Health and Safety

Health and safety 

In preparation for a photo shoot there are a lot of things the photographer has to consider. I am going to talk about the health and safety risks on location and in a studio.

Before a photo shoot the photographer and his/her assistant will visit the location to ensure access is available and that the location is safe for all the crew. 

Here are some of the issues that you could come across, these are the things you may find on a risk assessment, as a photographer you have the responsibility to make sure everybody is safe, there may or may not be a solution to every risk.

• contamination - Abandoned warehouse could be filled with chemicals or too much dust, depending on type of warehouse or recent demolition.
• dangerous objects - debris, or falling objects, unsafe floor.
• public - aggressive public, public walking in front of your camera, safety of your self and equipment.
• vehicles - If your on a road or car park vehicles can be a danger.
• height - working on open areas at a height can be dangerous. 
• restricted access - trespassing issues, somewhere isn't open.
• weather -  rain could damage your equipment and ruin your whole shoot.
• animals - Working in a place with dangerous wild animals is an issue.

Studio

When preparing a shoot in a studio, a risk assessment will still be carried out. In a studio its more than likely there will always be studio lights being used. When setting up the lights, all the equipment will be safety checked to make sure any lights will not over heat and blow mid shoot (see - http://bethfphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/lighting-observation.html to see how to set up studio lights safely) There can be many people at the shoot coming in and out and walking about, it is essential there are no dangers. Things such as wires on the floor and equipment could be a risk as somebody could trip and injure themselves, unprofessional photographers like college and uni students will not have health insurance. A photographer needs to make sure that all employees including all those self employed are trained to use the equipment.

Outdoor

When doing a shoot outside, its essential to get permission if the place is owned. When doing the shoot it needs to be made sure nothing disrupts it such as public, animals. a risk assessment will and should have been carried out to ensure the location is safe for all members of the crew. If the weather is not right, for example if its raining you may need to change the shoot for a different date as everything will get wet and equipment may break, if the shoot was purposely set for a rainy day protective gear for the equipment will be needed. Even though somebody would have already done a risk assessment for the location anything could change so another one should be done for the different date. 

Task 9 (08/10/13) Nature

Nature

Today we were asked to find somewhere locally to find some nature photos. We had to find the detail and capture it. The challenge is to capture nature with originality, while properly representing their true nature.

"I could be busy for months without changing my place, simply leaning a little more to the right or the left"

                                                                                   Paul Cézanne

Lighting Observation

Lighting Observation 

For this task we were asked to set up a studio whilst being observed. 

We had to identify the hazards and take health and safety into consideration.

We started by checking the studio area and making sure there was available plug sockets and the space was big enough. When everything was safe we got all the equipment out of the bags and checked if we had everything.

We then picked up the white backdrop and threaded the pole through the middle.
When picking up the backdrop we had to make sure there was nobody around we could hit with the roll as its heavy.

I had to thread the pole through carefully, the pole could of got stuck and tore the roll inside or i could of pushed it too fast into Beth.

We then had to put it on the stands. To make sure the stands are steady we had to make sure the legs were level.

To extend it we started with the top of the three otherwise we wouldn't be able to reach it. When doing this we had to make sure we were being slow so we didn't hit the ceiling.
We had someone help us make the top level.

Once the top was level and we had checked the surroundings again we rolled out the backdrop with some of it covering the floor and used weights to keep it in place.

Now it was time to get the lights out. Firstly we checked if everything was in the box

When putting the lights up i made sure the stands were strong enough to hold the light, once i knew they were strong i made sure i tightened the lights on the stands really tight.

Adding the umbrella onto the light softened the light.

Make sure the lights are switched off then attach the two wires together without adding to much force and bending anything inside.

Firstly i had to make sure the floor sockets were turned off before putting the plug in then switch them on.

Taping the wire down to floor ensured no one would trip over it. I would also put signs up and make any other people aware of the hazard.

The next thing to do was to get the lights head height so it lights the whole subject

Now its to switch the lights on and test they both interact with each other.

Once we know everything works get the light meter to read what f stop we should have depending on what our ISO is on. Make sure nobody is looking directly to the light.