# Wrong Camera Settings = Missed Theft Photos = 'Doh!! (Head Banging into Wall...)



## RustyTheGeek (Nov 30, 2014)

Last Tuesday morning, I'm drinking coffee and taking care of misc stuff in the front room. I hear my car alarm chirp a couple times but I don't see any large trucks or anything that usually causes that to happen. We live in a Cul-De-Sac so it's easy to see who comes and goes. I take a peek out the window and 'sum bitch! Someone is stealing the extension ladder off the top of my SUV.

I keep at least one but usually more than one DSLR on the entry foyer table since it's by my office and it's handy to get a family shot or whatever. I walk right out the front door with my trusty 5D3 and 24-70 f/2.8 v2 and fire away at the thieves as they drive away. I figure I'm pretty fortunate. I have high resolution images of the car, the license plate and the guys inside. Wow! How often do you get that chance, to catch thieves in action, in good light with a good camera? Wow!

I go back inside, call 911 and pop my memory card into my Photo PC. Imagine my disappointment when I realize that all the pictures are white! Totally blown out over exposed crap that is virtually worthless! Turns out, the camera was still set on manual from the night before when we ended a Boy Scout Court of Honor with a short induction ceremony at the end. This is where we induct new scouts into the troop by candlelight. I could have grabbed any other camera off the table and been fine but I had to grab the one camera that was set about as wrong as could be set for this particular 'shoot'!! Dang!!  

I was so put out with myself because I usually set my camera back to P as soon as I am finished shooting with extreme settings for just this reason. (I have no idea why I didn't do it this time.) Anyway, I was so preoccupied with trying to recover the images enough to get the license plate info that I forgot I had security camera video until later. Still kicking myself..... :-[

If you want to see the theft video footage, here it is along with the worthless pictures that really only show the vehicle color and type. The video only lasts a couple minutes where the thieves drive up and back once to case the place, then come back, park at frame right, walk up, remove the ladder and run away. Then you see me in the left of the frame shooting pictures. If you don't want to watch the whole video, time index 1:55 is where they steal the ladder and 2:40 is where you see me taking my worthless pictures.

I find it ironic that after investing thousands of dollars in camera equipment and years improving my photography skills to take thousands of images for so many other folks, I totally blow an opportunity for all the gear and skill to serve myself! I literally would have been better off just using my smartphone camera! :-[

http://rustythegeek.zenfolio.com/laddertheft


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## Don Haines (Nov 30, 2014)

I'd ask how you could possibly make such a mistake..... instead, why don't you enjoy this picture of a coyote walking through my back yard.... (pulled 5 stops)


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## brad-man (Nov 30, 2014)

How terribly frustrating. I hope the cops catch them and you get your ladder back. If that had been a Sony sensor... ;D


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## Triggyman (Nov 30, 2014)

We forget to prepare the littlest things in times like these. I feel your pain - and I would be humiliated/angry to my myself if that was me . Look at you firing away at 5+ fps.


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## Don Haines (Nov 30, 2014)

I tried manipulating the photos to get more detail... Ironically, I can read "the lone star state" on the plate, but not the numbers


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## RustyTheGeek (Nov 30, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> I'd ask how you could possibly make such a mistake..... instead, why don't you enjoy this picture of a coyote walking through my back yard.... (pulled 5 stops)



Thanks Don. Was that coyote carrying anything away from your property? ;D


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## RustyTheGeek (Nov 30, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> I tried manipulating the photos to get more detail... Ironically, I can read "the lone star state" on the plate, but not the numbers



Thanks! Yeah, me too. There's just no info there to recover.


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## RustyTheGeek (Nov 30, 2014)

brad-man said:


> How terribly frustrating. I hope the cops catch them and you get your ladder back. If that had been a Sony sensor... ;D



Thanks. Yeah, I'll get another better ladder this time. My main goal is to hopefully see these punks caught so they don't keep stealing from others. I've had many things stolen over my lifetime and this is definitely one of the least gut wrenching. Nothing was broken to steal it and it's just a ladder. Not a fancy car stereo system I worked all summer to pay for when I was a teenager or mechanics tools that I'll never see again that I had a bit of a connection to.


