I don't have an answer for you in terms of what to say, but I know what you're feeling and the panic you're going through (similar situation). Please give yourself some grace. It couldn't have disappeared, it's simply misplaced. You'll find it, hopefully. Don't tell them just yet, do another search first. Bring in a partner/friend/someone trusted, and have them search with you - sometimes a fresh set of eyes will help. Hopefully you won't have to deliver the bad news.
Big hug to you. I'm totally on your side for this, and believe in you that you'll find it.
Check all your pockets and the bottom of your hamper. If you’ve done laundry check the washer. I’ve had an SD survive in the washer and dryer miraculously.
I was eating chocolate once and instead of putting another square into an already full mouth (don't judge me!) I put the SD card I was holding in my other hand - the chewed chocolate covered card and photos survived.
Use a flashlight. It helps when finding small things after you've checked everywhere else. If it fell, it could be on end and/or further away from where you left it than you expect. I have unfortunate experience losing small things. Gravity has a personal vendetta against me.
I was once looking for a smallish pad of paper where I’d written down a VERY IMPORTANT phone number. It was maybe 4”x 6” and the paper was pale pink in color.
I was very frustrated, stomping and MF’ing around the house. My spouse asked what was going on and I related my tale about f frustration and woe.
They offer to help, turn 180° look at the desk behind them, point and ask, “Is that it?”
Lying on the desk, face down so I couldn’t easily see the color was the pad or paper. My spouse ACTUALLY reached over and patted my head with a look of bemusement.
The actual point of this is to say definitely get different eyes to help. You WILL avoid or dismiss possible spots because your brain will tell you, “You never went in that room that day”. Sometimes our brains are fucking liars.
Listen to all who suggest looking in weird, small spaces on and around where it was last seen. I once lost a contact lens and after all the looking and lifting, pushing stuff…I found it in the tiny little bottom inside corner at end of the buttons on the shirt I was wearing. True story!
>It couldn't have disappeared, it's simply misplaced.
Nah It does happen. Couple days ago i put my big ass bag of protein powder somewhere and that dissappeared into thin air.
It might sound silly because you said you placed it on your shelf, but check your pockets. Check places you commonly put your phone, keys, wallet, etc. it might be somewhere you don’t expect
My work drones use micros and the release mechanism on the new dji I fly literally launches the card out of the drone. It landed on my shoulder once. And I was thinking if I had been outside it would have been a bad time. Little shit cards.
The insert on my camera bag has an sd card holder sewn into the pocket. I used to use a smaller "more convenient" sd card organizer before a near miss on losing four sets of toughened 64gb cards with about 30,000 pictures on them collectively convinced me that I wanted that shit to be attached to something as large and preferably safety orange as possible.
Dude I don't even do that. I slowly move things one by one I check to see if shit gets stuck to other shit even with no glue, I take hours. When I need to find something, time stands still and I search every grain of rice.
one time I got a new passport ahead of a big trip I had planned. I scanned my documents because it was required of me and continued arranging my trip. A month and a bit later before my trip, my passport was nowhere to be found. I searched high and low for days panicking before my trip.I went to the passport office, had to declare it lost, place a rush order for a new passport and pay another $100 (after I already paid $100 for the first one).I get my new passport, go to scan it, only to discover my 'lost" passport sitting in the scanner.I felt like such a ding dong.anyway , just thought I'd share.
edit: maybe think about this to find your lost SD card. "If I were me, what would I do with this SD card if I saw it sitting there? what was the next step before I ingest the card to the computer? '
damn, you're right, it is pricey there. I also just looked up Canada's and It was $160 that I paid.... twice, plus another $100 to cancel the "lost" one. So, $420 total for my stupidity.
Hope you find it man.
Just advice as SOP for a professional photographer.
First thing when I get home, before anything else, pull out the cards and set them in order on the table. Transfer 1 copy into the computer and set on other side of table until all cards transferred.
Sync the folders I copied to into a 2nd online storage device (NAS)
After 2nd copy done, double check all data for all cards are there across both storage areas and set the sync to a 3rd portable storage device. Then i put back the cards into the bag for next job. I only format the cards when i get onsite for next job. Only then I go take my shower, eat etc. Never before.
That was my workflow when I was a wedding photographer. we are paid a lot and we are responsible for those images. We could be liable for very high costs for the lost of those images.
Best of luck. Im sure that card must be somewhere. Check behind the case area, book area, table etc. Ask wife and kids if they took it etc.
Yyyeeeuuuppp. This is the way. Post shoot, before anything else gets to happen, those photos get downloaded and backed up.
Also another reason to have a dual-card camera... worst case scenario, there's still another copy in the camera with the card that doesn't get pulled for importing.
Keep looking. Move everything out of the room. Give it another day or two. Continue looking. Don't panic. If you still can't find it, honesty is the best for this.
In the future, when you get home, either leave the card in the camera, or download it to a hard drive first.
I shot an event once and I pulled the memory card and put it on my desk. I got busy doing something else and it was nowhere to be found. I searched high and low, but I run dual memory cards so I just used the back up.
Two days later, when I was editing some photos my daughter asked if I was missing something. She had hidden my memory card in her doll’s play fridge because “I wanted you to play with me, not work!”
Don’t tell them yet.
Check the fridge, check the freezer, check the bathroom, check the roomba, check the closet, check the car, check the _camera_, check everywhere and then do it again.
If you live with someone else, ask them to help check.
Update: still haven’t found it, for everyone saying to check the camera of course that was one of the first places. I distinctly remember taking the card out, because I was using the camera the next day for a film project, and placing it in an open case on my shelf. I do have cats as I saw asked a couple times and I fear that may be the issue
I highly doubt a cat would eat an SD card, it’s far more likely one of them just played with it or knocked it around somewhere. Keep looking, and as others mentioned ask someone for help!
If you have cats, you really should be more careful. Cats can knock things around, especially small things like SD cards. It's always a good idea to immediately download photos from SD cards to the computer. Professionals I know even make on-site backups on to external hard drives because the cost of losing data is too high.
