Do You Have A Routine?

Which pocket to you place the lens caps in? If you always use the same one, it sure cuts down on hunting. Do you have your viewing frame on a lanyard round your neck - so you can always use it - without taking off your gloves and reaching into a tight pocket? Do you always check the ISO setting on your camera at the start of a shoot? Do you remember to erase your memory card before recording the first image - darn nuisance if you forget and have to erage 90 images by hand so you can still use the card?

The more things that you can learn to do exactly the same way every time, the more likely these things won't desert you when in a hurry, or at the shoot of a lifetime. My friend left his tripod plate at home - the problem wasn't leaving it at home, the problem was that when he took it off, he should have put it in his camera bag, so he'd still have it.

It's my habit to zip my camera backpack after removing a lens, rather than waiting till I move on - once I forgot - I won't do that again! Can you tell your memory cards apart? Now, which was the one I wanted to erase...?

Do you have a place in your backpack that is dedicated to memory cards that have images, as opposed to those ready for use? keeping them in your pocket is just looking for trouble.

Do you routinely completely collapse your tripod when you get back to the car? Do you really need to or could you just collapse one section and have it fit - therefore ready for the next shoot that much faster?