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## Marsu42 (Nov 30, 2014)

RustyTheGeek said:


> I literally would have been better off just using my smartphone camera!



Probably that's why the p&s market expands  ... but I guess we all know these "Murphy's Law" situations. My usual approach: Forget about it asap, if I'd remember all those excellent scenes I blew because I (or my 6d's af...) screwed up I'd have sleepless nights :-o

... and +1 for the statement: With more dynamic range, you would have been able to recover the blown whites of the Canon sensor :->









RustyTheGeek said:


> My main goal is to hopefully see these punks caught so they don't keep stealing from others.



I sympathize, when my bicycle was stolen, this is how I felt...


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## RustyTheGeek (Nov 30, 2014)

Marsu42 said:


> RustyTheGeek said:
> 
> 
> > I literally would have been better off just using my smartphone camera!
> ...



Yeah, at one point in my original post I had a snarky comment about the "lack" of DR with the sensor but it got edited out. In this case, I was pretty much sinking the boat regardless of the sensor tech.

The photography technique lesson I learned is what I've been trying to do more lately anyway... watch the green numbers in the viewfinder more attentively. I used to do that all the time, then I got out of the habit for some reason. Since it was in manual, if I had been paying attention to the exposure and settings in the viewfinder, I could have at least quickly dialed the aperture down to get something useful if not perfect. So that's the lesson I'm going to run with I guess. 

I'm a Clint Eastwood fan. He's great. My wife said I should have perhaps been shooting bullets instead of pictures. My answer was, "Ah, if only we lived far out in the country.... no one would have to know, right?" 8)


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## Marsu42 (Nov 30, 2014)

RustyTheGeek said:


> The photography technique lesson I learned is what I've been trying to do more lately anyway... watch the green numbers in the viewfinder more attentively. I used to do that all the time, then I got out of the habit for some reason.



I used to do this with my 60d, but on the ff 6d the green numbers are much, much smaller and very hard to read in a hurry and/or when the eye is not exactly on the vf :-( ... I don't know if the numbers are larger on more expensive ff cameras, but from what I read their vf screen is larger. So +1 in principle for a (good!) evf which can print anything anywhere in any size.



RustyTheGeek said:


> I'm a Clint Eastwood fan. He's great. My wife said I should have perhaps been shooting bullets instead of pictures. My answer was, "Ah, if only we lived far out in the country.... no one would have to know, right?" 8)



Personally, I'm not much of a gun geek, only when it comes to my bike being stolen  and this is the second movie character that comes to mind:


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## Camerajah (Nov 30, 2014)

I always have a dislike for 2 footed beasts that take up things they did not put down,hope they go to jail, I have come to learn that a ladder should be chained when not in use.


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## DominoDude (Nov 30, 2014)

Ugh, that sucks! I feel your pain, Rusty. (more on the lost goods, than on the lost shots, but still...)
Back in the days when I was a teacher, we usually said that everything that weighed less than 200kg and wasn't bolted to the floor would, eventually, get stolen - people just don't know/care about the difference between mine and yours.

A tip that I've taken to heart is to colourcode (2-3 distinct and unmatching colours) all tools with a pattern that is easily visible. Just painting like a set of rings around a handle of a ladder makes it stand out from afar; those who "borrow" your gear, with or without your permission, are not likely to cover that immediately, and it can help in getting it back.

I hope these ones are stupid enough to make a couple of mistakes and get caught.


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## RustyTheGeek (Nov 30, 2014)

Camerajah said:


> I always have a dislike for 2 footed beasts that take up things they did not put down,hope they go to jail, I have come to learn that a ladder should be chained when not in use.



Actually, all or our ladders are chained.  If a ladder can't be stored securely inside, it should be chained to prevent the ladder being used to rob the house it's stored at!! The extension ladder was on my RAV4 because I had been taking it to another location off and on and I got lazy instead of taking it down like I should have. And yes, it could/should have had some kind of theft deterrent on it while mounted to the vehicle.