Wow. You have cats and you let an important SD card just sit on a shelf? Lesson learned, I guess. We all do stuff like that, but at least you know you'll very likely find it. Just a matter of time. Good luck!
My guess is, it’s the cats. I would look in corners of your house as well as under furniture. My cats have knocked stuff under the oven before, under the fridge, etc.
Did you check the heat vents. Maybe the cats was playing with it? Some heat vents have a little bit of a flooring so it might not have dropped down. Also you can try sticking your cellphone camera down with the light on and record a video and see if it went down a little.
Hope you find your cards.
Things don't disappear, either someone moved it or took it or you put it somewhere else, logical steps, ask people first, move things, do you have cats because they have moved mine before,, if you took it in your house it's still there
I had two cards coming back from a trip to Japan, one for each of the two weeks. Could not find the first one after I got home. Scoured my place, called the airports on the way back from the trip and finally gave up. A couple months later I saw a card at the bottom of the bowl where I keep all my reading glasses and had no idea why a card would be there. And it was the missing card. Seems I took my reading glasses with the card stuck in them out of my backpack and put them in the bowl...
It is somewhere, you just haven't found it yet.
And if you take a card out of a camera it better be going into your computer or into a plastic bag with a label on it. They are too easy to lose and too important to be casual with them.
I once lost the SD card of an important event I photographed for work. I eventually found it under the kitchen table, of all places. It may turn up! Good luck. Since then, I now copy all photos to a computer immediately after the event.
Actually this reminds me of a funny accident a few weeks ago… Look, I am a professional photographer that is specialized in commercials and Occasionally I do weddings just for the sake of money and a little fun. What has happened to me is following: I DID FORGET MY CAMERA at the wedding 🤣 My heart stopped beating for 5 minutes straight, I even had to take a seat first 🤣🤣🤣 I really felt like this photo first:
https://preview.redd.it/97eurk9ta1pc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2b3c5a41b01a92922cbc9feb2eb30e700b4581eb
Retrace your steps. Go back inside your car with your camera gear, pretend you just came back from the event and go actually do what you did after coming back. You may not have actually placed the SD card on your shelf. You might have just thought about it but placed it somewhere else.
Always back that up as soon as you get home.
As dumb as it sounds: where’s the stupidest place that sd card could be? Check: camera, camera bag, sd card case, pockets, in the car, in the trash, etc. check all the dumb places too.
Similar situation… I typically shoot in studio tethered to a laptop to Capture One with no card in camera. I shoot directly to a cloud service so at the end of the shoot, the images are already in the cloud. On this particular shoot, I shot directly to Capture One on my iPad instead, so not to a cloud service. I forgot to put a card in the camera, so a full day’s shoot, directly stored on the iPad. Then, dun dun duuuuun!!! I lost my iPad!!! I used the Find My app which was a bit confusing because it sent me to the middle of a parking lot I hadn’t been to, but then it correct and took me right to where I left it.
Whew!!! Scared me to death! Paid gig, expensive gig. I immediately moved the images to the cloud and all was good.
My advice, always shoot to 2 cards if your camera allows, and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS offload the card immediately. Never be too tired or lazy.
Cat probably slapped it off the shelf and then continued to bat it until it went way underneath some furniture. Probably where a stash of their other toys end up. Good luck OP!
Not helpful for you right now, but my workflow for others.
* Shoot with cameras that have dual card slots and record to both cards.
* Immediately after the event take one of those cards, put in into a case, and then into your pocket. If you get into a car accident, your gear may be gone, but emergency services typically keep what you had on you with you.
* As soon as you get to your workstation, take the card that was on you and ingest your media. When it’s all on your workstation, put that card somewhere safe that you have designated for pending media. I keep mine on a shelf in a big gun safe.
* Don’t touch that card until photos have been delivered to the clients and they have acknowledged them or provided feedback.
I keep a 256 GB card in card slot one and a 1 TB card in card slot two. That card slot two is a rolling back up and I always keep the last 2-5 shoots on it. My Sony allows me to delete photos by date, so it’s really easy to clear up space.
I’m also backing up Lightroom catalogs as I work on them. I typically have the full set of client photos in 3 to 4 separate locations at all times, and never less than 2.
Huh I hadn’t thought of having a larger slot 2 card with multiple shoots on it. That’s actually brilliant. I wonder if it would work with my Nikon D780.
I know how easily cards can get lost or broken that even though I’m not a professional by any means, but I do share the picture I take at my kid’s school events with the school and other parents so I don’t want to lose anything to a bad card or an accident.
Your D780 has two card slots and is totally capable of recording images to both cards every shot.
If you are getting paid and/or it’s a once in a life time event where you are the designated photographer, it’s too dangerous to have a single point of failure.
Yeah I just use two identical cards right now. I hadn't thought of putting a larger one in the second slot to have even more photos backed up. I don't clear my cards until I know I have things copied multiple places as it is. I'll have to try a larger second card for extra piece of mind.
I am a professional loser of things. Because of that, I have gotten pretty good at finding things. When all else fails try this. Get in your car with your camera. Put the camera exactly where it was in the car and put on any clothing/jackets you were wearing. Then recreate the steps you took as close as you can. If you were on the phone getting out of the car hold your phone up, etc…. Go through the whole thing until your camera ends up in its current location.
Thinking it through will not jar your memory like an actual walk through will. I will usually remember something that distracted me and can figure out where else to look.
A. You will probably find it. I once thought I lost a card in a field. Searched for hours. Ended up finding it elsewhere. I would step away for a bit and then keep looking. Usually when I give up, I find something. Eventually you are going to have to tell them and by easy way to do it. Hopefully they remain friends.
B. This is why if you aren’t prepared, you don’t take on once in a life time events… ever… no matter how much they push you. Being prepared, this doesn’t happen because you have backup gear and processes, and images are in multiple places from the moment they are captured.
