Tips & Tricks
Protecting Your Equipment In Extreme Shooting Situations
As photographers, sometimes we find ourselves in situations where the safety of our equipment is jeopardized. Our best recourse is to make sure we are prepared and take measures to protect our gear as best we can. Of course, there are times that we cannot prepare for unforeseen dangers – such as an overenthusiastic rugby player or having a 7 foot tall basketball player fall on your lens, but when we know we will be in situations where there is a good chance that your gear could get damaged during an extreme shoot of some sort, it’s best to be overly cautious.
[REWIND: COLD WEATHER PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS | HOW TO DEFROST AND SAVE A FROZEN CAMERA]
The first thing you should ALWAYS do to protect your gear is get INSURANCE. Whether you are a hobbyist or a professional, insurance is important because you never know what might happen. It’s not that expensive, but worth every penny should anything happen to your expensive equipment.
That being said, you most likely will never find yourself in the middle of a working industrial factory being pelted by BB’s like Jay P. Morgan in the following video from The Slanted Lens. But you will probably find yourself in other random situations, whether for a client or for a personal project, as us photographers tend to try crazy stuff for the sake of our art (like this guy who set off 18lbs of fireworks and then put his clients in the middle of the explosions). In any case, it’s a good idea to have a game plan and Jay P. shows how he protected his Dynalite Baja B4 monoblocks, Canon 5D Mark III and Tamron 24-70mm from flying BB’s to get the image above.
Watch Shoot an Industrial Image Without Destroying Your Equipment
See the post on The Slanted Lens website here.
For more articles on keeping your gear safe, check out the following articles:
6 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR EXPENSIVE CAMERA GEAR SAFE
I am reminded of a time, many years ago as a young man, I was sent with a reporter to shoot renovations being done to a large housing facility. As I absentmindedly walked around a corner, I was blasted by a painter spraying oil-based house paint with a powerful airless sprayer. My brand new Nikkormat was completely ruined. The first of many expensive lessons…..
I thought my homeowners insurance would cover my photo equipment, so I checked just to be sure, since I have more equipment then the normal home owner would have I had to get a rider to cover all my equipment. Never assume with insurance always make sure your covered.
It’s really, really something I should do. Now!
Also have a talk with your insurance agent. Sometimes making claims on your cameras, on your household policy can adversely affect your homeowner’s policy. In some instances, it may be better to have them total separate.
Insurance is complicated and varies depending on location.
Also, insurance companies will interpret “professional” in the terms that benefits them the most.
great tips