Avoiding Disaster - Safety Check List

[EmmaP]

There have been a couple of threads on here in the past telling tales of disaster. I had my first ever 'disaster' (well in a professional capacity, had a couple at college) last Saturday so was thinking about starting a thread to help others avoid similar woes.

I always check my equipment regularly and before a job. Last Saturday I checked my equipment just before leaving the house and all was fine. When I arrived at the job half an hour later my flash failed to fire. Fortunately the job was just two miles from my house so I was able to whizz back to get my spare. (It was the cable linking the flash to the camera that was at fault.) I usually only have a spare gun if I'm doing a wedding. I always have a spare flash head when doing a studio shoot. I shall now always carry a spare flash unit.

So this is my usual check list:

Camera battery and spare in bag and fully charged
Shutter fires
Flash unit (gun or head) fires via camera
CF cards formatted and in bag
Colour temperature/WB set
Quality set
Colour matrix set
RAW/JPEG quality set
Sensor clean
Correct ISO set
Metering set
Autofocus set (I sometimes use manual focus so check to see if AF is re-set)
Correct stabilizer mode & distance set on IS lens (when shooting)
Spare batteries for flash unit & light meter
Base plate for tripod is in bag
Brief, directions and contact numbers in bag
Extension cable (when using studio lights)
Gaffer tape
Appropriate filters in bag


On completing a job I do the following:

transfer data to computer
back-up to external hard-drive and locate 'elsewhere' on leaving office
do not re-format card until job is complete or backed up to external hard drive and/or written to CD
do not give your camera to someone to 'play' with if it has a CF card in with images on it that have not been backed up (I did this recently and 'someone' was 'going to' re-format the CF card without asking me or thinking to check to see if there were images on the card )

I don't shoot to sizeable CF cards as I do not want to have an entire job on one card in case the card gets lost or damaged.

I'd be interested to know what other safety checks people do before using their kit.

[GetCarter]

I wish you'd come and organise my life... I have enough trouble remembering the camera

[EmmaP]

GetCarter said:

I wish you'd come and organise my life... I have enough trouble remembering the camera

You know I do wonder whether or not I'll do that one day

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

CF card actually in the camera (to get in before Bacardi reminds me of the day when I shot half an air show, saving the images to air in the empty slot).

[beano500]

Good points.
Additional tip: if your camera body (ies) has banks of settings (e.g. Nikon D2/3/200/300), you can save yours to a small CF card and restore these at the start of a day's shooting.

[jeevescat]

I have once too often gone out in bright morning sun with the ISO set at 1600, yet I still fail to check it!!!!

[nick_bbb]

That's a great list Emma

I normally take a second body with me too.

Other things on the check list of if to take or not:

Generator (and two stroke oil and petrol can)
Lights (constant daylight) - check lamps OK
Reflector
Ladder
Radio Flyer (little trolly on wheels I put all my stuff in to wheel about during a shoot)
Something to eat (and for others such as model, MUA, etc)
Something to drink

[EmmaP]

ThatPhilBrettGuy said:

CF card actually in the camera (to get in before Bacardi reminds me of the day when I shot half an air show, saving the images to air in the empty slot).

Mine is set to warn me if there is no card in place. I'm not sure how this was set but a friend has the same model camera (Canon 1DS) and almost did a job minus card in place.

[Simpo Two]

EmmaP said:

I'd be interested to know what other safety checks people do before using their kit.

A timely thread as I'm in the process of getting everything ready for the first wedding of the year tomorrow.

I do pretty much the same apart from a 'live firing test', which it never crossed my mind to do. However I have an emergency D70 whereas I don't see a second body in your list? I have five camera batteries, 4+2+2 Gb of memory, 2x4 rechargeable AA batteries for the flash (they last ages) but only one flashgun at present. I've recently got into the habit of taking a bootful of studio lighting too, just in case, for formal shots if they have to be done inside and the venue is gloomy (like 5pm on a rainy November afternoon!).

All my kit lives in a triple wardbrobe in the studio so I go through every cupboard and drawer just to make sure I haven't left anything vital out.

On the day, I take all the client notes, mobile numbers for them and also the venue, and even a spare car battery! I visit each venue in advance so I know exactly how to find it, where to park and any other problems.