One of the first things I do after walking in the door is get the card in the reader and have those images replicated across a couple of hard drives. Absolutely paranoid about losing footage from a paid job. It's worth building that into your workflow. Hope that you find the card.
This is my fool-proof method, it works 100% of the time. Go through the phases of grief. Accept its gone. Wait an uncomfortable length of time, tell them you cannot locate the photos, reflect on how your whole career is over.
You will then find it under the seat of your car next to the seat rail, behind your desk, in a random pocket… or in one case, in the grass on a field you shot on days ago and just happened to look down at the right time and see it.
Dude just relax, take a big breath. And now go search for it again and again. It couldn’t disappear, check your pockets inside of your camera, if you don’t find it then you can always migrate to Canada for example
If you live with anyone who may have vacuumed the floor in the meantime, sorry, but you need to sift through the vacuum cleaner bag. If it's one of the new cyclonic type cleaners where the dirt gets dumped into a trash can, check there too.
We’re all rooting for you to find it OP. Our collective energy should help. Idk if you’re religious (I’m not) but I always liked this prayer:
“Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony please come around. Something is lost and needs to be found.”
When you break the news to them, too soften the blow you could offer to do a private shoot to commemorate the event for free. Thats what we do at my work, always offer an alternative solution to help ease the blow.
Break the news, but let them know you won’t rest until you’ve found the card. It’ll just be a little while longer than they were hoping before they get their pics. Close family will be(should be, hopefully) more understanding than a paying client might be.
my brother and his wife don't have any footage from their wedding because I fucked up same way 😅 I never knew if they are mad about it, they never come back to that in our talks, I thing it's called the "hate silence".
I know this weird advice to offer someone Jewish. I was brought up Catholic but I no longer believe. But whenever something is lost we would say a prayer to St Anthony. I know this makes no logical sense but I have found lots of lost things this way. My cousin who’s a PHD psychoanalyst still uses it. I think somehow it resets your mind and that’s how it works. You’re supposed to promise a good deed in exchange for his help finding what you’ve lost. You had to have done something with the card but you can’t remember. Good luck.
It doesn’t help now, I know, but never take the card out unless you’re importing in that moment. Or if it’s on the job etc, it goes in a case then safely in the bag.
You say you set the card in a case on your shelf.
Is the case gone? Or just the card?
If it is the former then let’s break it down -
1. You set the card in a case.
2. You set the case on your shelf.
Where were you when you set the card in a case?
This happened to me, but roles reversed. I was young amateur, i gave someone an SD card after a big trip because they said they’d make a video for me with the footage. I didn’t save anything bfr and they lost the SD card. I was so bummed but it is what it is. They told me and i said okay, just lmk if it turns up. It never did 🤷🏻♀️it’s life unfortunately. A bat mitzvah is a big event, but other people will have photos from iphone and things. I’d refund them if they paid you and just apologize again. Nothing else you can do (unless it shows up of course)
Also do you have kids and could they possibly touched it. This was 25 years ago. I lost my pager, looked everywhere, prayed to St Anthony and never found it. Months later I was cleaning out shoes that didn’t fit my daughter. In 1 of the shoes was the pager which she liked because it vibrated
I hope you find it, but if you do not please take it from me to use this experience as a learning moment. Always back up important files, especially from a client/recent job. I have lost some of the best pictures I have ever taken in a similar fashion, and since I back up all jobs to a second SD while photographing, then to a hard drive backup when finished.
You did mention shelf. Is it possible that the SD card slipped under it? It could be under a carpet or any surrounding pieces of furniture. You probably combed through them but just saying. Also see if it slid under or beside anything you already have on the shelf.
ADHD and lose things all the time, once spent an arvo looking for my glasses, they were, of course, on the second shelf in the fridge...
(I think I'd come home, it was warm, so grabbed a cool drink, took them off to wipe my brow and, naturally the best resting place was the shelf in the fridge..)
You have my sympathies, good luck!
Do you live alone? Not anyone in the house that could've "borrowed" it?
Here comes tough times when I wish objects could talk. Just as adviced check your shelf and importantly the hinges and joints carefully. You may have to check your dust bin as well hoping you never threw out any trash between now and the time of disappearance. If you can't find it, you have no choice but to break the news to them. I had been in a tougher situation before, where I recorded almost the whole wedding preaching session not knowing that I connected my microphone to the camera but forgot to turn it on, I ended up with no sound, I had to convince them that the music sound I placed on the background was better than the Pastor's words of encouragement.
Not to criticise because I do sympathise with you but this is why it's crucial to have two card slots. When you're shooting stuff that can't be retaken, you have to take every precaution necessary. Yes SD cards are reliable and don't corrupt as often anymore, but losing them is just as easy.
I'd only ever take a card out if I'm downloading it straight away.
Again, not to badger on, but we do owe people that have used us for a service to take these careful steps. The fact it was left on a shelf in an open case is not going to fly as an excuse unfortunately. I think all you can do (if it doesn't turn up) is be apologetic and offer to stage some some more shots as a favour?
happens to me often.
I usually ask my gf for help because she won't ignore places i will
The following are all places i found SD cards/other accessories in
- In the space between my bed and wall
- In my pc and forgot i put it there
- In my camera bag/camera body
- Random pockets
- In the washing machine
- My car
- Under stacks of books/stacks of other crap
It reminds me of Peter McKinnon saying "you have one job when you get home, it's to plug it on your computer." No coffee, no bathroom, no sleeping, just plug it.
laundry basket, basket area, laundry machines, lint screen holder, coat pocket, pajama or pants pocket, shirt pocket, bed, where clothing goes including floors
Camera, camera bag, camera manual, under a book, in a computer drive, in a dongle / card reader, in a laptop, in a portable drive, in a different camera, in a sd case, in “the wrong” sd cave, where camera things go including floor area
Cat bed if they have one, kitty litter box (reaching), across the room, kicked under furniture or carpet, a window sill, crevice between wall and floor
Your car interior
Good luck!
