Where do you wedding photographers put your equipment at weddings?

[KSPhotography]

Where's the safest place to put your bag of equipment? I just get nervous w/ so many people walking around and me not being close to my equipment.

[Lonnie]

It's a reasonable fear. A buddy of mine that has been shooting weddings for a few years with no incident - just had all of his gear stolen at a wedding. His extra body plus a ton in L glass....

[mikekelley]

At events, I try to stash in a closet or something out of the way that I can keep an eye on. Sometimes it's easier said than done. I am looking into picking up a belt system, for two extra lenses and flashes, and having a body on each shoulder.

that way nothing super-important is off of you, and you've got all the stuff you need with you.

[djvkool]

hence the importance of an assistant :)

friend of mine had his 50 1.2 and 85 1.2 nicked from his bag

[Todd Lambert]

Anyone interested in a good deal on a 50L and/or an 85L, let me know ?? ;-)

I don't do weddings, but I'd be freaked too. I almost always keep my bag on me, no matter what. I imagine for several hours doing a wedding, that might not work. I guess I'd talk to the B & G and see if they have somewhere you can stash your stuff at. (maybe under their table, etc..)

[Zansho]

I stash my stuff on my body. Belt system mainly, and leave the heavy lighting equipment in the car till I need it at the reception or until the formals.

Most of the time I have an assistant, so he/she usually keeps an eye on the goodies for me, backup all my cards, and burns CD's and stuff like that. BUT! Make sure your assistant is someone you can trust with over 5k worth of gear.

[4mr4do4sho]

My wife is my assistant and she stays pretty close to it all. Often times we are both working the floor, so we always stash our stuff close to the DJ's equipment. It has all worked out so far.....(knocking on wood now).

[dovaka]

i dont do weddings but i do a lot of concerts and bar room kind of stuff so its still applies. i keep the main stuff im going to use on me with a pack or sometimes in my pockets if im wearing cargo pants and the rest is in a pelican case that i keep a lock on and use some kind of a cable lock to attach it to something that basically cant be moved. pretty much anyone that is going to steal your stuff at a event like this is going to be your snatch and grab variety and not be sitting under a table with lock picks and a plasma torch to get your stuff

[SlvrScoobie]

my fiancee and I usually stash the stuff we dont want to carry around with the DJ. They're in the same situation with their gear, so usually theyre trust worthy enough you can leave it with them, and itll be out of the way / someone half watching it. All the main stuff, 70-200 and such, gets put back in the car and locked up

[aroundlsu]

I try to stash it under a table with a tablecloth, so it's reasonably well hidden. I am probably overly trusting and it would be pretty easy to steal if someone saw the opportunity and went with it. But I usually don't have much in my bag worth more than a few hundred bucks. I keep two bodies on me with my two main lenses and that's it. The bag has batteries, light meter, strobes, etc. They can have all that stuff if they really want it.

On film shoots it would be very easy to steal tens of thousands of dollars in gear. Often times $7,000 tripods will be left out while the crew goes eat lunch. But in 15 years I have never personally had a problem.

[PMCphotography]

I only carry at the most, two bodies, and two lenses, and a flash on me. I have some extra lighting gear and gadgets and widgets and things in my car, but i hardly ever use them. So i don't really worry about my gear going missing- there's not so much in my bag that would worry me if it walked away.