The pain of photography

PaulButler

PaulButler

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Quite literally in my case :(

I had a 3 hour shoot in the studio this Sunday gone and have been on tramadol since! A few years ago I had some remedial surgery on my left shoulder (worst case the surgeon had seen apparently - and I have it on video too :naughty:). It has taken a long while to heal which is as expected and it is quite easy to damage it again.

Might have to get a lighter system :( or give it up! :eek: - think I'll just give getting old up instead ;)

Anyways, got me thinking ... what has been your most painful photography related experience?
 
Everytime i take the camera out

I’m type 2 diabetic and suffer badly with periphal neuropathy, basically my legs feel like i have hiked 100 miles all the time.

So carrying around a gripped 7dmk2 and either a 300 f2.8 or a tripod is stupidly painful, but on the rare occasion I get a nice photo it’s worth the pain.
 
Anytime I have to over-stretch or bend down [ground macro] for extended periods ... I had a discectomy a few years back and I'm riddled with sciatica. I'm fine for short shoots mostly, but any cycling/trekking/climbing/bending etc over a few hours and I'm done in.

I changed to a lighter set up and that has helped a lot, gets me out shooting more.
 
Some times when shooting macro I don't use a strap/sling (it just get in the way). I suffer with tennis elbow, although this doesn't hurt at the time, the next day it is a killer.
 
About a month ago I was taking a photo of a group and I climbed up a steep grass slope to get a better angle and after taking the shot as I turned I felt my foot go pop! I thought I sprained my ankle but it turns out I had cracked a bone in my foot, it still hurts and I can't walk very far.
 
Like Roly I have Type 2 as well and certainly do not carry as much as I used to.

I downsized the weight (but increased the focal length) of my long lens and it surprising how much difference that little 800 gram weight reduction makes. Luckily I can still carry fairly heavy gear for a mile or two but I can see more downsizing coming in the future!
 
Back in the days of film (Remember those?) I had a Nikon FE with a motor wind fitted. It had a loose film wind on lever. I went to take a shot in "Portrait" orientation with the motor set on continuous, pressed the shutter, the wind on lever spun open, caught my right nostril and damn near ripped my face off!
Blood everywhere!
 
Cagey75 said:
I changed to a lighter set up and that has helped a lot, gets me out shooting more.
Click to expand...

johnf3f said:
I downsized the weight (but increased the focal length) of my long lens and it surprising how much difference that little 800 gram weight reduction makes.
Click to expand...

I am considering doing similar, the mistake I made was thinking it was the weight I carry on my back in the rucksack that needed to be reduced, in reality that isn't the case even though carrying less is nicer. What has knackered me this time is hand holding the camera. Not really sure what I'd change to ... I'll see how the recovery goes (no painkillers today so far :) ) and decide then.
 
PaulButler said:
I am considering doing similar, the mistake I made was thinking it was the weight I carry on my back in the rucksack that needed to be reduced, in reality that isn't the case even though carrying less is nicer. What has knackered me this time is hand holding the camera. Not really sure what I'd change to ... I'll see how the recovery goes (no painkillers today so far :) ) and decide then.
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Hand holding a lighter body and lens can make a huge difference over time too though. What about using a light weight monopod?
 
PaulButler said:
I am considering doing similar, the mistake I made was thinking it was the weight I carry on my back in the rucksack that needed to be reduced, in reality that isn't the case even though carrying less is nicer. What has knackered me this time is hand holding the camera. Not really sure what I'd change to ... I'll see how the recovery goes (no painkillers today so far :) ) and decide then.
Click to expand...

If it could help - years ago I badly damaged the rotator cuff in my right shoulder which left me in agony for months and a weak shoulder (unable to lift it above shoulder height without great pain).

However I had a Bullworker given to me by a friend and I began using that (chest height and pushing it in).

At first I couldn't do much - my shoulder would suddenly seem to "pop" and than become very weak.

However I persevered and these days I have no problems at all with it - still a little weak but no pain at all.

Just a possible idea to help.
 
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Cagey75 said:
... What about using a light weight monopod?
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I had considered this, but it doesn't fit the way I like to work but if shove comes to push I guess I'd have to change.

petersmart said:
If it could help - years ago I badly damaged the rotator cuff in my right shoulder which left me in agony for months and a weak shoulder (unable to lift it above shoulder height without great pain).

