Backup equipment -- If you ain't got it.........

[mattograph]

....... then DON'T take a photography job!!!


I just finished reading my 4th thread tonight that goes something like this:

I have a shoot tomorrow and my camera stopped working. I called Canon and they said "yup, its broke."

What am I gonna do?

Now, I'm not one to kick a man when he's down, but here's my thought. If you are prepared to take someone's money to take their picture, you had better be ready to go. All the pros that I know and respect build redundancy into their programs.

So, if you are a "poor" photographer who can't afford to back themselves up, is it right to contract for a job, knowing that you might not be able to deliver if your equipment fails?

[NC_Photo]

I voted "yes" but that is only because their isn't an "other" option.

Obviously its always smartest to have back up, but if you can't afford it you need to start somewhere. I personally feel that if you are breaking into portraits (families, seniors, children) you're probably pretty safe to go at it without a backup for everything you own. This is only becaues while it would definitely suck to have something break at/before the shoot - at least its not soooo pressing that you couldn't do a re-shoot.

However, I don't think you should AT ALL go at a wedding without backup.

[Tigershark]

Ty,
I think it all depends on what you are shooting, if it is a family portrait then I don't think it is an absolute necessity to have a backup especially if you are starting out. If you are shooting something a little more important like a sporting event, a race a wedding then definately you need a backup and if you can't afford a new body most cities have stores where you can rent a body for 40 bucks if you can't do that then that is pretty irresponsible IMO but for the family shoots I would say it isn't required but it is good to have

[BrinNutz]

Matt,

You have to start somewhere. Some people use the gigs to pay for their next upgrade.

I'm not voting because it's too one sided. Yes, they should have a backup. But starting out, and if they spent tons getting what they have, or just a small bit of what they could spare to start with, then no. I don't think they should "have" to, since we all can't go having 1D MKIII's laying around.

[mattograph]

Ty,
I think it all depends on what you are shooting, if it is a family portrait then I don't think it is an absolute necessity to have a backup especially if you are starting out. If you are shooting something a little more important like a sporting event, a race a wedding then definately you need a backup and if you can't afford a new body most cities have stores where you can rent a body for 40 bucks if you can't do that then that is pretty irresponsible IMO but for the family shoots I would say it isn't required but it is good to have

I think we are probably on the same page here. I would assume some flexibility with the family portrait scenario.

I think the thing that bugs me (and, really, its no skin off my back) is the idea that its somehow acceptable for a photographer to be less prepared than you would be in another career. If you are a framer, you better have a hammer If you work at a bank, you can't call in sick if you rip you suit jacket -- you had better have another.

[Tigershark]

My primary job is not a photographer although one day I hope to be doing this fulll time, my full time job is IT consulting for companies and individuals, if i bid a large networking job or any job that I don't have the expertise then I line it up as a backup, I've been doing this for 15+ years so this is a business and works no different from any other if it is a small job like family portraits then you can get away with it, if it is big in my experience installing a VPN for a company I always have a backup Cisco buddy ready on call in case I run into problems. IMO it works the same way. In every business there are risks you take and not having a backup can be a dangerous scenario. I see this every week in the IT industry when someone calls me to recover a crashed hard drive because they didn't have any thing backed up. After the first time they almsot always learn and photography is no different.

[mattograph]

Yeah, thats the way I look at it. The first three jobs I did I actually paid another full time pro to be there. I learned more than my moneys worth, and the client got exactly what they wanted. When I shot my first job, I was very prepared.

When I look at the money I have invested in redundacy, I realize that I could sell it all and buy a 1ds and a 85 1.2.

Maybe I should! :)

[Ralph Merlino]

If you are a pro you better have back up equipment and plenty of it.
For twenty-five years I was what you would call a Hollywood photographer.
I shot at home layouts with celebrities for Hello and Hola magazines. With
celebrities there is no going back because your equipment failed. I always
had SEVEN bodies with me and at least six lenses. For these kind of shoots
you have to be prepared, no mistakes.

[sfaust]

I would vote other, since it depends on the situation.

I shoot corporate and commercial work and have full backup for bodies, lenses, strobes, light meters, computers, and other essential gear. Since the cost of equipment, location, assistants, models, catering, studio, etc, don't go away if something breaks, and it can easily run into a couple grand a day, I need to be prepared to keep going no matter what.

The same holds true for events that can't be recreated, or would be very costly to do so. A portrait can always be rescheduled very easily, and at worse you might have to give a refund, or have a disgruntled client. But at least you won't have to refund the fee, have a disgrunted client, and shell out $5,834.32 in expenses because you couldn't deliver.

I even backup people :) If a shoot really needs one assistant to function, I book two. One experienced first assistant, and another second assistant. If the first assistant gets hurt, sick, car breaks down, etc, I can usually function with a bit more workload on me, and the slack taken up with the second assistant. If it needs two to function, I book two experienced assistants, and a fresh assistant or intern. Same with makeup. I don't double book talent, but the agency is usually ready to send over an alternate should something happen. So they have backup in a way as well.

The more serious or costly the shoot, the more important the backup equipment and people are.

[amfoto1]

Hi,

I too would vote "It depends" or "Other" if those were options.

A wedding photography should have backup stuff... period. There are no do-overs, so "my camera/flash/lens quit working, my dog/assistant ate my homework" just doesn't cut it.

Someone who accepts an assignment that places a lot of financial responsibility on the client also should also have backup. I'm thinking of an example where the manufacturer lent 8 jets to the photographer for a two day shoot, at a cost to the manufacturer of about $2400 an hour. Better not have an equipment failure send you into extra innings on a job like that, or on one that sends you to the other side of the world to get the shot.

