Memorial Day is considered to be the unofficial start of summer. With summer comes some of the busiest times of the year for professional photographers. You may find yourself shooting weddings, sports photography, family portraits or reunions, graduation sessions, covering corporate events, the list goes on and on. No matter what your niche is in the world of photography; if you are a professional photographer who has clients depending on you for important images, this tip is for you.

Make an extra set of your car keys. Simple as that. You don’t want to be that photographer with his or her face pressed up against the driver’s side window using their hand to block the glass glare only to see your keys dangling in the ignition. Not fun. I personally have not been in this position myself but hearing the horror stories of other photographers was enough to prepare me in case I ever do lock my keys in my car.

Your job between now and June 1st is to head down to your local hardware store and get a couple extra keys made. It will only set you back a couple bucks to make them. Well worth it if you think about the time and embarrassment it will save you if this ever happens to you.

I put one in my wallet the morning of a big shoot. I know it will stay on me the entire day. Just in case I happen to forget to put the spare in my wallet, I have another key hidden on the underside of my car! This may seem like overkill until you think about having to explain to the parents of a bride on her wedding day (who by the way are paying you thousands of dollars to cover the wedding) that you can’t start the photos because you’ve locked your keys in your car with all your gear. You can never be too prepared.

Who knows, you may get lucky and happen to be shooting a wedding which includes a shady looking groomsman who is “uncommonly efficient” at unlocking car doors using a wire hanger. Great but I would have a bigger concern after that. You know what they say, “Keep your ex-convict groomsmen close and your photography gear closer.” I obviously made that up but you get the point.

Dennis “Dz”

DZ Photography