However I had a Bullworker given to me by a friend and I began using that (chest height and pushing it in).

At first I couldn't do much until my shoulder suddenly seemed to "pop
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I remember the bullworker - something worth looking into, thanks Pete.
 
When I had my 70-200mm L f4 on my 70D ages ago, went out to take some photos of Susie. I remember walking down some stairs, then waking up in hospital with a sore head so asked if my camera was ok. After being told I fell and had 15 stitches in my forehead my camera and lens were fine but the filter wrecked.
 
I am still suffering from mine.. from 52 years ago.
I was photographing a large perfume distillery complex. and was not permitted to take my car to the various site locations.
my Kit including a MPP monorail outfit a ten foot tripod and set of steps. weighing something over two hundred weight. When I had finished I decided to take every thing back to the car in one go.
After about a hundred yards I heard and felt a sharp pain and graunching sound in my back.
I had plainly done some nasty damage, but as I was very busy I just kept on working. After a few weeks I seemed back to normal, but ever since the problem has reoccurred at intervals. In fact I have a physio appointment booked this coming Tuesday.
 
Over 30 years ago I injured my back trying to pick up a disk drive. How times have changed, these days you can balance a 64gb memory card on your little finger and it'll cost about £20/£30 but not so long ago it took two of us to lift a 30mb drive and unfortunately when I tried to lift one by myself I did myself an injury for life.

A good physio therapist helped me, a daily exercise routine keeps me mobile and CSC kit means photography isn't a problem and some days I can almost forget I have an injury.
 
Years ago when running down stairs I caught my foot in a loop of thread from the threadbare stair carpet. I managed to stop what would have been a headlong head first fall down the stairs by grabbing the banister with my right hand. Instead I simply sat down violently with all my weight on the bent over foot trapped underneath me. There was a horrid crack and a fearful amount of pain from the ankle. The hospital told me no bones broken, just torn ans strained ligaments. It took over a year to recover full use of the ankle, and two years before it stopped the occasional nasty twinge if I twisted it too much. I dislocated the thumb joint, tearing some ligaments there. It's still very very slowly recovering, but may never fully recover.

My right hand grip strength has been severely reduced. As a result I can no longer hold the weight of my crop sensor camera with my right hand, even with a little 35mm lens on it. I can't pull the camera out of a holster style bag with my right hand. I can use the right hand to pick the camera up from a shoulder slung strap and raise it up and round to the point where the left hand can take the weight. I've experimented with camera hand and wrist straps and rejected them. To my great surprise I've discovered that if I put a monopod on the camera I can easily take the weight of camera, my heaviest lens (an 80-200mm f2.8), and the monopod, in my right hand, because I can hold all that weight purely by the strength of a finger curl grip around the monopod, no thumb grip strength necessarily involved. So I now often walk about carrying the camera and whatever lens on a monopod, simply because that makes it much easier to carry and to shoot with given my wrecked right hand thumb grip. I rarely use the monopod as a support, mostly just as a convenient easily gripped big camera handle.

Of course even just used unextended as a handy handle the extra weight of the monopod, plus the much increased rotational inertia, plus the more widely spaced two handed camera grip, all add quite a bit to stability of the camera and lower the shutter speeds at which I can get sharp images.
 
woof woof said:
A good physio therapist helped me, a daily exercise routine keeps me mobile and CSC kit means photography isn't a problem and some days I can almost forget I have an injury.
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I had a terrific physio when I lived in Hampshire, ok here but not in the others league. They are worth their weight in gold. Lighter gear is an option ...

chris malcolm said:
Years ago when running down stairs I caught my foot in a loop of thread from the threadbare stair carpet. I managed to stop what would have been a headlong head first fall down the stairs by grabbing the banister with my right hand. Instead I simply sat down violently with all my weight on the bent over foot trapped underneath me. There was a horrid crack and a fearful amount of pain from the ankle. The hospital told me no bones broken, just torn ans strained ligaments. It took over a year to recover full use of the ankle, and two years before it stopped the occasional nasty twinge if I twisted it too much. I dislocated the thumb joint, tearing some ligaments there. It's still very very slowly recovering, but may never fully recover.

