Pre-Shoot Checklist

Over the years of shooting I’ve made some pretty stupid mistakes. Going so far as waking up early to shoot the sunrise at the Safety Harbor Marina, and forgetting to have any SD card in slot 1 or 2. Even the blinking NO CARD in orange at the top left corner of the screen didn’t deter my early morning stupidity.

Another instance was while playing with Clear Zoom settings, I had to set the file format to jpeg. I tested the functionality, played around, and forgot to switch the file format back to raw. Opps! Beyond stupidity, there are some “best practices” to have your gear ready for a shoot.

• Are both cards for Slot 1 & 2 in the camera?
• Batteries topped off?
• Strobe trigger! Make sure you have your trigger.
• Animal/Human auto eye focus set correctly?
• Aperture & ISO settings somewhat appropriate for the shoot?
• Are your strobe settings not taking effect? Double check you are not Auto ISO.
• Always bring a camera strap, but do you need tripod, mono-pod, or both?
• Lighting needed? Trigger, light stand, strobe(s), modifier(s)?
• Are you wearing pants?

I use an L-Bracket, so I’m never without arca-swiss compatibility.

Would love to expand this checklist with your ideas. Please feel free to share your checklist, or something that is missing.