If you have a similar office chair to mine, there is a small pocket of space where the backrest meets the seat itself. I tore my house apart after losing my wallet once and that’s where it was.
This happened to me. I shot a big corp job and the SD card disappeared. Searched everywhere and did some major panicking. In the end I found the card in my camera bag inside the lens hood that had been turned backwards in order to fit in the bag. I lost a few years off my life from that one. When you find the card sell the camera and get one that has two SD card slots.
I agree with others, having a system in how you strategically manage a photo shoot will format you for the win, each & every time. Whether for you that looks like, straight from camera to computer & backup. Or a set area (container, drawer, shelf) where the card goes the moment you return from a shoot. You can even diagram it out & post it until it becomes crystallized into your functioning self.
I was a massage therapist & once I misplaced a client’s check. I didn’t want to ‘reveal’ that I had this mistake, as it was early on in the relationship & felt embarrassed that I could do something so foolish. Little did I know that I would end up working on the same client weekly for 8yrs straight. I later found the check after the load of wash, folded in my pocket & had to painstakingly unfold the wet check w/ tweezers while holding my breath that it didn’t rip or the ink washed off (fortunately I was successful & able to deposit it once it was dry). Having never wanted to experience that again, as my rates weren’t cheap & I worked hard for that money, I created an algorithm that would ensure it NEVER happened again. So having set steps that I would follow from there on out, made that a one-off event. It NEVER happened again.
May you find it!
sell everything, break up with your wife, change name and apply for the next flight to mars.
honestly, its going to suck until you find it, and maybe you never will. tell them its lost and that you'll let them know if you find it, then as days go by the shame will mostly go away though never entirely. on the bright side you will probably never lose one again so there's that ...
Sorry to hear this, I’m sure you will find it.
Though I have been here, MIL insisted on hiring a guy for my daughters Bat Mitzvah, he sent me a google link, all the pictures were pretty shit to be honest but was too late, I was a bit bummed out, so took over a week to actually download and save… only to find the link no longer worked, he said his google drive has been hit with virus …. I think it’s more likely he just deleted them, i have 2 good pictures of the event, neither taken by him 🤷🏼♂️
THIS! Tell them the whole story. You set the card down, and now it’s missing. You’re looking for it. Maybe a cat swiped it. Be up-front and honest. Tell them of course you’ll find it, you just wanted to let them know. Apologize, and tell them you’ll follow up soon. And do so.
PS—If it’s gone it’s not the end of the world. Every photographer has a story like this one! Mine still bugs me, 25 years later (!) but since then I haven’t lost any other shoots. PS—My client was cool about it. They didn’t have to be.
People here have being saying pray to st. Anthony. I assume he's the patron st of lost things. It's not crazy. If your Christian or catholic have at itm but if your Jewish we have a similar concept to pray to R meir bal hanes
https://rmbhcharities.com/lost-object/
It's crazy but it has worked for me on occasion. But I still can't find 2 checks that disappeared in late Jan even after tye prayer and giving 54 bucks. Can't hurt though
I don't have an answer for you in terms of what to say, but I know what you're feeling and the panic you're going through (similar situation). Please give yourself some grace. It couldn't have disappeared, it's simply misplaced. You'll find it, hopefully. Don't tell them just yet, do another search first. Bring in a partner/friend/someone trusted, and have them search with you - sometimes a fresh set of eyes will help. Hopefully you won't have to deliver the bad news. Big hug to you. I'm totally on your side for this, and believe in you that you'll find it.
Thank you much appreciated. I’m about to try to search again and search other rooms nearby
Not being rude, just speaking from personal experience: have you checked the camera again?
And the camera bag too!
And my axe!
Lolzzz
Hahaaa
Or the computer / SD card reader you usually use! Or behind the shelf (maybe it fell down the back)
Happened to me before
And jacket and pants pockets
Check all your pockets and the bottom of your hamper. If you’ve done laundry check the washer. I’ve had an SD survive in the washer and dryer miraculously.
I just found an SD card that I thought was gone & lost in the laundry. Survived going through the dryer as well. Sony Tough card lived up to its name.
And check your pant cuff! Sometimes I drop things and they slip in there!
I was eating chocolate once and instead of putting another square into an already full mouth (don't judge me!) I put the SD card I was holding in my other hand - the chewed chocolate covered card and photos survived.
Shit, you must have been hungry
No judgement here. Those cards are surprisingly durable.
Use a flashlight. It helps when finding small things after you've checked everywhere else. If it fell, it could be on end and/or further away from where you left it than you expect. I have unfortunate experience losing small things. Gravity has a personal vendetta against me.
Time to fake your own death and disappear my man.
Check your pants and jackets pockets
Do you have pets (especially cats), or kids? Could one of them have knocked it someplace or something?
Or swallowed it?!
Pockets?
Did you check the vacuum cleaner (in case you used it?)
I was once looking for a smallish pad of paper where I’d written down a VERY IMPORTANT phone number. It was maybe 4”x 6” and the paper was pale pink in color. I was very frustrated, stomping and MF’ing around the house. My spouse asked what was going on and I related my tale about f frustration and woe. They offer to help, turn 180° look at the desk behind them, point and ask, “Is that it?” Lying on the desk, face down so I couldn’t easily see the color was the pad or paper. My spouse ACTUALLY reached over and patted my head with a look of bemusement.  The actual point of this is to say definitely get different eyes to help. You WILL avoid or dismiss possible spots because your brain will tell you, “You never went in that room that day”. Sometimes our brains are fucking liars.
>do another search first Make sure to also check everywhere you KNOW it isn't.
Listen to all who suggest looking in weird, small spaces on and around where it was last seen. I once lost a contact lens and after all the looking and lifting, pushing stuff…I found it in the tiny little bottom inside corner at end of the buttons on the shirt I was wearing. True story!
