Warning: theft of photographic equipment!

It happened las Saturday at a wedding at the most traditional church in Belo Horizonte, Lourdes. I did not do what I usually do, leave the equipment in the room attached to the altar. My two bags were in my assistant’s hands. Do not ask me why, I think intuition. The stomach lurched and I decided to leave everything in his hands.

Belo Horizonte is a relatively big city, but still retains a provicial air. Compared to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro it is still safe. I haven’t heard about a few cases of theft of photographic equipment in churched, maybe I’m uninformed , but nothing compares to the robberies in the two above cited capitals, especially São Paulo.

Entry of the groom, groomsmen and bride. Adrenaline flowing. This to me it is the most tense moment in a ceremony. I took photos of the bride coming in from very close and then turned around by the banks, photographing the reaction of the groom at the altar.

Suddenly I see a fussy photographer, he was not on my team, I looked to the side and the two press photographers were behind me. This guy, around 1.70 m, median, looking about 38 years old, goatee, glasses and blue checked pattern shirt came into my picture. He had a camera, flash and Gary Fong. He came quickly from the back of the church and began photographing the groom at the altar too. I thought that was weird and mentally cursed him by various names. He was tense, moved quickly and drew a lot of attention. Wearing checked pattern, also right?

Suddenly he disappeared. Bride entered, grooms at the altar. The security of the Church called me. Asked me if I had seen him and said: Watch out for your stuff. He was a thief of equipments here in the Church. Later he told me in detail that the subject had already been there and had stolen another photographer. We were lucky, we learned the lesson. From now on I will take some measurements and one of them is to always leave someone with the equipment.

I decided to write this brief article here because I know what it costs to buy good equipment in Brazil. They are super expensive and suddenly we are robbed and stay without our tools. It’s sad and it has been happening in the main capitals.

Who has been stolen please speak up here. Let’s get protected!

Below are some tips to minimize this problem, theft of equipment.

1. Have an insurance. Look for the association www.fototech.com.br. They have a collective policy and it is cheaper.

2. Get a Think Tank bag. They are in my opinion the best one, they have a lock and a steel cable for you to hold the bag in a fixed thing like in the photo below. I do not receive commission from them. They are good. Sturdy and safe.

3. If possible, hire a person who can watch the equipment all the time. The expensive can be very cheaper later.

4. Photograph all the serial numbers of your equipment. They will be very useful in case you are robbed, when trying to recover them.

5. If you’ve been robbed, make a police report and send it along with the serial numbers of equipment for all photographers, websites, blogs, and associations that you know.

6. Do not carry with you equipment that you will not need. It is taking an unnecessary risk.

7. The most important of all these tips, in my opinion, is to never buy an equipment without knowing its origination. If you do not know the owner, you should require the invoice. If equipment is very cheap, beware! There are thieves only because there are also people who make part of this vicious cycle and that is it!

Any other tip is very welcome via comments. Let’s get protected!

Cheers to you all!