When Gear Fails...

As photographers and business owners, you have to know that your gear WILL eventually fail you. It is just a matter of WHEN will it fail...

I cannot stress the importance of having backup gear and having insurance for your equipment. I have had cameras and lenses fail on me numerous times and have always ensured that I have something to fall back on.

My general rule of thumb is to keep your old camera when you upgrade. A decent D-SLR averages around $2500 but its resale value drops considerably over time. Camera lenses on the other hand, tend to retain their value much better. I have taken huge losses on D-SLRs when selling them and upgrading. Thinking back, I would much have been much better off keeping an older camera for those "just in case" moments.

So what happens if a camera acts erratically on the job?
My Nikon D700s have been great to me. However, I have had hot shoe mount issues on two different bodies. This means that my speedlight, when mounted, sometimes misfired or doesn't fire at all. In both these cases, I had to resort to alternative measures on the fly in order to finish the job. the first thing is to try and fix the equipment on site. This meant bending the hot shoe prongs or wedging something in between the flash and the hot shoe for a more "snug" fit. This got me through the day but afterwords it was off to Nikon for repair. I had this just happen to me on the New Year's Eve wedding that I shot. My flash kept popping in my face and was acting up. So I ended up using my pop up flash in commander mode and shot the rest of the day with my speedlight on a light stand with the CLS system. If I had line of sight issues then I just threw some Pocket Wizards on there and I was all set to finish off the night.

Now what happens if your equipment flat out breaks, or gets stolen on the job? I have had two lenses break on me from being dropped. It wasn't fun and I had to send them off to get repaired which can be quite costly. My most recent "oops" was my Nikkor 24-70mm which fell from about 3 feet onto carpet and literally cracked in half. It is times like this where having insurance comes into play. Because I have insurance, I now have a brand new 24-70mm sitting in front of me.

My rule of thumb here is that if you cannot afford to immediately replace something then get it insured.

If your gear is stolen then that is a really bad thing and can really be a downer. Once again the show must go on so you better have backup equipment in the car to keep things going. In order to still have your client's images at least backup your images regularly or get multiple cards that are smaller in size and keep swapping them out. The full cards can then be kept on you or in a safe spot somewhere else.

Preventative measures can be taken to prevent things from getting swiped. My personal favorite is to take a bike lock and chain up my camera bag to the DJ's table or PA system. Not going anywhere there!

Canon and Nikon shooters have certain professional services that you have to apply for which can really help for those who need gear to be repaired in a hurry. It is a pretty long process to get yourself registered with them and they do ask for a lot of info to ensure that you are a professional photographer but it is well worth it! Your gear gets top priority and that means that they can get it back into your hands faster.

Canon has their CPS: Application Here (membership fee required)
Nikon has the NPS: www.nikonpro.com (free service)

Thanks for stopping by!
Mike

Doing Your Time - Wait And Be Rewarded

I was pretty lucky that the stars aligned fairly well for while in California. I came back with a lot of great images that I obviously couldn't have gotten here in Buffalo. Not too many cacti or mountains around here ;P

I am still going through images from the trip and it inspired me to write this little article here.

So many people focus on camera equipment and computer software but forget that great images simply require you to do your time.
What I mean by this is that the stars essentially have to align with you being there right smack dab in the middle of it all. Sometimes, you being there is fate. There is no easy way to call it anything else. It is just you and the shot right there at the right time. I have seen many powerful images through my various workshops and speaking engagements. These images were taken by self-proclaimed "amateur" photographers. They were at the right place at the right time and snap, they captured it beautifully. However, these powerful images in their portfolio were few and far in-between. It is my goal in this article for you to capture more of those powerful photographs time after time.

I think that Louis Pasteur nailed it best when he said: "Chance favors the prepared mind."
I have been hanging on this quote ever since I heard Ansel Adams say it. He was no slouch when it came to inspiration quotes either. Here are some of my favorites:

"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter"

"A photograph is not an accident- It is a concept."

"The ‘machine-gun’ approach to photography – by which many negatives are made with the hope that one will be good – is fatal to serious results."

"Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop"

All of these quotes hold great value to me. How many times do we find ourselves guilty of "machine gun" shooting? I know I am an offender at times. How many times do we put together our portfolio together with quantity in mind and not quality? A portfolio is only as strong as its weakest print. Remember that.

So back to the topic at hand, doing time. For me, taking the time out to research and study what I am about to photograph. If I will be photographing some place local, I will go to the site and scout out the area. This comes in handy but what if you happen to be at the right place at the right time? You better be on your game to make the shot. Here is an example of just being at the right place at the right time.





The next shot wouldn't have been anything special if I didn't get up at the crack of dawn. If I waited any longer then the fog would have rolled out and the sky would have lost all that overcast:





This next photograph happened to be me being there at the right moment. My camera gear was out and equipped and I waited patiently until this turtle decided to swim by and make his appearance. My camera settings were right and all I had to do was press the shutter...





It isn't always easy for the amateur photographer to dedicate this much time to their hobby. Sure they have a nice camera but the 9-5 job, family and other factors can easily make it so one cannot always get out to take pictures. This means that the few times they actually can get out to shoot might not be the 'right' day. The light may be horrible, their may be no cloud cover, the seasons may not be right or it could be a slew of other reasons.

So just remember "Chance favors the prepared mind" so just sit down and do your research then you will have much more eventful shoots.


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If you are an IPhone or IPod Touch user then I would suggest adding the following Applications to help you be ready:

1.) PhotoCalc ($2.99)
2.) Darkness - Sun, Moon, Clock + More ($1.99)
3.) more to be updated as I find them or as they become available...