Freelance photography is an incredibly rewarding career path, and one which can open up a great many doors as you progress in your chosen niche. However, whether wedding photographer, location shooter or studio snapper, your profession isn’t necessarily a safe one. What can you do to stay safe in your profession, from unexpected incidents or indeed costs?
Preparatory Considerations and Personal Liability
There are, of course, some general preparations you can make outside of specific shooting arrangements or projects. For one, you should already have a robust data processing system in place, both with respect to managing file backups and storage, and to managing client information. As someone running a tight studio ship, learning basic first aid can also be crucial. Accidents happen, both to subjects and to assistants, and having the know-how to effect meaningful first-aid immediately can greatly improve outcomes in worst-case scenarios.
An often lesser-acknowledged part of preparation and safety as a freelance photographer relates to personal liability – that is, your safety from the prospect of significant costs relating to civil responsibility for an injury. Brain injury claims are by no means a trifling matter, and could be potentially ruinous to your trade if you’re not adequately prepared to prevent a serious accident on set or on location.
Before the Shoot
Organising a shoot is a multifarious process already, but some steps should be undertaken with especial care in order to promote your safety and preparation. In the studio, you’ll need to ensure that any sets or equipment installations adhere to health and safety law, for the safety of you, your staff and your subjects. You’ll also need to communicate well with your client about the shooting schedule to ensure everyone’s on the same page.
If you’re shooting on location, you’ll have a number of things to straighten out personally and with your client – from the acquisition of travel insurance to protect the value of your equipment, to the acquisition of visas or clearance to access the places you intend to shoot. If travelling, you should also make family and friends aware of where you’re travelling and what your itinerary looks like, in order that they can raise the alarm if you don’t check back in with them.
During the Shoot
While you can remove a great deal of uncertainty, and render yourself considerably safer, with advance preparations and pre-shoot undertakings as described above, you still need to be extremely vigilant during the shoot – regardless the environment in which you are taking pictures. Even shooting in your own studio, in a closed set, with minimal apparatus, can pose health and safety risks as explored in towards the top of our article.
While shooting, mindfulness is key. Even though you have a job to do, you should ensure you keep at least partly alert of your surroundings and the potential dangers inherent to them. In a studio, this might be the position of hot spotlights; in public, this might be the movement of pedestrian or vehicle traffic. Naturally, if you’re on location, you’ll want to maintain possession of your equipment at all times, to reduce the risk of theft.
Conclusion
You can’t put a price on preparation, regardless your trade. Creative a profession as photography can be, its risks should never be underestimated – and you should always be prepared, not just for the benefit of yourself but also for the benefit of your subjects.
