakes.....