Preparedness Checklist

[MDJAK]

I find myself and my wife today in New Paltz, New York, Lake Minewaska State Park. Absolutely beautiful scenery, surrounded by high (for the Northeast) cliffs that people are always climbing, with a picturesque lake smack dab in the middle.

http://www.pbase.com/mdjak/image/46019867

http://upload.pbase.com/image/46020031

I'm trying to develop a checklist so as to avoid dumb mistakes. Do you have one? Here's what I've got so far, or what I did today.

1. Took my 17-40L F4.0 Canon lens which does not see much use. It is truly a sight to behold through the viewfinder of the 1DSMKII full frame.

2. Left my brand new Gitzo Carbon Fiber 1128 MK2 Sport home, as my www.reallyrightstuff.com (http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/) ballhead has not arrived.

3. Hiked in a few miles, wife sat on a bluff overlooking the lake. I take out my camera, turn it on.

4. Put it on one shot mode.

5. Aperture priority mode.

6. Set ISO to 200, then in the shade bumped up to 640.

7. Drive to single shot.

Figured I had all bases covered. Wasn't until I shot about ten pictures that I remembered I had been fooling around and had it set to medium jpegs. Immediately switched to RAW.

Took a few more when I realized I hadn't checked my white balance. All was well, though, as it was left on auto. (I know I can change it in RAW, but it's still better to try and get it right originally.)

So, what did I miss? Is there a special order to things to avoid stupid mistakes?

[Bruce Hamilton]

Is there a special order to things to avoid stupid mistakes?

To avoid stupid mistakes, leave the camera at home. :lol:
If we always made perfect exposures, we wouldn't need Photoshop.

[MDJAK]

That would be the stupidest mistake of all.

[TammieO]

The stupid things I've done so far...
- Shot a few frames on a bright sunny day at ISO800 (took a few to figure out why speed was so fast).
- Didn't charge the battery and forgot the extra battery that I did charge.
- Forgot the extra CF cards (at least I did remember to bring the PicturePad to download to).
- Forgot extra batteries for the flash.
At least I've done each of the stupid things only once (so far anyway).

[buze]

Recently I did a funny one. Took the 50mm f1.4 out for a evenning walk, and I was shooting in AV mode in "portrait" orientation, and really couln't see why the hell I had so slow speed at f1.4! Was totaly buggered by it, checked the ISO etc....
Until I checked the LCD instead of the viewfinder indication. What it was showing me was in fact... f14! :D
I must have rolled the dial off accidentaly, and the orientation of the camera made me miss the lack of "dot" :D

[Andy_T]

That would be the stupidest mistake of all.

Actually, no.

You could take the camera, lenses, tripod and bag ...

... but forget either the CF card or the battery.

Same effect (no picture), but carried all the gear :confused:

Don't ask me how I know that :o

Best regards,
Andy

[arunchs]

This one doesnt happen to many people: I aimed at a bird in flight and could manage to focus in time and clicked. Nothing happened! I see what went wrong and the drive mode was set to timer! By the time I could get ready again, the bird was gone :(

[Jon, The Elder]

MDJAK- I shoot for money (horses) so mistakes are costly to me. I have made them all and will probably find new ones. However, this is my basic procedure.

Night before: Gather all my gear and physically check each item. Operate your camera !! This will tell you if you have charged batts and CF card installed, and lens is functioning. Set my camera bag and gear by the front door. This puts a certain mental finality to packing up.

On-site: before you leave your vehicle, fire up your camera.
Check operation mode (Av)- ISO - drive (burst) - WB - reformat your CF card (again) - EV - I have no idea why anyone would shoot in less than Large/Fine, but check that too. Put your lens cap in pocket - extra CF cards in pocket.
Bang off a few shots to check lens/camera functions. Go to work.

[AjP]

generaly I check everything before I start shooting and reset back to normal set up after I'm done, but once in a while have few stupid situation like: shooting wedding inside in Aperture priority and sudenly they start moving outside and I absolutely forget to chank ISO and it is a super bright day..lol.. couple white images... not happen often but few times

[CanonAndy]

Until pilots started using a detailed written checklist on the B-17 bombers, crashes were common in the test program. Its easy to forget the little things. I find great benefits from having a small laminated pocket card in my pocket or bag. One side for common shooting conditions, and one side for tricky conditions. Keep it simple:

1. Batteries charged
2. Camera set to RAW
3. ISO set for conditions
4. Etc...

It may seem silly to forget such basic things, but its not. When you are preparing your mind for a session, you are thinking about lighting, composition, lens, etc... A checklist will speed up your process and ensure you are consistently prepared for the task. Another list can be used for packing your bag. Manufacturing uses this process all the time. Its called standard work.

For what its worth, at my wedding in 1997, the professional photographer got everything set up, and realized she forgot ALL of her flash equipment (30 miles away). Needless to say, most of our pictures were taken at the reception, and we paid for very little of the photographer's time. A little check list would have saved the day...

CanonAndy

[JulianL]

I left my 1GB CF card at home once only to realize my mistake after arriving at my friend's house. We were going to the Long Beach Grand Prix and all I had was a 128MB card...

[ed2day]

Too many things can go wrong. I've just tried to make it a habit to:
1) Check battery
2)Set ISO to 200
3)Set WB to auto
4)Set Exp. Comp. to 0(or whatever your default is)
5)Make sure shutter release is in multi-shot mode(single shot is reserved for delay/MLU).
6) Confirm that camera's in RAW mode.
7) Put camera in P mode for a quick pic if needed.

I try to do it when I'm finished shooting rather than starting out. Takes maybe 20 sec. That's some of the more valuable advice I've gotten from this board.

I should probably add having a freshly formatted CF card, but that isn't part of my ritual--yet.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Set to AV Wide open to start
ISO... appropirate for the situation..
Check CF card space
Battery charge

Lens switches (especially on 70-200mm IS )
Metering Mode (usually partial)
Check ISO again :)
EC to 2/3rds over.

[Belmondo]

Make sure autofocus is not turned off on the lens and IS on/off as appropriate.