My right hand grip strength has been severely reduced. As a result I can no longer hold the weight of my crop sensor camera with my right hand, even with a little 35mm lens on it. I can't pull the camera out of a holster style bag with my right hand. I can use the right hand to pick the camera up from a shoulder slung strap and raise it up and round to the point where the left hand can take the weight. I've experimented with camera hand and wrist straps and rejected them. To my great surprise I've discovered that if I put a monopod on the camera I can easily take the weight of camera, my heaviest lens (an 80-200mm f2.8), and the monopod, in my right hand, because I can hold all that weight purely by the strength of a finger curl grip around the monopod, no thumb grip strength necessarily involved. So I now often walk about carrying the camera and whatever lens on a monopod, simply because that makes it much easier to carry and to shoot with given my wrecked right hand thumb grip. I rarely use the monopod as a support, mostly just as a convenient easily gripped big camera handle.

Of course even just used unextended as a handy handle the extra weight of the monopod, plus the much increased rotational inertia, plus the more widely spaced two handed camera grip, all add quite a bit to stability of the camera and lower the shutter speeds at which I can get sharp images.
Click to expand...
Shows how we can always overcome challenges :)

Byker28i said:
Realising how much I've spent on photography kit over the years? (or perhaps the wife finding out?) :D
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I try not to think about how much ;) but I'm fortunate that my wife is fine with it.
 
PaulButler said:
I am considering doing similar, the mistake I made was thinking it was the weight I carry on my back in the rucksack that needed to be reduced, in reality that isn't the case even though carrying less is nicer. What has knackered me this time is hand holding the camera. Not really sure what I'd change to ... I'll see how the recovery goes (no painkillers today so far :) ) and decide then.
Click to expand...

That was my problem with my (EX) Canon 600 F4 L IS. 5.3 Kilos with a lump of a 1 series on the back of it! I moved to the Canon 800 F5.6 L IS - only a little lighter but slimmer and much more hand hold-able!

Don't get me wrong I have arms like matchsticks, but a little practice and technique make these lenses quite practical without a tripod and I do not use IS - IS mucks up too many shots. I cannot hold my 800mm for long - only seconds! However that is plenty long enough with practice. I should say that I only use this lens hand held when I must, which is about a third of my photography.
 
chris malcolm said:
Years ago when running down stairs I caught my foot in a loop of thread from the threadbare stair carpet. I managed to stop what would have been a headlong head first fall down the stairs by grabbing the banister with my right hand. Instead I simply sat down violently with all my weight on the bent over foot trapped underneath me. There was a horrid crack and a fearful amount of pain from the ankle. The hospital told me no bones broken, just torn ans strained ligaments. It took over a year to recover full use of the ankle, and two years before it stopped the occasional nasty twinge if I twisted it too much. I dislocated the thumb joint, tearing some ligaments there. It's still very very slowly recovering, but may never fully recover.

My right hand grip strength has been severely reduced. As a result I can no longer hold the weight of my crop sensor camera with my right hand, even with a little 35mm lens on it. I can't pull the camera out of a holster style bag with my right hand. I can use the right hand to pick the camera up from a shoulder slung strap and raise it up and round to the point where the left hand can take the weight. I've experimented with camera hand and wrist straps and rejected them. To my great surprise I've discovered that if I put a monopod on the camera I can easily take the weight of camera, my heaviest lens (an 80-200mm f2.8), and the monopod, in my right hand, because I can hold all that weight purely by the strength of a finger curl grip around the monopod, no thumb grip strength necessarily involved. So I now often walk about carrying the camera and whatever lens on a monopod, simply because that makes it much easier to carry and to shoot with given my wrecked right hand thumb grip. I rarely use the monopod as a support, mostly just as a convenient easily gripped big camera handle.

Of course even just used unextended as a handy handle the extra weight of the monopod, plus the much increased rotational inertia, plus the more widely spaced two handed camera grip, all add quite a bit to stability of the camera and lower the shutter speeds at which I can get sharp images.
Click to expand...
I feel that pain. I'm 8 months into recovery on the same type of ankle injury. I'm at a point when some days it feels like nothing is wrong but a short walk in the wrong shoes/trainers can start off a day or two of excruciating pain and awkward walking.
 
