One of the key factors of running a Photographic and Video Production company is to achieve a standard of equipment service and maintenance.
It is one area of the company that means a great deal to me to have a procedure in place to keep the professional service offered by the company so to minimise the possibility of any failures.
I have seen many times by other individuals who are operating as photographers or videographers that when out working for a client, they have no backup
systems or spare units of equipment incase that time comes when something fails.
Although todays equipment is generally reliable, nothing should be taken for granted that it will perform as intended. Things go wrong!
Here at Alternative as far as I can remember, there has been only two times in many years where something has actually failed.
Once on a portrait shoot a flash lamp became a wee hot and needed to be retired outside an office to cool down and have a smoke out there!
Another was at a conference in London, a favourite lens of mine decided to loose its auto focus operation. But in both these cases there was extra equipment to hand so
no problem occurred in completing the jobs.
The fact is I always carry with me additional pieces, be it lenses or a camera body, so to avid the situation.
Pre Assignment Checks
Before I go out to any assignment I always run through my “kit bag”
A. To make sure all I need to have with me is there
B. To check that all is working as it should be
Back Ups
All pieces of kit being digital are up to date with the latest softwares/firmwares.
Having back item in the “kit bag”
Servicing
At convenient periods equipment items are sent away for testing and cleaning. Image sensors can become dirty and though I can clean them to standard
it is good practice to have the service centres give my equipment a professional overhaul.
Reasons
The reasons behind my procedure is so I have piece of mined that I will produce for my client on the day what is expected of me.
It also gives my clients confidence in my performance.
Another area of the company is to have a plan in place to up grade equipment items to keep them in good operation.
It was time to add to the fleet another fluid head tripod for the video projects so an early Christmas present to Alternative Images has recently arrived.
