Contingency Plans - Top 10 Project Killers

What could go wrong during production	How are you going to avoid this issue? What’s your back up plan?
Models may not turn up, whether they can’t make it, have exams or simply forget.	I am going to make sure that the days I book my equipment and the studio are days that have been agreed on and double checked with my models, making sure they are available. I also plan to go to meetings with my models to double check the dates, make sure everyone is agreed and the shoot can go ahead. As I know my models on a personal basis, I can remind them via the internet the night before or via text so that the chances of forgetfulness will be minimised on the model front. I will also make sure that I have more models than necessary arranged to meet with me on the day, so that if one or even two back out, I will still have plenty of models to photograph and work with, to get professional images that will be good enough for my final product, saving time without an excess of contingency photo shoots.
The props for my photo shoots could disappear.	I could lose my props if I leave them in the studio or around college. Even if I leave them at home, they could easily be forgotten on the day of my photo shoot and there might not be time to organise another one, the studio might be fully booked up or my models might not all be available at the same time as me again. To prevent this, once I have gathered all the props I will need, I will put them into a plastic box or boxes with a lid and keep them in the boot of my car. Once in the car, I will not remove them until the day of the photoshoot where they will be impossible to forget due to the fact that wherever I go, my car will be. This will ensure that the issue is avoided.
Font not installed on C drives	As I will be working on a lot of computers over the entire production time, fonts that I have installed and used on one machine will not be installed on all. I will save the fonts as zip folders onto my space, so that they are available to install on whichever college computer I use. I will also make a note of the names of the fonts and visit the website dafont.com at home to install the same fonts onto my home computers. This means that wherever I’m working I am able to access the correct fonts, either by noting where they are located online or by saving the files to my space and memory stick.
Memory sticks getting lost or becoming corrupt.	Whilst using a memory stick is a vital and useful part of production in terms of saving and transporting my current work, I will have to be careful that all the work I have completed is not only saved on a memory stick and can be accessible in different places at the time I need it. To avoid losing work, I will save it on the computer I am working on in college, my memory stick and my home computer to make sure I have enough copies if something goes terribly wrong. Also, if I need to do work at home and am working to a deadline, I cannot afford to miss a night out and wait until I am back at college to continue if files on my memory stick do become corrupt. To avoid this issue I will also save an online copy of my work on hotmail and email a copy home. This means that wherever I am, I can access my work and continue working on it.
Sometimes, just as you are getting to the end of a large piece of work on the computer, it crashes and you can lose 2 or more hours worth of work.	This is a major setback that will waste time and can leave me struggling to keep up to date with my schedule. As I am working, every few minutes I will keep clicking ‘Save’. It’s so basic and easy to do but can make a massive difference and save you from having to redo masses of work.
Running out of network space	This is a problem when using college computers and potentially home computers. There is a limit on the amount of space each person can have, meaning that eventually you will reach the limit and cannot save anymore, which is a nightmare when needing to save changes to the final product. To avoid this issue I will look through all of my work, deleting irrelevant documents and out of date work from last year, making sure it is not needed anymore. I will not waste network space with things like music and personal images, saving it for the important files, like my final products and all that accompanies this.
Cameras running out of batteries	The last thing I need is for my camera to run out of battery power half way through my shoot when images are still needed. To avoid this, I will check with Chris, the college technician that the camera is fully charged or at least has enough charge for the amount of time I have booked it for. I will also carry my own batteries as an extra back up to avoid any issues when shooting.
Having to abandon photo shoots that have been planned as external due to bad weather	There is not a great deal I can do to prevent the weather ruining plans to get my images. As a contingency plan, I could arrange more than one occasion everyone is available to do the photoshoot, using one as a backup. If the first doesn’t go ahead then I can rely on the second and if the first is successful, then I can tell my models that a second shoot is not necessary. Another way I will try to avoid this issue is by undertaking most of my photo shoots indoors in the studio. At this time of year, the lighting and studio equipment will probably make my final product have a far more professional appearance to it.
9)      Photographs coming back out of focus after a difficult photo shoot has just been executed	Throughout the photoshoot, I will keep checking the images on the camera to make sure they are in focus. I will use the zoom to see up close if the images are okay and if not, I will retake the images, saving time with no further contingency shoots.
10)   Photo shoots taking a long time to set up so that you are only left with a short time to get pictures and there might not enough time scheduled for difficult or complex shoots	I will have to practice setting up an area beforehand to see how long it will take and make allowances for this when booking the studio time. Instead of arranging separate shoots, I will try to make the shoots slightly longer so I don’t have to set up more than once and can try to get all the shots I want first time. I will book more time than is necessary, to make sure that I do not run short of time. If a shoot finishes earlier than I thought, it is not a problem. It is only a problem the other way around, if I need more time than I have.