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## monkey44 (Nov 30, 2014)

Marsu42 said:


> RustyTheGeek said:
> 
> 
> > The photography technique lesson I learned is what I've been trying to do more lately anyway... watch the green numbers in the viewfinder more attentively. I used to do that all the time, then I got out of the habit for some reason.
> ...



OH YEAH !!!! Charlie Bronson -- we were once driving down a side street in Santa Monica CA, and he stepped out of his car right in front of us. My dad almost ran him over -- but he jumped back, and then just laughed and waved at us ... was in the fifties. Long time ago, but we never forgot it. We had just moved to California and he was the first movie star we ever saw.


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## JonAustin (Nov 30, 2014)

Sorry for your loss. We can only hope that one or both of those A-dubs falls off that ladder and breaks his, well, "A." Karma can be a bitch! From the looks of the one guy, doubtful he spends much of his time going up and down ladders. Probably just stole it to sell off at a fraction of its value.


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## TexPhoto (Nov 30, 2014)

In my camera club we call the green box "Bigfoot Mode". When bigfoot walks across the road in front of you, bigfoot mode will get the shot regardless of your crazy settings. Your kid's first step, people stealing stuff, Large ape like beasts at Walmart: bigfoot mode...


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## RustyTheGeek (Dec 1, 2014)

TexPhoto said:


> In my camera club we call the green box "Bigfoot Mode". When bigfoot walks across the road in front of you, bigfoot mode will get the shot regardless of your crazy settings. Your kid's first step, people stealing stuff, Large ape like beasts at Walmart: bigfoot mode...



Love it! I've never heard this before but it's cool. Not bad advice. Just no RAW in Bigfoot Mode.


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## Sportsgal501 (Dec 1, 2014)

That's brazen....is it bad that I was hoping the slop that was running with the ladder would have tripped.


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## Ryan85 (Dec 1, 2014)

Sportsgal501 said:


> That's brazen....is it bad that I was hoping the slop that was running with the ladder would have tripped.



Lol that's what I was hoping for

Sorry Rusty that sucks. I know I've turned my camera on to get a quick shot of something and had it in the wrong mode or settings and it frustrating. I hope they find them. There's not much worse than thieves. Thanks for posting the security video. It' looked like a nice system I may look into one.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Dec 1, 2014)

If I had a dime for all the things like that that have happened over the last 60 years, I could at least make a nice down payment on a D1X.

I once photographed a friends son in a championship football game for him. After taking about 40 shots, I realized that there was no film in my camera.


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## Don Haines (Dec 1, 2014)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> If I had a dime for all the things like that that have happened over the last 60 years, I could at least make a nice down payment on a D1X.
> 
> I once photographed a friends son in a championship football game for him. After taking about 40 shots, I realized that there was no film in my camera.



The number of times the counter on my camera got past the size of the film I was using is embarrassing...

Eventually I learned to check that the rewind lever moved, but it still happened on occasion. 

As the saying goes, if you haven't truly screwed up, persevere


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## expatinasia (Dec 1, 2014)

The first time I read your story I thought hang on, you see guys nicking a relatively inexpensive ladder and then grab a few thousand dollars worth of camera equipment to point at them. If I were a thief that nice white lens with a good looking camera may have seemed like the better option!

My first thought would be to grab a baseball bat or worse! Probably not that smart either.

Anyway, sorry that you were a victim of this crime and hope you can claim on insurance at least.


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## RustyTheGeek (Dec 1, 2014)

expatinasia said:


> The first time I read your story I thought hang on, you see guys nicking a relatively inexpensive ladder and then grab a few thousand dollars worth of camera equipment to point at them. If I were a thief that nice white lens with a good looking camera may have seemed like the better option!
> 
> My first thought would be to grab a baseball bat or worse! Probably not that smart either.
> 
> Anyway, sorry that you were a victim of this crime and hope you can claim on insurance at least.



LOL! I hear 'ya! I thought as I ran back in the house, "Gee, it sure would have felt good to heave a brick at them as they passed by!" I didn't have a white on the camera, it was a 24-70. But I see your point. The ladder isn't worth turning in to insurance, esp with what can happen to homeowner's insurance rates these days. Thanks for your input!