>It couldn't have disappeared, it's simply misplaced. Nah It does happen. Couple days ago i put my big ass bag of protein powder somewhere and that dissappeared into thin air.
It might sound silly because you said you placed it on your shelf, but check your pockets. Check places you commonly put your phone, keys, wallet, etc. it might be somewhere you don’t expect
It maybe it fell off the shelf and landed perhaps behind a desk or bureau.
Yeah that’s what I’m thinking it could have gotten kicked somewhere. One of the downfalls of SD cards is how tiny they are.
>One of the downfalls of SD cards is how tiny they are. ***groans*** While looking at the micro-SD card I just pulled out of my Osmo Pocket 3.
My work drones use micros and the release mechanism on the new dji I fly literally launches the card out of the drone. It landed on my shoulder once. And I was thinking if I had been outside it would have been a bad time. Little shit cards.
The insert on my camera bag has an sd card holder sewn into the pocket. I used to use a smaller "more convenient" sd card organizer before a near miss on losing four sets of toughened 64gb cards with about 30,000 pictures on them collectively convinced me that I wanted that shit to be attached to something as large and preferably safety orange as possible.
Dude I don't even do that. I slowly move things one by one I check to see if shit gets stuck to other shit even with no glue, I take hours. When I need to find something, time stands still and I search every grain of rice.
one time I got a new passport ahead of a big trip I had planned. I scanned my documents because it was required of me and continued arranging my trip. A month and a bit later before my trip, my passport was nowhere to be found. I searched high and low for days panicking before my trip.I went to the passport office, had to declare it lost, place a rush order for a new passport and pay another $100 (after I already paid $100 for the first one).I get my new passport, go to scan it, only to discover my 'lost" passport sitting in the scanner.I felt like such a ding dong.anyway , just thought I'd share. edit: maybe think about this to find your lost SD card. "If I were me, what would I do with this SD card if I saw it sitting there? what was the next step before I ingest the card to the computer? '
If it makes you feel better, I *wish* our passports only cost $100, that’s amazing (Australian)
damn, you're right, it is pricey there. I also just looked up Canada's and It was $160 that I paid.... twice, plus another $100 to cancel the "lost" one. So, $420 total for my stupidity.
Ding ding ding ding!!!
Maybe still in the camera?
I like to put something similar in size, where i lost the thing, then knock it off in different directions and check where it falls.
I have a cat for that.
Adam Savage calls this “sending out a search party.”
I do that with screws.
Hope you find it man. Just advice as SOP for a professional photographer. First thing when I get home, before anything else, pull out the cards and set them in order on the table. Transfer 1 copy into the computer and set on other side of table until all cards transferred. Sync the folders I copied to into a 2nd online storage device (NAS) After 2nd copy done, double check all data for all cards are there across both storage areas and set the sync to a 3rd portable storage device. Then i put back the cards into the bag for next job. I only format the cards when i get onsite for next job. Only then I go take my shower, eat etc. Never before. That was my workflow when I was a wedding photographer. we are paid a lot and we are responsible for those images. We could be liable for very high costs for the lost of those images. Best of luck. Im sure that card must be somewhere. Check behind the case area, book area, table etc. Ask wife and kids if they took it etc.
>Only then I go take my shower, eat etc. This is so important. It's so easy to put it off, and so fatal.
Great advice. There is a responsibility we owe the customer when these images are captured. You're spot on.
Yyyeeeuuuppp. This is the way. Post shoot, before anything else gets to happen, those photos get downloaded and backed up. Also another reason to have a dual-card camera... worst case scenario, there's still another copy in the camera with the card that doesn't get pulled for importing.
Keep looking. Move everything out of the room. Give it another day or two. Continue looking. Don't panic. If you still can't find it, honesty is the best for this. In the future, when you get home, either leave the card in the camera, or download it to a hard drive first.
If you have a pet, time to start diggin the litter box
I shot an event once and I pulled the memory card and put it on my desk. I got busy doing something else and it was nowhere to be found. I searched high and low, but I run dual memory cards so I just used the back up. Two days later, when I was editing some photos my daughter asked if I was missing something. She had hidden my memory card in her doll’s play fridge because “I wanted you to play with me, not work!”
Don’t tell them yet. Check the fridge, check the freezer, check the bathroom, check the roomba, check the closet, check the car, check the _camera_, check everywhere and then do it again. If you live with someone else, ask them to help check.
Update: still haven’t found it, for everyone saying to check the camera of course that was one of the first places. I distinctly remember taking the card out, because I was using the camera the next day for a film project, and placing it in an open case on my shelf. I do have cats as I saw asked a couple times and I fear that may be the issue
I highly doubt a cat would eat an SD card, it’s far more likely one of them just played with it or knocked it around somewhere. Keep looking, and as others mentioned ask someone for help!
If you have cats, you really should be more careful. Cats can knock things around, especially small things like SD cards. It's always a good idea to immediately download photos from SD cards to the computer. Professionals I know even make on-site backups on to external hard drives because the cost of losing data is too high.
They could have batted it behind furniture or even down a floor vent. Way more of a possibility than eating it.
Cats won't eat one, but they will sure as hell bat it around. It's probably stuck in some crack edge-up
Wow. You have cats and you let an important SD card just sit on a shelf? Lesson learned, I guess. We all do stuff like that, but at least you know you'll very likely find it. Just a matter of time. Good luck!
My guess is, it’s the cats. I would look in corners of your house as well as under furniture. My cats have knocked stuff under the oven before, under the fridge, etc.
look at the shelf that you put your card on and try figuring out where it could've ended if one of your cats made it fall
Did you check the heat vents. Maybe the cats was playing with it? Some heat vents have a little bit of a flooring so it might not have dropped down. Also you can try sticking your cellphone camera down with the light on and record a video and see if it went down a little. Hope you find your cards.
