As photographers, we meet new and potential clients all the time. Many times, we’re meeting clients for the first time at the photo shoot location. We’ve communicated with them via phone or email, but we haven’t actually met face to face. Normally, this isn’t a problem, but every now and then it can be a safety issue. As much as we want to think everyone in this world is a good, honest person, that’s not always the case. Here are five must-know safety tips for photographers and several super useful phone apps to help keep you safe.
5 Safety tips for photographers
1. Vet new clients. Whether it’s through an email questionnaire, a phone call, or a quick in-person meeting, try to get to know your new clients as well as possible. It would be ideal to meet with all new clients over coffee in a public place, but due to busy schedules that’s not always possible.
Email questionnaires are great for gathering information. You can ask about your client’s likes and dislikes, their hobbies, what they are looking for in their photo session, what clothing brands they prefer, and more. The questionnaire should be general enough not to be intrusive but in-depth enough to give you a good sense of each client.
2. Whenever possible, meet in a public place. This is easy to do if your photo shoot is outside. Parks and city streets are public places and there will be other people around. Take a few minutes to talk to your clients in the public place if you’re about to head to a more secluded area.
3. Tell someone where you’re going. Meeting in a public place is ideal, but not always possible. Sometimes your session will be in a client’s home, or in a remote location. Make sure you tell your significant other, a good friend, or someone you trust where you are going. Give them specific details, like the client’s address and phone number, and make sure to mention how long the session should last. Say that if you’re not done by a certain time, you’ll let them know. If they don’t hear from you, they should call you.
I shoot in-home sessions, and I always text my husband when I get to the session and when I’m leaving. Is it extra work? Yes, but it’s worth being safe in case something happens.
4. Take a self-defense class. A lot of community recreation centers and martial arts schools offer women’s self-defense classes for free. Even if you never have to use what you learn, it’s better to be prepared than to find yourself in a bad situation that you don’t know how to get out of. I help teach a women’s self-defense class once a week. It’s important to know some basic moves.
5. Listen to your gut. Everyone has that gut feeling when something isn’t right. Women tend to be more sensitive to it than men. Listen to your instincts. It’s better to be safe than to have something happen. Your personal safety is not worth the risk.
Remember, if you ever get that gut instinct about something not being right, listen to it! Love your job and do it safely!
3 Phone apps to keep you safe
Cell phones apps are great tools to help keep you safe. There are several apps you can download (and some are free!) that allow you to send your GPS coordinates to selected people in your contacts.
Circle of 6 – This app lets you combine up to six close contacts and send out messages, such as, “Come and get me.” It shows your exact location using GPS and can be pre-programmed with local emergency numbers.
Watch Over Me – This app acts as a timer. You set the time based on how long it should take you to finish your photo shoot and get home, and then the app starts counting down. You can always extend the time and the app will alert the contact of your choice. If you don’t make it back by the end of the timer, the app sends an alert to your contact.
bSafe – This app allows you to choose a few contacts to keep track of you. You can share your location and set an alarm to go off if you haven’t checked in before the time runs out. The app also allows you to set up a fake call so you don’t have to talk to anyone on the street if you are alone. If you get in trouble, you tap the alert button and the app lets your contacts see your location immediately.
Check with your cell provider as well. I have T-Mobile and they have a location service for phones on the same plan.
All photos by Emily Ingalls
Thank you so much for these tips! I teach digital photography to high school students, and these are tips they will need to be safe while starting their photography experience.