Have you ever left the house in a rush, thinking you have everything you need, only to realize with a quickly-sinking stomach that you forgot something crucial? That happened to me on Friday, but fortunately it’s something I can now laugh about…mostly.

We were dashing out of the house to get to Alexandria for Sean & Claudia’s engagement session, and I grabbed my ThinkTank, purse & jacket and headed to the car. As we pulled up to the spot in Falls Church, I got out and ran to hug my adorable couple before turning back to the car to grab my gear. Only… I left my Kelly Moore bag at home. My Kelly Moore bag, which I carry at EVERY session, which also happened to contain my main camera body + 50mm lens (the one I use for the majority of every session).

Falls Church engagement session | Abby Grace Photography

“Ok, no problem,” I tell myself. “I have a back-up camera body plus additional portrait lenses, we can totally do this.” Only… all my memory cards were in my Kelly Moore. Praying, I double checked the back-up camera body, and to my everlasting delight, there was a memory card contained within. WOO!

Only… there was no battery. And all my back-up batteries? Yeah, those were in my Kelly Moore too. My heart lurched, and though I had a smile pasted on my face, I was ready to throw up. This had never happened to me before! But what could I do other than admit my mistake and hope for the best?

And to my everlasting delight (again!), Sean & Claudia were more gracious that I could have possibly imagined. “No problem! Seriously- don’t sweat it. We were frazzled trying to get here on time, so rescheduling actually works out even better.” Sean & Claudia, I hope you realize how grateful I am that you were so wonderful about that!

Falls Church engagement session | Abby Grace Photography

We ended up rescheduling for a few days later, and sure enough, the session was amazing. But the experience taught me a few things:

  1. I NEED a system in place for triple checking my equipment before an engagement session. I have a detailed process for weddings, so why don’t I have the same for engagement sessions?! I’ll tell you why- it’s because I got comfortable. And sometimes being comfortable means you get lazy, and your lack of an organized system means things slip through the cracks.
  2. I have the greatest couples in the world. My biggest fear was that this amazing couple would be angry with me for wasting their time and forcing a reschedule, but their immediate response of GRACE reminded me of just how grateful I am to working with couples who fit the mold of “ideal client” to a T.
  3. I need to learn to give mySELF grace. I beat myself up for at LEAST 30 minutes after we left. “How could I have been so stupid?” “I can’t believe I did that! How freaking unprofessional am I?” Um, Abby? Chill. Seriously. Yes, it was a mistake, but if your couple wasn’t upset with you, why are you continuing to berate yourself life this? Take the lessons you can from it, do what you can to make it right (I did), and move on. You’re only a failure if you decline to learn anything from the situation.

So, that’s my story. I’ve been shooting for six years now, and this is the first time I’ve ever forgotten my camera. And you can be sure it’ll be the last time it ever happens, because I believe in failing FORWARD- when you make a mistake, learn absolutely everything you can from it!

Falls_Church_AGP_0003

PS- there’s a HUGE announcement coming to the newsletter tonight!! It’s the secret project I’ve been hinting at for months now- I’m SO EXCITED to finally let y’all in on the surprise! If you’re not already subscribed, make sure you’re signed up (just go HERE) by 8pm tonight!

That time I forgot my camera

December 10, 2015

  1. Alicia says:

    Thank you for always being such an honest voice! It would’ve been so easy to hide this but instead, others can learn and grow from your experience and THAT shows you have given yourself grace!

  2. Shalese says:

    I HAVE ALMOST DONE THIS MORE THAN ONCE!! Last week or so when I was headed back to RVA for an engagement session, I backed out of my parents’ driveway before realizing that I just left my ONA bag, complete with my camera body, memory cards & 50mm, in their house. GAH! Can’t wait for the big announcement! 🙂

  3. Krista says:

    Failing Forward = my new favorite phrase! Your positivity is seriously admirable 🙂

  4. Emily says:

    This is always my biggest fear!! Whenever I am leaving the house for a session, I can’t tell you how many times I check and double check and triple check my bags! I have even developed a little check list that I keep handy! 🙂

  5. Rebekah Hoyt says:

    I’ve totally done the same thing!!

  6. Failing Forward = my new favorite phrase! Love you and your positivity, girl!!

  7. Jean says:

    Lessons learned! This looks like a fun couple. Glad it all worked out for the better!

  8. […] these two from this post? I thought you might! We’re back with their full engagement session, and I’m still […]

  9. Kerri says:

    I once forgot all of my backup batteries for my camera AND flashes. I was two hours from home, at a wedding, and of course the batteries in my equipment weren’t completely charged. The DJ let me borrow a few AAs for my flash, as I watched my camera battery drain. Somehow I lucked out and the camera shut off JUST after the final shot of the night. That was definitely my wake up call to make a checklist and triple check it before a wedding!

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