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## TexPhoto (Dec 2, 2014)

RustyTheGeek said:


> TexPhoto said:
> 
> 
> > In my camera club we call the green box "Bigfoot Mode". When bigfoot walks across the road in front of you, bigfoot mode will get the shot regardless of your crazy settings. Your kid's first step, people stealing stuff, Large ape like beasts at Walmart: bigfoot mode...
> ...



No Raw in Bigfoot Mode? All my Canons are se to RAW + JPEG and it stays that way in bigfoot mode or any other. What camera do you have?


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## RustyTheGeek (Dec 2, 2014)

TexPhoto said:


> RustyTheGeek said:
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> > TexPhoto said:
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Heck, I don't know. Maybe I'm speaking out of my ass.  I could have sworn when I went to choose RAW a few times in BigFoot Mode, it wasn't available (or the RAWs were missing on the card) but it was a long time ago. Maybe different camera or I just didn't get it at the time. Maybe once you choose it in the creative settings it stays. Sorry, I don't have time to go look right now. Thanks for the heads up!


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## tolusina (Dec 2, 2014)

RustyTheGeek said:


> TexPhoto said:
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> > RustyTheGeek said:
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Just now tried green box bigfoot mode on 6D, got a CR2 and a jpg.
Oddly, I shot one frame in GBBF, one in P, one in Av, file sizes were all similar.
File names of both CR2 and jpg of those shot in GBBF began with IMG, P and Av files began with _MG.


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## RustyTheGeek (Dec 2, 2014)

tolusina said:


> RustyTheGeek said:
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OK, good to know! Thanks! Um... I think the _MG means you have your camera set to a different color space than sRGB. Like Adobe RGB perhaps. I've never set that myself but I think I just read it in another thread here on CR so if you're not aware, you might want to check that. And your test above may indicate that in GBBF mode, the camera always shoots in sRGB. Hmmm...


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## tolusina (Dec 2, 2014)

RustyTheGeek said:


> ..... Um... I think the _MG means you have your camera set to a different color space than sRGB. Like Adobe RGB perhaps. I've never set that myself but I think I just read it in another thread here on CR so if you're not aware, you might want to check that. And your test above may indicate that in GBBF mode, the camera always shoots in sRGB. Hmmm...


I think you nailed it there.


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## AcutancePhotography (Dec 2, 2014)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> I once photographed a friends son in a championship football game for him. After taking about 40 shots, I realized that there was no film in my camera.



Was it an AE-1?

I did that with my AE-1 far too many times; including a "once in a lifetime" photoshoot. Head - Wall - Banging - Commence


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## TexPhoto (Dec 3, 2014)

tolusina said:


> RustyTheGeek said:
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I am pretty sure the size and type of file you get is completely independent of settings on the Mode Dial. I used to call it *green box idiot *mode btw, but I realized this gave the students the wrong idea. We try to teach: Shoot Manual, A/Tv/P or Green Box when the situation calls for it, or you prefer it, not because You are so cool you can use Manual, or so confused you have to go idiot Bigfoot.


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## richy (Dec 3, 2014)

Sorry you got hit! May they drown in a vat of boiling snot! Maybe one of us could have better luck pulling something from the overexposed files? Different software or techniques? Free ebeer for anyone that gets the full plate


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## Marsu42 (Dec 3, 2014)

richy said:


> Maybe one of us could have better luck pulling something from the overexposed files?



That's the problem with digital white clipping (unlike raising shadows and denoising): if the data is not there, it's lost for good. You could try to reconstruct the plate id by matching them with all possible letters, but that's forensic technique, not photography :-\


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## TexPhoto (Dec 3, 2014)

Marsu42 said:


> richy said:
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> > Maybe one of us could have better luck pulling something from the overexposed files?
> ...



I say bring it on. You never know if one of us has some forensic techniques up his sleeve. (or back at the office)


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Dec 3, 2014)

AcutancePhotography said:


> Mt Spokane Photography said:
> 
> 
> > I once photographed a friends son in a championship football game for him. After taking about 40 shots, I realized that there was no film in my camera.
> ...


 
I can't remember for sure, but I had a FT about that time. It was a long time ago.


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