Do you guys worry about your gear being stolen at a wedding?
What do you do with your bags when you're shooting?

I usually keep mine in a pew seat at the back of the church, or tucked away in a corner somewhere.
At the reception, I keep it near my seat, but of course, I rarely sit.

Anyone else worry about things being stolen from their bags???

I do, not really at weddings but in general. I just recently got all my gear insured. I would highly advise anyine doing what we do, get insured and indemnified.

There has been a rash of gear thefts at weddings in So. CA. It started about two years ago and is ongoing although not as frequent lately. Literally everyone I knew either had their stuff taken or knew someone who did. Many of the better resort hotels had this happen multiple times. I know if one where it happened over a dozen times one summer.

The usual scenario is that a team of nicely dressed men walks into the reception later in the evening. They are rarely noticed. They find the gear and grab it and leave. Another guy sits in their car in close by and they are gone. One photographer I know saw his gear being grabbed and chased the guys only to have a gun in his face when he got to their car. These gangs then, according to the police, take the gear down to Mexico and exchange it for drugs to bring back over the border to sell. In other cases they have ripped off the gear during a ceremony. One videographer had one of his cameras taken off a tripod before the ceremony began.

In some cases the photographers stored their exposed cards with the gear so they lost the wedding images as well.

If you shoot in So. CA and do not have insurance you are a disaster to your business just waiting to happen. Be careful.

Rick

Oh my goodness....wow!
What do you guys do to try to prevent this...other than just being insured???

Hire an assistant to just watch your gear. Even if it costs you over a hundred bucks for the day, that's still less than replacing all of your gear!

I am very careful at weddings. My assistant babysits the equipment. I was ripped off though when someone broke into my office. My presumption is that since they could not get the gear at the wedding they asked my assistant for a business card and then visited my offfice at 4 AM. They knew just what to grab - the two camera cases and were gone before the police arrived from the alarm. I have become very careful about passing out business cards at weddings, which I think unless asked is tacky anyway. The card does not have my office address on it.

Rick

I have at least one camera, and all memory cards on my body, at all times. All the equipment is insured for replacement value...so I'd just get a bunch of new gear. I do keep my pelican case locked at the reception with a small combo lock and next to the DJ

As of now, most of my stuff fits in my canon backpack and I keep that either on my back or directly next to me at all times. I'll keep some extra lighting stuff in the car in case I need it. It's good to stay mindful of the potential for theft.

Oooh...a lock...that's a good idea.
They'd have to take the whole bag, which is much less conspicuos.

I try to leave my bags behind the dj's booth.
It's good to get to know the dj's!

just make sure it's a combination lock, wouldn't want to lose the keys ...but I really don't think anyone would notice someone carrying one camera, or your entire bag, they would just assume they were with you.

I worry about it all the time. That's why I finally ordered this bag....

http://thinktankphoto.com/ttp_product_ArprtScrty.php

No grab and run with this thing. They'll have to come with bolt cutters and dudes with bolt cutters are noticed more quickly than dudes without bolt cutters.

It is the best camera bag I've ever owned. I'm doing a little review of it now for the Interweb.

Cheers,
Zack

think tank rocks

Wow...that's a great bag!
It looks like you can lock it to a pole or something...and carry it as a backpack.

Too cool.

That's exactly what they do.



That's the first place they look.

The guys out here work in teams, one distracts the DJ so his back is turned and the other one grabs the bags and heads for the door.

False security.

Rick

I'm not saying what I do with my gear during weddings. That would just embolden the thieves.

Well I guess Zack's idea is really the best!
I'd like to be able to lock it up.
I don't think I could carry it all the time as it houses all my back up gear and it's just way too heavy!

I was second shooting for a photographer in Orange County last year and we got 4 cameras stolen. They were watching us all night and waited until we turned our backs for 5 minutes as we ate. The cameras were 5 feet away from us. They were 2 guys dressed very nicely and looked like guests. Now, I never leave me gear anywhere. I carry all of it on me, which sucks and I am 26 and already have a horrible back, but I won't set me stuff down. All of my stuff is insured now, but I still don't want to take the chance.

Yep, that's how they work in teams.



We should all have business liability insurance which also handles equipment loss. But, if you are new and less than a year with that insurance carrier they will pay the claim but then likely not renew your policy. You become "red lined" in the insurance business as a insurance risk.

Better to always use an assistant. To save assistant fees I have heard of photographers that will hire a babysitter-type HS kid who just sits there in the corner watching the equipment while doing their homework.

Rick

I had all my gear stolen in December. Granted it was from my home being boken into, but it still sucked. Make sure you have everything insured, and that you are insured no matter where you go.

WOW holy smoke!! I would have never thought that there were groups of people that have come up with so many clever and sneeky ideas to snag camera gear. I usually get worried about our gear when we have gone downtown and were shooting for fun. we went down there as a date, and were shooting landscape stuff but it was sketchy, cause of some of the areas we were shooting in. This thread is very helpful. Thank you for posting this.

Stewart C.

P.s. Zach the Think tank is super sweet.

We bought a few backpack locks from Staples. We set the combination. We can lock the zippers together with them. Then we got a thin cable from a bike store. The cables you use to lock your seat. It's about 3 feet long. We lasso one end to a table or something, and the other end is at the lock.

There are still a few pockets that aren't secure, but as long as I keep things in the main compartment, I feel a little safer.

i've heard of people stashing this at the table or nearby their bag, then placing the other module inside the actual bag..

http://www.amazon.com/Fellowes-Mobile-Prox...m/dp/B0000DZFS8

Dude thats a sweet idea. Thanks.

Stewart C.

Another photographer on a different forum had her equipment stolen even though her bag was locked to a post. It was a softsided bag, and they cut it with a Knife and removed her stuff.

I really hate being suspicious minded, but I just hate the combo of my address and my gear list being combined.

So; my business card lacks my address. I always ship stuff to my work address, particularly for Buy-Sell forums.

I'm only starting at weddings but at my last I just brought a large rolling hard-shell Samsonite suit case and (intended to) lock it in a closet they provided. Turns out we got trusting and left it unlocked, but after this thread, I'll bring my bicycle lock and keep the case actually locked.

I'm not really sure what to lock it to however. I suppose I'll just leave it in the car and carry what I think I'll use and stock up on the Batman Utility belt contraptions.

I just put my usual backpack inside the suitcase. Anyway; I carry my 2 bodies and 3 or 4 lenses on my person, but I do have a nasty habit of actually leaving a body laying somewhere as I get caught up in the photos.

I have insurance but fully expect a cancellation should it get stolen.

I hate carrying 2 bodies, esp. when one has a big tele, but I did have a sudden failure during a ceremony where the 2nd body came in handy.

I have the Pelican 1510 hard case. It has a front opening for a lock. I run a master lock python cable through the hole and chain it to something. It's thin at one end and fits through the lock hole in the case perfectly. It's a similar concept as the think tank. I recently stayed at a hotel that didn't have a safe and ended up chaining it to the sink and radiator - the hotel maids must have thought I was loony.