YeoPhotoGroup by Keith Robins

Is it me or are seaside photos fraught with accidents?

 Last night it was my radio trigger which sank without a trace.
The lighting stand was in two feet of water plus waves rolling in at 4 second intervals about 10 to 12 inches high. No great shakes you say, until an iShoot radio trigger slides off the hotshoe and drops into the sea!! While i'm trying to regain my composure and my balance I am watching the surface carefully looking for bubbles. If there's air inside then that has to come out before the sea can get in.
 

Spotted!! Twenty or so tiny bubbles indicate exactly where the trigger is. Roll up sleev, hold camera up away from the waves (yes I've been there done that!) and plunge a hand downward, only there's a hole right where the bubbles are.
I was tempted to shrug and accept the fate of the fourth trigger within twelve months to become functionless but another couple minutes grasping at the seabed and i'm shaking the water and sand out of my tiny piece of kit.
Take out the batteries and put it in front of the hot air on the way home.
 

This morning I look inside to see all the salt caking over some vital bit and decide to pop it in the sink for a wash and brush up. At the moment I'm still waiting for the receiver electronics to dry out and then I'll test it again (didn't work the first time I tried).
Out with all the other broken triggers and a bunch of tools and proceeded to repair / bodge three of the six into working items worthy of gracing a Bronica camera bag (well almost). So I'm back up to five triggers now.
Later on around sunset last night I stumble right next to the sea wall at Lyme Regis and my camera lens hits the stones rather hard. Luckily only the filter edge was dented and scratched but the threads are okay. Thank goodness I usually keep the filter attached, (I take it off when shooting into the sun to cut down on flare).
 

Hotshoes coming adrift where the screws pull out of the plastic are the result of most common accidents. Triggers snapping in half is second and battteries leaking are third in line for why flashguns don't go off when expected. There is a fourth problem - the flash only work a fraction of the time. Putting a new CR23a battery into the transmitter usually cures that one.