Dave X. Tejada: Head Shots, and Pimping Your Chimping
How do you get to never be without access to your prized Golden Girls DVD collection while on the road, and write it off on your taxes at the same time? If you are David X. Tejada, you make up some lame story about how clients would rather chimp themselves on a seven-inch screen instead of the 2.5" back-of-the-camera version.
Being Dave, he sneaks in a little lighting info, too. That big feathered soft box / reflector combo is makin' some bacon for him. And I love how well the small seamless rolls fit into cubicle land. You can shoot Dilbert and get him right back to work before Wally comes back from the coffee machine.
And anyone catch the second, stealth fill card in there? That table is white and folds up to nothing. Makes me wonder if he scrounged it from on site, or if he gets to write off his picnic gear, too. Great idea.
I'll tell you right here that the next Wally-Mart special fold-up table I buy will be white.
And don't worry, Dave. I'm right there with you on Nikon not increasing the size of the back-of-camera monitors as fast as our eyes are going south.
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by David, at 1:45 AM.
38 Comments:
Better still, the D3 has HDMI output, so you can strap a 42-inch LCD to your back.
I've been using a Epson P-2000 for a couple of years now to do a similar task. Whilst it won't do tethered you can swap the card out and let the clients see their shots on the screen.
It's got larger and far clearer screen than the camera, and the newer generation of digital wallets have improved on this.
The added advantage is that it will back up your cards.
Love this concept! I think I saw something like this before from someone else and I've been thinking about it since. It's my next over $100 purchase. I don't think camera's will ever come out with a LCD that big! Plus this is much more compact and portable than a tethered laptop.
carpeicthus: "Better still, the D3 has HDMI output, so you can strap a 42-inch LCD to your back."
Haha! I bet someone will do it and he'll have a buddy with a power pack strapped to his back.
That's a nifty idea though (the portable dvd player). I've used tv's before but never thought of something so portable and much less cumbersome. Thanks for the video. I'll be looking into one of those.
How do you scroll through the images on the dvd player? The images are shot to the card, so does the dvd player access the card just as if it were the LCD screen on the camera?
The dvd player method is pretty cool, though I have a MacBook Pro... but like David says, shooting teathered to the laptop is a bit slow sometimes, so this may be a good alternative.
I was looking at digital photo frames with this use in mind. Some of them appear to support video in, and many are battery operated.
I have taken this to extremes on a couple of occasions. When working with potential models I've used a wireless video device (belt mounted) to send to a video projector. Leaving the projection at something like 1m x 70cms on the wall is great; As bright as needed, great details, and viewable by the model from their position.
Doing this gives us all great feedback during the shoot... and all without wires or "carying" anything around.
Dave
Great tip here about the DVD player!! Why do you use a WhiBal if you shoot in RAW? I always heard you didn't need to balance as you can easily do that in the RAW converter.
Thanks
Debbi
If you're buying a DVD player, be sure it has video-in connections. When I went looking for one last summer, I found that most don't have AV inputs, only outputs. I bought a Phillips DCP850 which has an 8 inch screen, AV inputs, and also accepts inputs from SD cards and video iPods.
I sometimes use Nikon Capture Control with my laptop.
Has anybody tried using Digital Photo Frame like this one?
http://www.edgetechcorp.com/accessories/digital-picture-frame.asp
Will it work?
Good thought, carpeicthus. My A700 also has HDMI out...I'm now thinking about picking up an inexpensive 15 inch LCD at one of the box stores.
At the start of the video, the fold up table is in the front cubicle on the left, so it looks like it was already there. But still a good idea for a home studio or something.
You crack me up Dave. "Pimping Your Chimping"
Thanks for the post. Seeing Dave Tejada's videos really make me think I CAN shoot corporate easy.
But not quite, I suppose. Thanks though for the free education! :)
Interestingly, for about the same price as a used portable DVD player, I added a WT-1 transmitter to my D2H. Of course, it probably took longer to configure than the DVD player would, but now that I have things configured, I can transmit the JPGs to my computer in no time flat, and have near-instant viewing. I can use several programs to preview the files on my super-portable 12" PowerBook.
And with the laptop running on battery power, my setup is completely cordless. I tried several things when doing studio setups, but the cords kept being a problem. And, the camera works completely normally (I can chimp on my screen still). Of course, I could send the NEFs, too, but that takes much longer. If you're using a D2X/D2H (S-versions, too, I think), I highly highly highly recommend the WT-1 (or WT-2 if your camera supports it -- my D2H doesn't)
What a waste! Those things are expensive! I'm not dropping $200 for a 7" screen, when I already have a laptop with a 13" screen! I hook up my laptop to my camera via USB, load up Adobe Bridge, and let the client view pictures there, in a nice, clean, color-balanced environment. And, I get $200 that I can use to buy 3 SB-26's!
Check out my blog for tips that new photographers can afford.
This is one of the things you would expect the camera manufacturers to have by now, but they don't.
An external screen/remote, with 7-10 inches, and the controls to fire the camera/ change settings, etc. Wired and wireless versions.
Can you imagine the possibilities?
And if you add live view, it becomes a whole new game.
Very cool idea with the portable DVD player. I'm trying to find a way if I can get my IPOD touch to do a similar task. Its not 7 inches but its bigger then the camera's LCD.
Debbi,
Why would you change the white balance later when you can get it right the first time?
