Health & Safety

Health and safety considerations for my two outdoor projects

For my two outside location shootings (still life and cruel and tender) I had to take the following health and safety precautions into account:

First Location: Graffiti tunnel of Leake Street Arches

1. Safe travel

For my bike shoot I had to get to the location safely by bike. The place is undernaeth the Wateroo Station, I live in Kew myself. Public transport was ruled out because it either forbids the transport of a bike or excludes it exclusively during rush hour. So I cycled through the streets of London as gently as possible. Although sometimes it is a challenge as a cyclist. The lights on the bike, a helmet in warning color with LED lamps at the front and rear and a high visible jacket at least were advantageous for the purpose of being recognizable.

2. Safe transport of equipment

Here I also had to take precautions so that all equipment was transported safely. For the bike as the object being photographed I needed a bike stand, for my camera I carried several interchangeable lenses for testing, a large LED flashlight, two flash units and the necessary tripod. I put them in separate bags and gently put everything in a backpack that was just big enough so that the equipment was not damaged during transport during the ride.

3. Low outside temperature and battery level / operating temperature

Since the shooting took place in winter when the season was cold (2 ° C outside temperature), I had to make sure that I was dressed warm enough and that I had additional clothing to change, and on the other hand to check beforehand whether the batteries were full and the camera itself was designed to operate under this temperature.

4. Rain and moisture

Since the weather in England does not always appear to be gentle on the material due to frequent rain, I selected a day during the week beforehand which was likely to remain dry.

5. The public

I wanted to place my bike in the middle of the tunnel. In order to avoid too much traffic, I therefore planned the shooting during the week and tried to start at the location before visitors and tourists headed for or through the tunnel more frequently. At 9 A.M. very few visitors were lost there, but there were security guards, cleaning staff and people who run their daily business. The initially random passers-by did not have a negative impact on the scenery, but I stopped the recordings around 10:30 A.M., because the crowed ultimately became too large.

6. On-site security precautions

In order to prevent possible damage to property and possible theft of equipment, I had to pay particular attention to this. So that the bike and the tripod with camera were better visible to passers-by, I looked for a slightly brighter place in the tunnel. In addition, I mostly stayed right there to warn people before they might hit the bike while they were gazing at the graffiti or taking photos. I stowed the unnecessary equipment in the backpack as best I could and put it aside not far from the location of the recordings so that a possible targeted approach would have been noticed by me.

7. Self-catering

Since the shooting was planned a little longer, I brought enough drinks and some fruit with me.

Second Location: Kew neigborhood at night

Many of the health and safety precautions for the still life shooting in London also apply to this outside photo project, only a few more were added.

8. Night environment

In order to be more recognizable to others, I also carried blinking LED armbands in addition wearing a high visible jacket. This was also especially helpful when I took the photos in front of the apartment block. In doing so, I also wanted to clear up any doubts from local residents that my photography was intended only to focus on the building with its lighting and not to violate in any sence the privacy of people living inside.

9. Equipment safety

For the pictures with the car in front of the apartment block, I had to place the tripod on the street. Since it was a residential park, there was no through traffic. However, I had to interrupt a recording once because a vehicle just had to drive past it.

10.my Own safety

As a matter of my own protection, I had our dog accompanying on the leash.