Dixie Dixon Tells the Nightmarish (Now Funny) Story Behind One of Her First Huge Production Shoots

It’s easy to assume the successful photographers in the industry have always had it figured out. Commercial shoots fell in their laps and they took to the experience like they were born with a Hasselblad in their hands. But that, of course, is not always the case.

In the episode of Behind the Glass above, Nikon Ambassador Dixie Dixon tells the tale of one of her first major campaign shoots… and how it almost went terribly wrong.

Keep in mind, Dixon is no slouch behind the camera. Her clients include Nikon (of course), Disney, Virgin, Kodak, Profoto and many more. But when she was preparing for this first campaign shoot, she made a critical error: she went and bought a new camera right before the shoot.

dixiedixon

By now you know where this is going. The camera, a new D3x, arrived the day before the shoot, but since she’d always shot Nikon she didn’t even think to play around with the new body and get to know it before shoot day… bad idea jeans.

Long story short, the camera was set to Auto ISO, and she spent the better part of 30 minutes (including 15 in the bathroom with her camera manual…) trying to figure out how to change it.

Check out the video up top to hear the whole story for yourself (please excuse the iffy audio…), and once you’re done, share one of your nightmarish stories in the comments down below… ideally one you can laugh about now.

(via ISO 1200)

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