It was May of 2011- I pulled up to the location where I’d be meeting my bride, proud that I was 45 minutes early. “Killin’ it, Abby. You are killin’ it,” I  probably said to myself. I opened the back left door on my blue Mazda3 hatchback, thinking I’d grab my purse and get a cup of coffee to while away the time before I went into start shooting, when realization hit me with a jolt:

I’d left my one and only portrait lens at home.

It was only my third wedding on my own, and one of the TWO lenses that I owned at the time was still sitting in my living room… an hour away.

I’ll spare you the ensuing legitimate panic attack that followed, along with the getting-stopped-by-police-because-I-was-going-77-in-a-55 story. Long story short, I managed to get a hold of my lens, and the rest of the day fell into place. But I will NEVER forget that horrible feeling!

The exact date I began using an equipment checklist is escaping me, but it wasn’t long after that moment that I realized I needed some kind of visual list to ensure I never forgot another piece of equipment for a wedding!

These days, we have two checklists: one for engagement sessions, one for weddings. Why two? Because I shoot with a lot less equipment at an engagement session and only need my portrait lenses with me, and I want to be able to COMPLETELY check off a list when I’m getting ready to leave!

To make things even easier, we have each list printed out and laminated using THESE 3M self-sealing lamination pouches. This means we don’t have to print out a new sheet for every session and wedding- instead, Matt keeps each one on a clipboard with a dry erase marker so that we can reuse them as many times as we need.

Matt checks the equipment off as he adds each piece throughout the day before a wedding or session, and then we take the sheet out with us to the car to do one last once-over! This way, we can leave for every wedding and engagement session knowing that every piece of equipment I need has most definitely made it into the car with me!

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