Photography Tips and Tricks
Photography Checklists
“Paper remembers longer than your head.” — My old history teacher.
Randy Runtsch published this article recently in Full Frame:
I have to chime in: I consider checklists absolutely vital for anyone in any field of endeavor where forgetting some critical item of kit can lead to disaster.
A little backstory:
I am no longer working/working. I was a full-time pro for close on thirty years, sixteen in my own studio, photographing many, many weddings. For me, weddings were brutal. I hated them, but I inherited them when I bought out a longtime portrait and wedding man and was forced to do both if I wanted to keep turning the key in the lock. I was a trained commercial photographer, and I tried to steer my little butter-and-egg studio more toward commercial projects, but we needed the income and the best way to get it was to keep doing what the previous owner did.
My predecessor went back to 1946 when weddings were shot in B&W with massive 4x5-inch Speed or Crown Graphic press cameras and enormous flashbulbs. The Graflex three D-cell flashgun with reflector weighed around three pounds (1.4 kg), while the camera weighed around six plus pounds.
It is little wonder, then, that long before my time (and long, long before yours), a typical wedding package consisted of a leather album with maybe a dozen 8x10-inch double-weight R-surface sepia-toned prints, with hand tinting extra.
They didn’t need no stinking checklists. All a pro needed was the camera, flashgun, flashbulbs, fresh batteries, and a dozen or so double-sided sheet film holders. He’d (99% were male) show up at the church after the ceremony, make the groups on the altar steps, and make a couple of the couple and the bride full length (the gown, boss, the gown!).
When I came along in 1973 with my freshly minted Associate Degree in Commercial photography (woohoo), the times had radically changed. By then, even my predecessor had downsized to 6x9 cm 120 roll film mini-press cameras with electronic flash. He was even shooting color!
He owned three of these, classed as press cameras, and sent me out with one (repeat: one!) while he covered another wedding across town. I was terrified, and I loathed these clunky cameras.
Shooting as a volunteer for nonprofits.
But checklists… I said that I am no longer working/working, but I also like to say, "You can take the boy out of the profession, but you cannot take the professional out of the boy.” I am not getting paid, but that does not mean I don’t give every job my undivided attention. I treat my assignments precisely as I would any paying job. I think I might stroke out if I got on site and discovered I was missing something I could not work without.
Thus, checklists. Specific checklists for different types of jobs.
I’d venture that, generally speaking, photographers are less likely to forget the camera than the cards or batteries. It’s the little stuff that gets you.
Beginning in my studio days, I have rigorously prepared all my equipment the evening before, using checklists. I had specialized lists for different jobs, especially weddings, since the mere thought of screwing up a wedding would force me on the spot to commit seppuku, and spilling blood and guts on the train of the Hallowed Wedding Gown (never mind the sanctuary carpet) would be counterproductive. I would not only be the wedding photographer who screwed up; I would be the wedding photographer who screwed up the GOWN!*
* Over time, I realized we photographers were not recording the bride as much as the gee-dee gown.
I’m digressing, aren’t I?
Chuck’s Current Photography Checklists
So, the man who is no longer working/working happily works as an event photographer for nonprofits. Event photography has much in common with wedding coverage, specifically the reception, where the tensions are low, the guests are relaxed, and a good photographer works almost entirely candidly, i.e., few if any posed pictures. Pros call them “grab shots.” Such also have much in common with photojournalism. The Miracle of Digital has freed photographers from the tyranny of film; the general rule is, just shoot it. I always arrive early before the crowds and cover the signage, the table decor, the staff bustling about setting up, the reception table with staff and guests, and people getting coffee — If it’s happening, I get it. My clients get nearly unlimited choices of pictures for their purposes.
Currently (April-May 2024), I use only a single photography checklist because it covers what I need to do any job, but I also have camping and travel checklists and such, all kept on the Google Keep app accessible on my phone.
PHOTOGRAPHY Assignments
<> Camera case
Obvious? I list it first because nearly everything else goes in it.
<> Three Cameras CHECKED and TIME SYNCED!!
It has been many years since I owned and used only one camera. Another me-quote is, “Anything you have only one of WILL break.” For wedding photographers, you MUST have at least two bodies. If you are coerced into your first wedding but only own one camera, buy or rent a backup. That is not a suggestion.
I work by having overlapping zoom lenses on three bodies covering from 10mm superwide to 210mm telephoto (plus adding a 1.5x crop factor). I don’t have to change a lens; I just need to pick up a different camera. The night before any assignment, I synchronize the clocks in all three bodies to the second (one runs fast). When I upload everything to Lightroom Classic as one job, all the images are organized chronologically.
<> Remote Triggers (I carry wired and infrared remotes).
<> Gray Target (Below is the collapsible one I use. Folded, it is the size of my palm.) I can place it in a scene to give me a reference point for white balance (I shoot only RAW). Once, I was working in a gym with sodium vapor lights (bilious narrow-spectrum yellow), so I shot a custom white balance for each camera to get the best possible outcome.
<> Lenses
* Long zoom
* Short zoom (18–105 f/4.0; the workhorse.)
* 10-18 zoom
<> Cards (CLEARED?) After each assignment, I clear all my cards by formatting them in their respective cameras. ONLY!
Years ago, a digital wedding photographer of my acquaintance taught me that that was THE ONLY correct, safe way of clearing and reformatting cards. Some may be horrified to learn I have used the same high-speed, high-capacity cards for years. Of course, I also carry spares. (“Anything you have only one of will break.”)
<> Batteries, all verified charged plus spares. (This is why I prep the night before. The time to charge batteries is not the morning of.
<> Just-in-case single battery charger.
<> Small Flash Unit + Batteries. Rarely used but always carried.
<> Manfrotto Tripod
<> Quick-release plates for each body
<> 300mm Mount if using my Sony FE 70–300mm f/4.5–5.6 G OSS Lens (105–450 equivalent). (This monster weighs nearly two pounds — a total beast but a wonderfully versatile lens)
<> Monopod. Mine is a seven-foot Polaroid equipped with a rifleman’s wye (or vee) instead of a head. The camera is not attached, letting me instantly switch from horizontal to vertical to handheld and back. I bought one with a bigger bore for bulky lenses. The way I work is sometimes called “run and gun,” but in poor light, so the monopod gives me greater flexibility.
<> BOB (Walker) — (Bob Walker was a close friend long ago. A fire-engine red rollator immortalizes him. Don’t ask.)
<> Replenish Bob's WATER supply
If this sounds odd, “Bob” is my articulated, gas-shock-absorbed rollator, without which (whom?) I simply could no longer work. I can work for hours since I can sit down and shoot from waist level, which is excellent when making closeups of participants at tables.
<> Tilley Hat
Or <> Ball cap
<> Cold weather gloves?
<> Event Photographer Credential
<> Business cards
<> Water bottle
<> Snacks
<> Car fueled?
<> Coffee cup aboard (preferably with coffee)
I am selfie sick, but these pitchers save thousands of words.
📸As always, gratitude for looking in. I sincerely appreciate it! Questions in the comments will be answered promptly, so please ask.😊👍
