I have, of late, been spending a bit of time in medical facilities for one reason or another. One of those was to support a research group within the University of Auckland, with which I have strong connections: not only going there 50 years ago, but my late wife was an academic and founding director of their Global Studies program.
Here in NZ, a lot of places need volunteers to make things work, especially as times are hard and budgets under stress. The universities are not immune from this, and three and a half years ago I offered my services on a voluntary basis in case they had the need. Well, time has passed and the establishment has had to lose a lot of positions, especially in support areas like their photographers, so I got a call from one agency within the uni to assist them with photos to help raise funds for a research group, but for which they had no budget. I jumped at the chance.
I met the prof in charge and he is an awesome guy, but warned me that his team were nerds who were not that social and definitely shy of having their photos taken. Still, the funding folks needed to get head shots of everyone, photos of them at work, and being 'socially engaged'. The first two were reasonably manageable as long as I assured them that they would get a veto over any photo of them and would repeat shots on demand. However, they were not likely to being high-fiving while playing baseball, so I had to work at the social engagement a bit, but got 'a' shot of them with beverages looking relaxed and happy.
One aspect of the project was within a very secure medical area that involved mice. For this one had to strip down to scrubs, wear a mask and head cover and protective glasses, and could not take bags. Thus, I was approaching this with a camera in each hand - an R5 with a RF 24-105 f/4 and a R6II with the RF 14-35 f/4. I was told there had to be a barrier at the door to prevent the little critters escaping and I negotiated this about 1ft high plank across the entry, emblazoned with black and orange stripes.
I had not actually twigged that there were multiple door barriers and, as we negotiated another door, my host opened it and motioned me through, this barrier was almost the same colour as the door (sans warning tape) and, being rather distracted, I walked on through, and promptly face-planted myself as I tripped on the barrier. I tried to save both myself and the gear, but was not completely successful in either. I tore both shins open (and there isn't much padding there) and landed more heavily on the side that had the R5. I was immediately concerned for the gear and found that the 24-105 had taken an oblique impact and concertinaed - it's the first time in 43 years I have damaged a piece of photography gear. Luckily, the body and the other unit were undamaged, so I got my shots.
By now my scrubs were absorbing quite a bit of blood, so we got on with the photos I needed, before retiring so I could patch myself up with a first aid kit. From an examination by service, it was clear the lens was a write-off, and my inquiry to my insurance company discovered that it was not completely covered for its full value and there was also a $500 deductible applicable. {:-(
However, the prof contacted me very promptly, and was very concerned for both me and my gear's condition. Apparently all barriers were supposed to have tape on them and it was an oversight that this one had none - and that would be remediated right away. I assured him it was a bit of gore and would heal, which it has done, and he told me to let him know about the lens. When I explained the insurance situation, he said he would cover the cost of a new lens and to go get one and send him a receipt. Within two hours of doing so I was reimbursed, which was pretty decent.
I felt bad about costing them money considering I had volunteered but, as one of the team commented, the cost of the gear in any one lab (and there are a few) was in the millions of dollars, so they had a budget for gear replacement, but none for photography services, so it was relatively easy for them to arrange the reimbursement.
All that adventure aside, I met some amazing, highly-educated and intelligent people who were gracious and generous with their time and knowledge and, by asking a lot of questions, I learnt a lot about their work. In the future, I hope to do more for other teams and perhaps learn about totally different things. I have always kept up my efforts to learn across a diverse range of disciplines - I actually worked in multiple careers as well as photography, and this is a golden opportunity to continue that - while at the same time feeling like I am contributing.
I didn't get much time to ponder on that decision! 🤔
I agree - it's very, very precise work, and the people who were doing it are highly skilled - especially working on a live (sedated) rat. I had to take a photo of the work, but not show the rat - for PR reasons, of course. So, I decided to shoot from below and knowing the rat would be very brightly lit, I let the light blow out as it got to it to obscure the details.