A news photographer had better have backup if their equipment fails while covering a breaking story, or they may miss the story.

Backup would be less critical in situations where there's more room to make up for problems, where a delay might be inconvenient, but isn't a disaster. Portrait sessions are a good example. Product shots another.

[Ralph Merlino]

Once again faust is right on target.

[The_Duke_Of_Eli]

Get a rental body for the day. Most weddings pay at least 500$, so spend a bit of that on a second body. It's worth it for piece of mind and professionalism.

Yes or No is a personal thing. But I wouldn't be a primary without a second body.

[tim]

For weddings two bodies is a MINIMUM, I take three. Weddings happen once, you mess it up you get sued. Do you think a contract will protect you against an American jury if you don't take all reasonable precautions, like having a backup? Not likely.

[ryant35]

I bought an new 40D and decided that my old 20D as a back-up is worth anything I could get trying to sell it.

It is incredibly unprofessional to cancel or not perform your job because your camera broke.
It's similar to have your batteries run down because you forgot to charge them. That reminds me, my batteries are low...

[adam8080]

Just because you have backup equipment doesn't mean that it will save the day if something goes wrong, and just because you don't have it doesn't mean that you are unable to complete your job if something fails. It is ideal to have it, but it isn't necessary. How many of you are professionals that don't have a backup, or have ever done a job without a backup? There are more circumstances that need to be taken into consideration.

[ryant35]

I have done plenty of jobs without a backup, and I've been lucky.

[adam8080]

Speaking of backups, I just bought a 20D to compliment my 30D. It will last me till I have enough to get a 1Dmk3, or the 5Dmk2 sometime next year.

[tim]

I have done plenty of jobs without a backup, and I've been lucky.

Exactly. Lucky.

During the hundred odd wedding i've photographed i've had failure of my primary camera three or four times, and i've had failure of both my primary and first backup once - in the middle of a ceremony. Failures have happened on all my cameras, 20D, 30D, and 40D. Failures happen even on 1 series bodies, otherwise i'd just have bought one of them, but as they fail too I find it better to have three xxD bodies than one 1 series.

[narlus]

Just because you have backup equipment doesn't mean that it will save the day if something goes wrong, and just because you don't have it doesn't mean that you are unable to complete your job if something fails. It is ideal to have it, but it isn't necessary.

ok, how would you complete your job if your sole camera body fails?

my 5D stopped working tuesday night during the Swervedriver gig, and i had to use my 30D for the rest of the set.

nothing i did could get the camera operational again.

[sfaust]

Just because you have backup equipment doesn't mean that it will save the day if something goes wrong, and just because you don't have it doesn't mean that you are unable to complete your job if something fails.

Absolutely right. It all depends what it is. To me backup doesn't always mean more hardware, as it could just as easily be a alternate plan should something happen, and frequently it is.

For example, do you really to bring or rent additional strobe lights, or can you just shoot with higher ISO if the equipment fails? Can you foot zoom if the primary lens fails, or do you really the perspective that lens gives you, or are you limited to one shooting spot? If your light meter fails, can you just wing it with the histogram? Do you have cash to hire a van or taxi if your car breaks down on the way to the shoot? Do you more than one way to reach a client if their cell phone battery dies?

But when it comes to the light tight box and sensor, you must have backup for it as a working pro in almost any situation I can think of. The only exceptions would be shoots with little preparation needed, and impacting a very few people. A portrait sitting is one of these. Its inconvenient to have to reschedule, but its not the end of the world. But inconvenience a crew of people, or cost your client time and money because of a camera malfunction, and you probably won't be working for that client again, or those potential clients they talk to.

Image everyone gets to the shoot on time, and shooting starts. 10 minutes later the camera jams. Everyone spends the next 20 minutes watching the photographer and assistants trying to fix the camera. Then they wait 45 minutes while the assistant setups up a rental, and goes to pick it up. By the time the shoot starts up again, the mood is list.

Now image the same situation, but when the camera malfunctions, the photographer says, hang on, I want to switch bodies, then continues on with the shoot. If you have a malfunction happen, you can walk away a hero because you resolve the problem quickly, efficiently, and without even missing a step. Or, you have cause a disaster by not.

I've had some malfunctions happen during a shoot that my clients weren't even aware of it. Sometimes not even the assistants knows. But after the shoot I mention it to the client so they know there was an issue, but we had it resolved before it ever became an issue for the client. A slight pat on the back, but a great way to build a clients trust, and a very good reason they will use to justify hiring you back.

You are right it really depends on the circumstances, and those may change for each person depending on their comfort level, their financial situation, and the importance of the assignment. But one of the major 'circumstances' in my book is that you are a pro hired to deliver images, consistently, day in and day out, without excuses. You can't claim bad lighting, broken tools, inadequate preparation, you forgot an extra battery, or your camera failed. It doesn't fly. They hired you to deliver, and paid you well for that expectation (well, in the case of pros charging market rates thats true ;) )

To me that is the #1 reason to have backup, and why I can't think of one photographer in the industry that I've meet or know that shoots naked, regardless of the circumstances. I have a backup plan for just about everything of importance, including carrying enough cash to cover hiring a van or taxi should my car break down. The show must go on :)

[klynam]

I voted yes because you have to start somewhere. I started with a 300D and kit lens. My next purchase was a plastic nifty-fifty. That setup got me through 2 years and quite a few paid assignments.

I wouln't recommend anyone shoot WEDDINGS or other time critical gigs w/o backup equipment. But there's still plenty of paid work out there for a single camera shooter where if something breaks, it's no big deal and you can come back in a day or two to reshoot.

But yes, as soon as I could afford it, I upgraded. Now I have a 5D with a 20D for backup.

JM2C...