On return I immediately copy all files to the main PC and as you say, leave the originals on the card until all is done and sent off. This year I have wedding 'clumps' where I'm going to need the CF cards cleared sooner, so will use a laptop as second backup. Regarding each CF card as worth £1,000 helps focus the mind!

Edited by Simpo Two on Thursday 28th February 15:50

[EmmaP]

nick_bbb said:

I normally take a second body with me too.

I only take a second body (borrowed 1DS) to weddings. I am now getting a 450D as a back-up after last Saturday's mishap. When I shot film I always had two bodies but given the cost of the 1DS I have never been able to afford a second 1DS. I guess I have become complacent.

nick_bbb said:

Other things on the check list of if to take or not:

Reflector
Ladder
Something to eat (and for others such as model, MUA, etc)
Something to drink

I usually take a reflector if doing portraits and a ladder for car work.

Food and drink is essential. Food is the first thing that springs to mind when I get a job, ie how will I fit eating around it. I've got a fast metabolism. I've been caught out a few times and left almost hypo-glycaemic when jobs have run over, when client has eaten and left me to 'get on with it' or when a certain Duke and Dutchess were too tight to supply enough food for photographers and film crew

[EmmaP]

Simpo Two said:

I've recently got into the habit of taking a bootful of studio lighting too, just in case, for formal shots

I've been known to take five heads to a shoot when I've only needed two.

[Simpo Two]

EmmaP said:

I've been known to take five heads to a shoot when I've only needed two.

Yep, if in doubt, I always think 'Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it'.

[pikey]

I've got quite a few cards as I always leave them in / around the PC, only discover when far away from it and have to buy another

[F308 MAN]

EmmaP said:

.... I'd be interested to know what other safety checks people do before using their kit.

i always tie my feet to the bottom of the bed.

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

EmmaP said:

ThatPhilBrettGuy said:

CF card actually in the camera (to get in before Bacardi reminds me of the day when I shot half an air show, saving the images to air in the empty slot).

Mine is set to warn me if there is no card in place. I'm not sure how this was set but a friend has the same model camera (Canon 1DS) and almost did a job minus card in place.

Yeah, the 1Dmk2 and 1Dsmk3 are both set for this but the 10D I was using at the time has no such setting. Only realised it was going wrong when I took a quick glance at the shots left counter and it was blank.....

...cue pressing play, red face, story to be retold every time I hold a camera

[EmmaP]

Simpo Two said:

Yep, if in doubt, I always think 'Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it'.

My mum instilled that philosophy in me from a young age It probably explains why I always carry such large bags and have had back problems

[toothlessjim]

As Im not a phtographer by trade and i have very little kit my checks are,

Spare CF card
Battery fully charged
Spare lens in my bag

The night before i go to what ever event im going to i kit the camera to what i'll need so will i need 200mm lens or standard 55mm kit lens and do i want the battery grip on. Not alot for me to check and as i said....photography for me is just a hobby and i doubt it'll ever be anything more than that

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

I prepared a check list of items for the weekend camping at British GP. On re reading the list I noted that item 1 was beer, and tickets were item 5! One must correctly prioritorize

[havoc]

EmmaP said:

GetCarter said:

I wish you'd come and organise my life... I have enough trouble remembering the camera

You know I do wonder whether or not I'll do that one day

I had just that dream last night...except in the dream I said "Sorry mate, I forgot the camera AGAIN!". Not sure what it means, only that I'm glad it's a dream...

[EmmaP]

havoc said:

I had just that dream last night...except in the dream I said "Sorry mate, I forgot the camera AGAIN!". Not sure what it means, only that I'm glad it's a dream...

I have anxiety dreams before a big job. It's horrible!

A friend of mine works for a big picture agency and was covering Liverpool vs Juventis in Rome. Not long after kick off his battery pack ran out. "Not to worry he thought, I've got a spare." Imagine his horror when he discovered his spare was almost out of charge Imagine how careful he was with shooting at that match. It just goes to show that we all make mistakes.

I'm reminded of the time that Richard Hammond 'forgot' the car on a 'Top Gear' feature once.

Edited by EmmaP on Friday 29th February 00:26