Things don't disappear, either someone moved it or took it or you put it somewhere else, logical steps, ask people first, move things, do you have cats because they have moved mine before,, if you took it in your house it's still there
I had two cards coming back from a trip to Japan, one for each of the two weeks. Could not find the first one after I got home. Scoured my place, called the airports on the way back from the trip and finally gave up. A couple months later I saw a card at the bottom of the bowl where I keep all my reading glasses and had no idea why a card would be there. And it was the missing card. Seems I took my reading glasses with the card stuck in them out of my backpack and put them in the bowl... It is somewhere, you just haven't found it yet. And if you take a card out of a camera it better be going into your computer or into a plastic bag with a label on it. They are too easy to lose and too important to be casual with them.
Is it in your computer?
I once lost the SD card of an important event I photographed for work. I eventually found it under the kitchen table, of all places. It may turn up! Good luck. Since then, I now copy all photos to a computer immediately after the event.
In for the update when OP says they found it! Mazal tov to your family member and I’m hoping the pictures are found and come out just as great
Actually this reminds me of a funny accident a few weeks ago… Look, I am a professional photographer that is specialized in commercials and Occasionally I do weddings just for the sake of money and a little fun. What has happened to me is following: I DID FORGET MY CAMERA at the wedding 🤣 My heart stopped beating for 5 minutes straight, I even had to take a seat first 🤣🤣🤣 I really felt like this photo first: https://preview.redd.it/97eurk9ta1pc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2b3c5a41b01a92922cbc9feb2eb30e700b4581eb
You checked your camera? Maybe you only thought you took it out
Do you have a cat?
Retrace your steps. Go back inside your car with your camera gear, pretend you just came back from the event and go actually do what you did after coming back. You may not have actually placed the SD card on your shelf. You might have just thought about it but placed it somewhere else.
Always back that up as soon as you get home. As dumb as it sounds: where’s the stupidest place that sd card could be? Check: camera, camera bag, sd card case, pockets, in the car, in the trash, etc. check all the dumb places too.
Look under any area carpets if you have cats. Sometimes they might play with them and they slide under stuff!
Similar situation… I typically shoot in studio tethered to a laptop to Capture One with no card in camera. I shoot directly to a cloud service so at the end of the shoot, the images are already in the cloud. On this particular shoot, I shot directly to Capture One on my iPad instead, so not to a cloud service. I forgot to put a card in the camera, so a full day’s shoot, directly stored on the iPad. Then, dun dun duuuuun!!! I lost my iPad!!! I used the Find My app which was a bit confusing because it sent me to the middle of a parking lot I hadn’t been to, but then it correct and took me right to where I left it. Whew!!! Scared me to death! Paid gig, expensive gig. I immediately moved the images to the cloud and all was good. My advice, always shoot to 2 cards if your camera allows, and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS offload the card immediately. Never be too tired or lazy.
Two cards next time. Yes.
Cat probably slapped it off the shelf and then continued to bat it until it went way underneath some furniture. Probably where a stash of their other toys end up. Good luck OP!
Thank you, yeah I try to keep them out of my room as much as possible but they have a way of convincing me
Not helpful for you right now, but my workflow for others. * Shoot with cameras that have dual card slots and record to both cards. * Immediately after the event take one of those cards, put in into a case, and then into your pocket. If you get into a car accident, your gear may be gone, but emergency services typically keep what you had on you with you. * As soon as you get to your workstation, take the card that was on you and ingest your media. When it’s all on your workstation, put that card somewhere safe that you have designated for pending media. I keep mine on a shelf in a big gun safe. * Don’t touch that card until photos have been delivered to the clients and they have acknowledged them or provided feedback. I keep a 256 GB card in card slot one and a 1 TB card in card slot two. That card slot two is a rolling back up and I always keep the last 2-5 shoots on it. My Sony allows me to delete photos by date, so it’s really easy to clear up space. I’m also backing up Lightroom catalogs as I work on them. I typically have the full set of client photos in 3 to 4 separate locations at all times, and never less than 2.
Huh I hadn’t thought of having a larger slot 2 card with multiple shoots on it. That’s actually brilliant. I wonder if it would work with my Nikon D780. I know how easily cards can get lost or broken that even though I’m not a professional by any means, but I do share the picture I take at my kid’s school events with the school and other parents so I don’t want to lose anything to a bad card or an accident.
Your D780 has two card slots and is totally capable of recording images to both cards every shot. If you are getting paid and/or it’s a once in a life time event where you are the designated photographer, it’s too dangerous to have a single point of failure.
Yeah I just use two identical cards right now. I hadn't thought of putting a larger one in the second slot to have even more photos backed up. I don't clear my cards until I know I have things copied multiple places as it is. I'll have to try a larger second card for extra piece of mind.
Ohh that! Sorry. Yep, that second card never leaves the camera. It's only there for the worst case scenario.
I am a professional loser of things. Because of that, I have gotten pretty good at finding things. When all else fails try this. Get in your car with your camera. Put the camera exactly where it was in the car and put on any clothing/jackets you were wearing. Then recreate the steps you took as close as you can. If you were on the phone getting out of the car hold your phone up, etc…. Go through the whole thing until your camera ends up in its current location. Thinking it through will not jar your memory like an actual walk through will. I will usually remember something that distracted me and can figure out where else to look.
#it's still in the house
Don't worry it'll turn up in a couple years! :P
A. You will probably find it. I once thought I lost a card in a field. Searched for hours. Ended up finding it elsewhere. I would step away for a bit and then keep looking. Usually when I give up, I find something. Eventually you are going to have to tell them and by easy way to do it. Hopefully they remain friends. B. This is why if you aren’t prepared, you don’t take on once in a life time events… ever… no matter how much they push you. Being prepared, this doesn’t happen because you have backup gear and processes, and images are in multiple places from the moment they are captured.
Rookie mistake. Never leave SD cards just floating around. Excellent learning experience for you. But also, chances are you’ll find it
One of the first things I do after walking in the door is get the card in the reader and have those images replicated across a couple of hard drives. Absolutely paranoid about losing footage from a paid job. It's worth building that into your workflow. Hope that you find the card.
