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A disaster averted!

It’s not always about the photography. Let me tell you a story. I had plans to shoot a wedding near Stone Mountain, Georgia. It’s on the eastern edge of metro Atlanta. I live up on the suburbs of Kennesaw (just north of Marietta) about 45 miles away. My plan was to load my van with piles of equipment and drive to the salon near Stone Mountain and take photographs of the bride having her hair done and being made up; and then to the wedding facility, Vecoma about five miles away. I stopped at Publix for a giant sandwich, and then continued to the salon at Ulta a few miles away. I found a parking space that wasn’t close to Ulta but just decided to leave the van there as it wasn’t worth the effort to get closer even though I was carrying equipment back and forth. After the shoot, I drove to the Vecoma and set up. All went well as you can see from the quick proofs you can view here.

Now the disaster… after the bride and groom left for their hotel and honeymoon, I loaded the van late at night and turned the ignition key. Nothing! I checked the lights. Nothing. Uh-oh, I thought … this is going to be a very long night. The battery had died without any warning. Fortunately a guest had some jumper cables and I was on my way home. Unfortunately, the anti-lock brake light came on, followed by the red battery light symbol. While driving through the inky-blackness of the night, I had visions of the headlights going out, followed by the van stalling late at night in the middle of nowhere. I was not happy at the prospect. Fortunately, as the headlights remained bright I thought that only the battery had died suddenly and I could make it home… which I did, being careful not to stop anywhere, nor turn off the engine.

So what’s the moral of the story. Well first, I always ask my wife to keep her cell phone with her at all times when I shoot a wedding just because I always try to plan for every contingency, such as coming to get me fast if I have a flat and so on. I also have fellow photographers who I can call at the last second to help.All this is fine, except being helped takes time, which is why I try to leave home well ahead of when I’m expected.

But just imagine if I would have made one extra stop! I would have been unable to drive to the wedding… now that could have been a disaster, one I hope never to have. And with the planning I do, I hope not to.

And yes, I bought a new battery and the van starts and run fine again.
collage5

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Why you may not want Uncle Fred to photograph your wedding

I am surrounded by photography equipment. To my left are 3 portable speed-light strobes that fit atop a camera;  to my right, 4 studio strobes that make the ones to my left look like toys. Ahead of me are 3 tripods, two reflectors, 1 photo color balance and exposure target. Plugged into the wall sockets are two chargers for the cameras and two of the studio strobe batteries. In the room corner are 3 digital SLR cameras with 5 lenses – each designed for a special purpose. I can go on and on, but I think you get the point.

I am photographing a local wedding near Stone Mountain tomorrow, and I’m carefully checking the equipment not only to make sure that it all works, but to prepare for it to fail during the wedding. As weddings move so quickly, you don’t have time to think about what to do during a wedding, you must just do it as seamlessly as possible. That takes practice, thought and planning. Not to mention thousands of dollars of equipment, a third of which will not be touched… but may be. If it isn’t there, you’re screwed.

A few days ago I have my timing belt replaced in my Honda. It cost me $620 as the Honda mechanic also changed the water pump. Some time ago, I asked a friend – an amazingly skilled home garage mechanic – to save me some money and do the belt replacement for me.  I was surprised that he declined, even though I’d make it worth his time. He explained to me that although he had no problem working on motorcycles or cars, in general replacing a timing belt requires special tools and is best handled by a specialist who has done it before and knows exactly what to do, with which tool and when to use it. He didn’t have the special tools, and he hadn’t done a Honda before.

So I went to the Honda specialist and my car still runs fine. If the belt replacement would not have been done properly the mechanic would have been done it again and got it right.

On the other hand, you can’t re-shoot a wedding; and that explains my comments about uncle Fred. He may be a good photographer, but does he have the equipment and experience to do the job?

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