Here’s an idea for a new series of articles that I hope I won’t have the opportunity to share with you on a regular basis. I take a photograph and explain what went wrong. If anything went right, I’ll cover that, too. Sometimes it’s going to be really dumb mistakes, too. Like this one.

First, let me say Mark Daniel Cade is a great actor who I met several years ago. He has performed in several of my stage plays and likely will be one of the leads in my feature film. This guy has “it” written all over him and he works frequently as a result. I’m very fortunate that we share a mutual respect for each other. So, when I use an image of him for the first What Went Wrong article, I want to make it clear that as you will see, what went wrong has nothing to do with Mark. Mark rocks! Oh, and he knows how to ride a unicycle.

The Idea: I had a meeting with Mark to see if he was interested in playing a particular part in this feature film I’ll directing soon. Most Hollywood meetings start with some small talk, especially if the people involved already have a relationship. Oh, and in Hollywood, everyone already has some sort of relationship with the other people in the room – even if they have to make it up. But Mark and I have been pals for some time so we were chatting about Christmas and I mentioned that my wife had bought me a unicycle. Mark tells me that he used to ride a unicycle. Well, the sparks start flying in my brain hole and I passed out. When I came to I had the idea for what I thought would be a funny and cool looking image: a guy in the middle of a bike race, only he’s on a unicycle. They call it subversion of expectation. It’s one of my favorite techniques for entertaining my audience.

What Worked: You may disagree, but I think the framing, the pose, the lighting (for the most part), and the acting all work well. I shot other angles, but felt this one was closest to my taste for what I like, while at the same time letting the eye discover the unicycle rather than just throwing it too much in your face.

What Went Wrong: Don’t know if you’ll notice it at the 500px resolution, but if you click on the image it will pop out a 1000px version and I think you’ll notice it. This puppy is softer than an overripe tomato on hot asphalt. Did something go wrong with the focus? Nope. I made a total rookie mistake. I was using a flash off camera. My 5DmII only syncs up to 1/200 so as he rode by the camera the movement created a blur. You may be thinking, “I thought flash stops action.” Sure, if you’re ambient is low enough to not expose your moving subject. This was mid afternoon. It was bright. I’m a dope. I almost never take action shots. And when I do, I don’t combine them with off camera flash so I can roll that shutter up to 1/8000 if that bug that lives in my ear tells me to. Also, I didn’t have my Hoodman Loupe with me and I was being lazy by not zooming in to check the focus. What a dope. Anything else? Well, it would have been nice to have a stylist there. I don’t think the shoes work as well as they could and the outfit could have been more extreme, but for a zero budget shoot with only an hour to get everything, not bad. Well, except for the blur. ARGHH! Oh well.

What I’d Try Different Next Time: I don’t think I’ll be making this mistake again (don’t worry, there are plenty more to make). So if I am going to do this same type of shot again, what would I do differently? I’d just have to gang some 580′s (flashes) together to get enough power and use the high speed sync to pull a higher shutter speed. Pain in the butt, for sure, but at least the images would be usable for something other than a What Went Wrong post. Either that or just pose the action so it’s not actually moving. Kinda tricky with a unicycle, but might work.

Do you have any other ideas of what to do different? Think there is more wrong with the image than I’ve pointed out. Let me know in the comments below. My fragile hart can take it. I hope.

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