RichardBFlores Wedding Photography Gear Prep
Hey Everyone, If you are visiting this blog post you probably saw the Wedding Photography Gear Prep Video and Post on FStoppers.com and are wondering about the checklist. First of all, Thank you for checking it out hopefully someone liked it.
Before every single wedding we photograph, we go through a process to prepare our gear which includes cleaning, charging, packing, and completing a checklist. I may have OCD or may not but regardless it's what we've always done and it's what works for us. If you learn at least one thing from this then I'll feel great!! After following this process over and over again I decided to record it for a few friends. This is when FStoppers picked it up and then it was all over the place. Everyone is asking for the checklist I use so I'm writing this blog post to share the checklist with you and to clarify some things that were asked. There is nothing special to this checklist; I made it in excel a few years ago. As we've invested in gear we've added it to the list which helps us keep track of what we will need for a wedding or a specific event/shoot.
I DO NOT take everything that is on this list with me to every single shoot so that's why I include the name of the shoot and date on the top and check off ONLY what I'm packing. The day before a wedding we prep everything and check to make sure we are good to go. The day of the wedding I go through it once again just to make sure I'm not forgetting anything and then the night of the wedding we go through it again to make sure nothing is left behind.
Couples and clients pay thousands of dollars for photographers to document their day and the last thing you want is to forget equipment so in my opinion if you are a professional wedding photographer I hope that you are doing this or are starting now!!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't go through this list and say to yourself "I want to become a wedding photographer or I'm starting out in wedding photography so let me go buy EVERYTHING on this list"!!! IT DOES NOT WORK this way and that was not the intention of this checklist. It's taken me YEARS to invest our earnings back into our business to be able to build our gear like this and for those asking why so much is because I work with a 2nd photographer all the time!!! If you do decide to buy anything please LEARN YOUR GEAR and if you have any specific questions don't hesitate to ask!!!
As for cleaning, I've cleaned my gear this way every single time and I've never had an issue with the air can. Obviously DO NOT blow the air close to the gear or upside down. I spray it at a safe distance and in small bursts just to remove anything that can possibly scratch my glass when wiping it down. If you are concerned about this, special thanks to Craig on Fstoppers who suggested getting a Dust-Off Valve . For the most part I use the pump blower but again please read the instructions of whatever you are using and use it at your own discretion.
If you have any questions please let us know we would love to help you and if you haven't read the entire article visit Fstoppers and check out the post. Wedding Photography Gear Prep video and post on FStoppers
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Thanks You and Enjoy
Sincerely,
Richard
