Deal with disaster

Mistakes are bound to happen in your career, so be prepared as best you can with these five tips

- Paul Wilkinson

Things will go wrong. It’s how you respond to problems that makes all the difference. Two thoughts passed through my mind as I sailed towards the stage floor at the Royal Institution’s Christmas Lectures. Firstly, that there were three steps, not two, in the set I’d just scampered down in a rush to capture the next shot. And secondly, that I must protect my camera at all costs.

I twisted my body to spare the camera from impact, taking the brunt of the fall along the side of my body instead. This heroic sacrifice was lost on the four hundred people in the audience, who – after a second’s shock had passed – began laughing. At this point there was really only one left thing to do.

I stood back up, walked to the centre of the stage and took a bow, before limping off-stage to check my camera.

I hope the disasters you face aren’t as dramatic (or public!) as my on-stage adventure. However, if you’re a professional photographer, you will encounter disasters. These are five of the main ones to prepare for, and how we handle them in our studio:

Accident and illness