Pro tip: always check your camera battery before a meteor shower

I drove two hours out to the desert near Joshua Tree last October for the Orionids, set up my tripod and intervalometer, and got everything framed perfectly. I was about 30 minutes into shooting when my camera just died. I forgot to charge the battery after my last trip. I had to sit there in the dark for four hours, just watching streaks of light I couldn't capture. The only thing I got a picture of was my own stupid face in my phone screen, looking totally defeated. Now I keep two fully charged spares in my bag at all times, no exceptions. Has anyone else had a perfect astro setup ruined by something simple like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_john2d ago

My buddy Dave lost a whole night's Milky Way shots because his memory card was full.

patricialee2d ago

That's brutal, happened to me once too. I always format my cards in-camera before a big shoot now. Saves you from any leftover junk eating up space.

mark_lane422d ago

Formatting cards is smart, but you gotta check the write speed too. I've seen people try to shoot star trails with a cheap class 4 card, and it just locks up the camera after a few shots. Nothing worse than hearing that shutter stop because the buffer's full. Gotta get those V90 cards for timelapses, even if they cost a bit more.