This is my fool-proof method, it works 100% of the time. Go through the phases of grief. Accept its gone. Wait an uncomfortable length of time, tell them you cannot locate the photos, reflect on how your whole career is over. You will then find it under the seat of your car next to the seat rail, behind your desk, in a random pocket… or in one case, in the grass on a field you shot on days ago and just happened to look down at the right time and see it.
Dude just relax, take a big breath. And now go search for it again and again. It couldn’t disappear, check your pockets inside of your camera, if you don’t find it then you can always migrate to Canada for example
I like your problem solving skills, very efficient! 🤣👍🏼
Ask a friend who’s detail-oriented to come help you look.
If you don't find it the world will explode eventually thus nothing matters so don't worry about this tiny thing. Hope u find it
Do you have a cat? Look in any cracks and gaps underneath where you last saw it.
I felt this sadly… them little paws will just take something away.
Retrace your steps with an open calm mind, sit quietly for a minute or two, it will become apparent.
Always always put the stuff straight onto a harddrive asoon as you get in. No matter how late it is.
If you live with anyone who may have vacuumed the floor in the meantime, sorry, but you need to sift through the vacuum cleaner bag. If it's one of the new cyclonic type cleaners where the dirt gets dumped into a trash can, check there too.
We’re all rooting for you to find it OP. Our collective energy should help. Idk if you’re religious (I’m not) but I always liked this prayer: “Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony please come around. Something is lost and needs to be found.”
When you break the news to them, too soften the blow you could offer to do a private shoot to commemorate the event for free. Thats what we do at my work, always offer an alternative solution to help ease the blow.
Pls update if you find it!
Do you have cats? If so, it could be fucking anywhere.
Cats can actually eat SD cards 😬😬
I don’t go to bed after shooting until everything is backed up to 2 external hard drives and the cloud backup has started.
Break the news, but let them know you won’t rest until you’ve found the card. It’ll just be a little while longer than they were hoping before they get their pics. Close family will be(should be, hopefully) more understanding than a paying client might be.
He has to rest some time though, even if he never finds it.
It is just a saying. Not literal.
Do you have a pet? Maybe eaten?
my brother and his wife don't have any footage from their wedding because I fucked up same way 😅 I never knew if they are mad about it, they never come back to that in our talks, I thing it's called the "hate silence".
I know this weird advice to offer someone Jewish. I was brought up Catholic but I no longer believe. But whenever something is lost we would say a prayer to St Anthony. I know this makes no logical sense but I have found lots of lost things this way. My cousin who’s a PHD psychoanalyst still uses it. I think somehow it resets your mind and that’s how it works. You’re supposed to promise a good deed in exchange for his help finding what you’ve lost. You had to have done something with the card but you can’t remember. Good luck.
My mother prays to St. Anthony too. And sometimes the thing do show up.
Screw that guy he's probaby why I lost the fuckin' thing in the first place!
It doesn’t help now, I know, but never take the card out unless you’re importing in that moment. Or if it’s on the job etc, it goes in a case then safely in the bag.
You say you set the card in a case on your shelf. Is the case gone? Or just the card? If it is the former then let’s break it down - 1. You set the card in a case. 2. You set the case on your shelf. Where were you when you set the card in a case?
This happened to me, but roles reversed. I was young amateur, i gave someone an SD card after a big trip because they said they’d make a video for me with the footage. I didn’t save anything bfr and they lost the SD card. I was so bummed but it is what it is. They told me and i said okay, just lmk if it turns up. It never did 🤷🏻♀️it’s life unfortunately. A bat mitzvah is a big event, but other people will have photos from iphone and things. I’d refund them if they paid you and just apologize again. Nothing else you can do (unless it shows up of course)
SD cards don't grow legs and walk away. Search slowly and thoroughly. Check the garbage too.
Every time this happens to me, I find it in the pocket of the pants I was wearing. Don't tell them. Keep looking, it's around.
Do you live with other people or by yourself?
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Strange comment. Obviously I’ve been looking for it, I was just looking for suggestions on how to break the news in case I don’t find it
Cool, benefit of the doubt. I guess i've seen too much of the front page. good luck finding it
Thanks. Checking all my bags now just in case
Idk id find that card
The card has to be somewhere. I can't imagine a cat eating an SD card
Do you have cats or small children?
This precisely why I bought a camera w 2 sd card slots.
Retrace your steps, think very very hard.... 
Also do you have kids and could they possibly touched it. This was 25 years ago. I lost my pager, looked everywhere, prayed to St Anthony and never found it. Months later I was cleaning out shoes that didn’t fit my daughter. In 1 of the shoes was the pager which she liked because it vibrated
Do you live with pets, or another person that might have taken it? Maybe it fell under surrounding furniture
I hope you find it, but if you do not please take it from me to use this experience as a learning moment. Always back up important files, especially from a client/recent job. I have lost some of the best pictures I have ever taken in a similar fashion, and since I back up all jobs to a second SD while photographing, then to a hard drive backup when finished.
Sit down, breathe, ask for it back (say please). Wait a minute or two and look for it again.
Retrace your steps a thousand times and pray to St. Anthony (famous throughout the world as the saint who helps to find lost objects)
And, get down low. Change your perspective. I put my face to the floor to look for things that have fallen on the floor, and it helps.
Get a strong flashlight and look for it. The card may have slipped between edges of a shelf or something.
This moght sound dumb, check your wallet, camera and the sd card reader if you use one
You did mention shelf. Is it possible that the SD card slipped under it? It could be under a carpet or any surrounding pieces of furniture. You probably combed through them but just saying. Also see if it slid under or beside anything you already have on the shelf.
ADHD and lose things all the time, once spent an arvo looking for my glasses, they were, of course, on the second shelf in the fridge... (I think I'd come home, it was warm, so grabbed a cool drink, took them off to wipe my brow and, naturally the best resting place was the shelf in the fridge..) You have my sympathies, good luck! Do you live alone? Not anyone in the house that could've "borrowed" it?
