MAKING A LIST AND CHECKING IT TWICE (repeated)

[Note:  this is the first of a series of postings that were originally hosted by Apple but went away when Apple cancelled mobileme.com.]

    Have you ever forgotten a camera setting or did you forget to bring a critical piece of gear for an important shoot?  To help me remember things as our cameras seem to become more and more complex with numerous settings possible, I use “checklists” to help me remember.  They are actually a holdover from my USAF days when we had checklists for everything.

  Shown above in the left image are examples for one of my cameras, the Sony EX1.  The three shown have three different purposes.  The first is a “pre-deployment” list that I use to setup settings that I know before I travel to the shoot site - camera modes, etc - plus a listing of the key things I should do before I leave - clean lenses, charge batteries, etc.  The second is one for use at the actual shoot site.  Finally, I have one for specific “picture profiles” that can be set in the EX1.

   I make up the checklists on a word processor on my computer, print them and take them to Fedex/Kinkos and laminate them in clear plastic.  After trimming to shape I punch a corner hole for stringing them on a loop that will keep them together. I then can hang that loop on my tripod for ready access.