After a bit of thought and some sensible discussion, it makes no sense carrying on with heavier gear or not shooting for fear of aggravating the injury further. So sadly the Nikon gear is up for sale and once gone I'll look at lighter systems.
 
A couple of weeks ago I was photographing the start portion of a series of grade school cross country races. I was some way off from the start crouched down in the middle of the course to get a low angle perspective as the runners came to me. Five out of the six races the starter remembered to tell the kids there was a photographer on the course and not to run into him. Yup, the race he forgot to mention it I got run into by a runner. Fortunately, it seemed like a smallish person and mostly a glancing blow. But, wow!
 
Have you tried a carbon fiber monopod and little mirrorless / light prime set-up.

You can get light set-ups that can still be very good.
 
hillwalkinggirl said:
After many injuries, mountains are dangerous things, I sold my Nikon D7000 and heavy lenses and converted to m4/3. The best thing I ever did. I just can't believe I was stupid enough to carry all that heavy stuff around when m4/3 are so good now.
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Considering similar myself now. :) Fuji-X are looking good (APS-C) and will also look at Olympus m4/3rds too.

GTG said:
Have you tried a carbon fiber monopod and little mirrorless / light prime set-up.

You can get light set-ups that can still be very good.
Click to expand...
Not a fan of monpods in a studio, not the way I like to work - as for mirrorless systems, yep am looking at that now.
 
Loads of knocks, scratches, a few scars and bruises :D

But the funniest I can recall was at Spurn Point a couple of years ago when I set off to climb a smallish dune and dropped my tripod, which bounced back up into my face and hit me smack on the nose - blood gushing and not a tissue within 3 miles, so I could only bend over and pinch until it stopped, then walk back with blood all over my face. Must have looked quite shocking I guessed, so I had a short line ready for anyone I met to tell them about the 'bloody vicious Gulls' at the point :D

Dave
 
Nothing I can think of from the gear, but I've been hit by plenty of rocks shooting rallying.

There was also the time I was walking to a stage and slid down a (very muddy) hill, fortunately a fence post luckily broke my fall, and even more fortunately it managed to perfectly miss both my legs :hungover:
 
Phil V said:
Nothing I can think of from the gear, but I've been hit by plenty of rocks shooting rallying.

There was also the time I was walking to a stage and slid down a (very muddy) hill, fortunately a fence post luckily broke my fall, and even more fortunately it managed to perfectly miss both my legs :hungover:
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Ouch ... brought tears to the eyes ...
 
I have a back complaint, and, owing too the results of a blood disorder, my legs/feet can feel like I've just run a marathon, so similar to the OP, lugging around a gripped 7D2, 150-600 Sport and a tripod is asking for trouble. But if you want to shoot wildlife.....

I have since swapped over to Fuji, with an X-T2, grip and 100-400 with 1.4EX. The whole setup is about as heavy as the Sigma lens! :) Also, the pull out screen means I can get down low without having to kneel (another problem I have).

I did put my back out while grabbing my kit quickly to try and shoot a Skylark doing it's thing while down on the South Coast last summer. The walk back to the car was excruciating....
 
Jelster said:
I have since swapped over to Fuji, with an X-T2
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I have an xt-2 coming on hire this weekend to see how I get on with it. I've got the 16-55 f2.8 coming with it so can do a bit of most things I'm interested in (landscape, still life and studio) ... should be interesting.
 
PaulButler said:
I have an xt-2 coming on hire this weekend to see how I get on with it. I've got the 16-55 f2.8 coming with it so can do a bit of most things I'm interested in (landscape, still life and studio) ... should be interesting.
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I love mine Paul, in fact considering a 2nd body now (trade my X-T1). I've used it for wildlife (my main subject) motorsport, and landscape. I need to put it to the test with some portraits soon.
 
Not really photography related but linked to meaning about pain for the things we love (don't worry, no wife jokes approaching).