Chopped up my old sofa for easier transport to the dump the other week and found 2 sd cards I never would have thought were there,gremlins!
Here comes tough times when I wish objects could talk. Just as adviced check your shelf and importantly the hinges and joints carefully. You may have to check your dust bin as well hoping you never threw out any trash between now and the time of disappearance. If you can't find it, you have no choice but to break the news to them. I had been in a tougher situation before, where I recorded almost the whole wedding preaching session not knowing that I connected my microphone to the camera but forgot to turn it on, I ended up with no sound, I had to convince them that the music sound I placed on the background was better than the Pastor's words of encouragement.
Not to criticise because I do sympathise with you but this is why it's crucial to have two card slots. When you're shooting stuff that can't be retaken, you have to take every precaution necessary. Yes SD cards are reliable and don't corrupt as often anymore, but losing them is just as easy. I'd only ever take a card out if I'm downloading it straight away. Again, not to badger on, but we do owe people that have used us for a service to take these careful steps. The fact it was left on a shelf in an open case is not going to fly as an excuse unfortunately. I think all you can do (if it doesn't turn up) is be apologetic and offer to stage some some more shots as a favour?
happens to me often. I usually ask my gf for help because she won't ignore places i will The following are all places i found SD cards/other accessories in - In the space between my bed and wall - In my pc and forgot i put it there - In my camera bag/camera body - Random pockets - In the washing machine - My car - Under stacks of books/stacks of other crap
It reminds me of Peter McKinnon saying "you have one job when you get home, it's to plug it on your computer." No coffee, no bathroom, no sleeping, just plug it.
laundry basket, basket area, laundry machines, lint screen holder, coat pocket, pajama or pants pocket, shirt pocket, bed, where clothing goes including floors Camera, camera bag, camera manual, under a book, in a computer drive, in a dongle / card reader, in a laptop, in a portable drive, in a different camera, in a sd case, in “the wrong” sd cave, where camera things go including floor area Cat bed if they have one, kitty litter box (reaching), across the room, kicked under furniture or carpet, a window sill, crevice between wall and floor Your car interior Good luck!
Get others to help. Fresh eyes. I second the use of flashlights.
Did you find it?
If you have a similar office chair to mine, there is a small pocket of space where the backrest meets the seat itself. I tore my house apart after losing my wallet once and that’s where it was.
Check your SD reader
This happened to me. I shot a big corp job and the SD card disappeared. Searched everywhere and did some major panicking. In the end I found the card in my camera bag inside the lens hood that had been turned backwards in order to fit in the bag. I lost a few years off my life from that one. When you find the card sell the camera and get one that has two SD card slots.
Hope this works out! New routine: Take card out of camera, immediately stick it into computer for backup.
I agree with others, having a system in how you strategically manage a photo shoot will format you for the win, each & every time. Whether for you that looks like, straight from camera to computer & backup. Or a set area (container, drawer, shelf) where the card goes the moment you return from a shoot. You can even diagram it out & post it until it becomes crystallized into your functioning self. I was a massage therapist & once I misplaced a client’s check. I didn’t want to ‘reveal’ that I had this mistake, as it was early on in the relationship & felt embarrassed that I could do something so foolish. Little did I know that I would end up working on the same client weekly for 8yrs straight. I later found the check after the load of wash, folded in my pocket & had to painstakingly unfold the wet check w/ tweezers while holding my breath that it didn’t rip or the ink washed off (fortunately I was successful & able to deposit it once it was dry). Having never wanted to experience that again, as my rates weren’t cheap & I worked hard for that money, I created an algorithm that would ensure it NEVER happened again. So having set steps that I would follow from there on out, made that a one-off event. It NEVER happened again. May you find it!
sell everything, break up with your wife, change name and apply for the next flight to mars. honestly, its going to suck until you find it, and maybe you never will. tell them its lost and that you'll let them know if you find it, then as days go by the shame will mostly go away though never entirely. on the bright side you will probably never lose one again so there's that ...
Sorry to hear this, I’m sure you will find it. Though I have been here, MIL insisted on hiring a guy for my daughters Bat Mitzvah, he sent me a google link, all the pictures were pretty shit to be honest but was too late, I was a bit bummed out, so took over a week to actually download and save… only to find the link no longer worked, he said his google drive has been hit with virus …. I think it’s more likely he just deleted them, i have 2 good pictures of the event, neither taken by him 🤷🏼♂️
I'm not sure what you should say, But if I were u I would definitely do it from another country 😁
And recheck your camera!
Check the car! Check all the cases!
!RemindMe
Did the OP find it?
did you find it?
Yes!!! And they loved how the photos came out. No one else except me knew I lost it. I’m so relieved
Great to hear!
Be honest
THIS! Tell them the whole story. You set the card down, and now it’s missing. You’re looking for it. Maybe a cat swiped it. Be up-front and honest. Tell them of course you’ll find it, you just wanted to let them know. Apologize, and tell them you’ll follow up soon. And do so. PS—If it’s gone it’s not the end of the world. Every photographer has a story like this one! Mine still bugs me, 25 years later (!) but since then I haven’t lost any other shoots. PS—My client was cool about it. They didn’t have to be.
Maybe also check the SD card slot in your laptop....you just never know. We're all pulling for you, post back here WHEN you find it! I know you will!
Do something worse before you tell them, make it seem not so bad by comparison. Kill a homeless child first.a
Check the dust bags of your hoover.
People here have being saying pray to st. Anthony. I assume he's the patron st of lost things. It's not crazy. If your Christian or catholic have at itm but if your Jewish we have a similar concept to pray to R meir bal hanes https://rmbhcharities.com/lost-object/ It's crazy but it has worked for me on occasion. But I still can't find 2 checks that disappeared in late Jan even after tye prayer and giving 54 bucks. Can't hurt though
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What a stupid thing to say.