Having an accurate color balance on location helps you to see if your shots are coming out the way you want them to, especially if you're dealing with mixed lighting. Also, if you're showing the client wouldn't you rather show them a color corrected version instead of one that will look better once you've fixed it?
That is such a rad idea!! I'm all over it. Thanks for the heads up David/David.
Those look like LIFETIME tables available at Costco. The 4' table is about $35.00 and the 30" personal table runs about $28.00 and has variable height adjustments. Both appear to be pretty sturdy and worth the price.
Good point, thanks Benjamin
Debbi
This video is no longer available.
Seems to be working fine. Check your cache (clear it) and give it a try.
Thanks,
DH
@shaun krishner - shaun - a waste? Well that depends on your useage really. To be honest, I've seen 7" DVD players - here in Australia for about AU$130 - thats about US$113 at todays exchange. Now lets say you are shooting corporate portraits - if you can't write off $113 on an expense - then you are not doing yourself any favours in business.
If this tool can make it easier for you to review your images, and your client to see that yes indeed that $XXXX dollars I invested in our yearly/bi-annual headshots was not a waste of money, then its a very simple decision to make.
It's all about where you are at with things. You think $200 is expensive? Take a walk into the video and film world for a second. A 7.9" dedicated Panasonic screen 800x450 res LCD will set you back $2.5K.... And thats more than worth it to most who use it...
Now that said - if you can get 3x SB-26's for $200 - get 5 and I'll pay you $150 for two...
Just to let you know, I just tried using a simple 1/8th stereo to 2xRCA splitter to see if it does the same job as the Nikon approved v-out cable and it DOES.
No need for fancy cables, though the Nikon approved cable is only 10$ at B&H.
Great idea! If the amateur pet photo with Santa thing we do every year didn't require an on-site printer and the ability to burn CDs, I'd be all over that.
Instead I use my 12" monitor on the laptop. Next year I'm seriously considering using either my 20" or 19" monitor. I just don't know if I want to drag one of them around to 3 different stores spread across 5 or 6 different weekends...
I can't believe my eyes(actually Ican when I used this). I had gotten one of the DVD players at my day job as a 10 year aniversery milestone. The kids already had portable computers for school soooooo I plug this in so a can chimp a little better (focus is a problem for me because of my eyes) been doing this since I got it in Sept. Glad to see someone else is not crazy....er nevermind.
WINK of an EYE digital
I'd considered hanging a 10" portable TV off my tripod, facing forwards, so that kids could see what I'd done and hopefully stay in their seats :)
@Debbie/Benjamin,
The (small) WhiBal is used to correct the white balance when post-processing the RAW files. If you visit the WhiBal site you'll see demonstrations, and Tejada's commentary hints at this too.
With a Nikon you'd need the large WhiBal (or similar) to set custom WB in camera, as it must fill the frame.
Note that the small camera screen/portable DVD is NOT colour accurate, so you won't be able to tell exactly anyway.
Hope this helps,
Mark
@Benjamin
The WhiBal or any other graycard is mostly used for correct WB during PP. I dont think David did a manual WB during the shot.
It's working now, but Youtube was saying it was unavailable for awhile.
Cheers
Dave had already documented this in 06' on his blog. But this post showed how he could attach it to his tripod:
http://davidtejada.blogspot.com/2006/03/still-testing-with-polaroid.html
I didn't see this in the comments but i may have missed something.
Canon users note:
When you buy your canon DSLR you get a DVD with bundled software.
In this collection of utilities should be "EOS Utility" and "ZoomBrowser EX"
Next time you are out shooting, hook your camera up to your laptop as you would for an image transfer.
Then load EOS Utility. Select "Camera Settings/Remote Shooting".
Not only does this let you change every setting on your camera from your computer (as well as take the photo w/out touching the camera) but it downloads the photos directly to your laptop as you are shooting and displays them in ZoomBrowswer.
you can cycle through the photos, and view them full screen anytime you want.
Only downside is the length of the usb cable but that can be fixed by buying a USB extension cord.
An additional little feature on your camera is the "shoot w/out CF" option. This means you can shoot with no memory card in the camera. But if you're plugged into your computer, the images go directly to your hard drive. Now you have your hard drive as a memory card for your camera. Its pretty sweet.
What DVD players have people found workable for this routine? I bought an LG781, which has a wonderfully nice and crisp screen (CR rates it best) but when I switched the unit to A/V IN, the D2X images were panscanned and I could find no way to get the whole image on the screen as David shows in the video. I tried everything, so did the Best Buy dude, and it seems the A/V IN setting disables the 4:3 option, hence it tried to stretch the images. Too bad, the screen is great and it's only $156 at Best Buy.
Thanks!
Was he using a second light for the background behind the subject, or was that just spill from the softbox/reflector. I couldn't quite see in the video - the reason I thought he might was becuase the back highlight is centered so nicely...
Anonymous Said: "I have taken this to extremes on a couple of occasions. When working with potential models I've used a wireless video device (belt mounted) to send to a video projector."
Can you give me the name of, or a link to the wireless device you used? I have a videographer friend who would be very interested...
Thanks,
Scott
> Better still, the D3 has HDMI output,
> so you can strap a 42-inch LCD to your back.
or how about using a device like this?
http://www.pbase.com/cbeauche/image/33051736.jpg
What connector did you buy to make it work David T.?
I cannot get mine to work and Radio Shack can't/won't help me.
I'm so frustrated and flickr is down so no help there
Sammy C.
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