I referee rugby after giving up playing due t too many injuries. Each game means at least 2 days of pain/recovery and general hobbling around, particularly stairs. You'd think I'd give up but I'm a stubborn so and so and I'm damned if a knackered knee is going to stop me doing the things I want (well, not all of them anyway)
 
Jelster said:
I love mine Paul, in fact considering a 2nd body now (trade my X-T1). I've used it for wildlife (my main subject) motorsport, and landscape. I need to put it to the test with some portraits soon.
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Well .... so far I like the retro look/feel of the body, and the main controls are good to use. The buttons are small, almost too small tbh and it is making BBF a challenge. It is far more responsive than I expected, but not as responsive as my Nikon D810 but not enough of an issue to worry over. I had nightmares with the evf - by default it seems to be set to show exposure which is probably great for most thing, but in a studio using flash? err no - couldn't see a damned thing through it - took a bit of menu diving to find how to switch it off and now its fine. Will need to get used to the evf, it is a little uncomfortable compared to the ovf on the Nikon - I'll be using it a lot today so that will help there.

Initial comparisons between output shows little to be concerned over either - no waxy skin to be seen anywhere ;)

Ergonomically it isn't as good as the Nikon, it isn't terrible or even poor, just not as good. Saying that, it feels lovely in the hand in terms of build quality (so does my Nikon ;)).

No doubt some of the handling issues are a lack of familiarity with the body, but in some respects the Nikon is just so much better (bbf for one, formatting cards another, moving focal points a third - though I do like the joystick implementation, just wished it was better placed!!)

The lens I have hired is superb btw, if I was in the market for a standard pro level zoom for fuji this is the one to get, fast, sharp, beautifully built, weatherproof and lovely rendering, a bit heavy but ...

I'm enjoying using it so far :)

Paule23 said:
Not really photography related but linked to meaning about pain for the things we love (don't worry, no wife jokes approaching).

I referee rugby after giving up playing due t too many injuries. Each game means at least 2 days of pain/recovery and general hobbling around, particularly stairs. You'd think I'd give up but I'm a stubborn so and so and I'm damned if a knackered knee is going to stop me doing the things I want (well, not all of them anyway)
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Injury stopped me playing too so I feel your pain - refs are needed in the sport too, looking back I regret not trying it to see, my dad became a ref when he stopped playing (he once refereed a game I played in which was tremendous). Knackered shoulder for me though, so far the knees are ok!
 
PaulButler said:
Well .... so far I like the retro look/feel of the body, and the main controls are good to use. The buttons are small, almost too small tbh and it is making BBF a challenge. It is far more responsive than I expected, but not as responsive as my Nikon D810 but not enough of an issue to worry over. I had nightmares with the evf - by default it seems to be set to show exposure which is probably great for most thing, but in a studio using flash? err no - couldn't see a damned thing through it - took a bit of menu diving to find how to switch it off and now its fine. Will need to get used to the evf, it is a little uncomfortable compared to the ovf on the Nikon - I'll be using it a lot today so that will help there.

Initial comparisons between output shows little to be concerned over either - no waxy skin to be seen anywhere ;)

Ergonomically it isn't as good as the Nikon, it isn't terrible or even poor, just not as good. Saying that, it feels lovely in the hand in terms of build quality (so does my Nikon ;)).

No doubt some of the handling issues are a lack of familiarity with the body, but in some respects the Nikon is just so much better (bbf for one, formatting cards another, moving focal points a third - though I do like the joystick implementation, just wished it was better placed!!)

The lens I have hired is superb btw, if I was in the market for a standard pro level zoom for fuji this is the one to get, fast, sharp, beautifully built, weatherproof and lovely rendering, a bit heavy but ...

I'm enjoying using it so far :)
Click to expand...

It takes a little getting used to Paul, but I have found it very rewarding.

Quick tip for you to format cards. Hold the trash button for 3 secs then press the rear control dial, it shortcuts to the format command.

I find it better with the grip when I have a big lens (100-400 for instance). The joystick falls nicely to hand when you get used to it, and I can now press the up arrow to switch between zone & spot focus, then use the joystick without removing the camera from my eye. I would find it hard not to use an EVF now, all that information to hand... Not forgetting you can also view the files on the card via the EVF too.
 
35~40 years of cycling in/around London has now left me with COPD and, thanks to countless mash-offs, arthritis in my left limbs (so much for saving the planet! :LOL:) - No way could I carry my old bag full of gear (2 camera bodies, 3 lenses, motor-film-winder plus umpteen filters) so a decent bridge-camera means I can still walk around air-shows etc all day, then only suffer for 1 day afterwards......
OldDuffer.gif
 
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