Keep a Lighting File, Version 2.0
Back in Lighting 101 I wrote about the importance of keeping a lighting file. And having made the jump to the iPhone, keeping a lighting file is now way easier -- and more accessible.Hit the jump for more on this -- and two iPhone apps that are great for location shooters.
Now that the 3G is out and I have (finally) taken the plunge, I will no longer have to put up with every other photographer I know telling me to get one of these things.
Alright, already, you guys were right -- it is made for photographers. I considered the idea of putting my portfolio on the phone, then ditched it in favor of uploading several different versions of my portfolio. That way, I can immediately choose which set of photos are best suited for the person who is about to see them.
In addition, I have merged the lighting file into something I have labeled as an "inspiration folder". It's filled with my favorite shots from guys like Dan Winters, Gregory Heisler and Peter Yang, along with a few dozen of my absolute favorites from the Strobist reader gallery.
I come across ideas that I want to save all of the time. Recently, I have started shooting them right into the iPhone with the built-in camera. This, of course, sticks them right into your camera roll along with all of the blurred photos of the cat snapped by your kids between games of JawBreaker. (Okay, I am addicted to that one, too.)
As smooth as he iPhone interface is, iTunes won't let you treat the camera roll as an accessible image folder as far as I can tell. But if you launch iPhoto (which I normally hate) while the phone is attached, it'll let you import the photos directly.
Then just export them to your designated iPhone-synching photo folder on your computer and they will pop up wherever you wish to put them.
Even more than the idea of a physical lighting file, I love the that, (a) I can snap a cool magazine page whenever I see it, and (b) I always have the photos with me. I have had an inspiration folder on my laptop for a couple of years now. Now I keep the photos with me everywhere I go. Way better.
The photo up top, BTW, is from this month's Fast Company magazine and was shot by Brent Humphreys. You may remember him as having shot the WIRED Magazine cover that was blogged with lighting diagrams.
I just spent fifteen minutes looking through his portfolio, and I think I just found some more inspiration.
Do you have an inspiration folder? Who is in it?
Photo-Friendly Apps
I spend a lot of time on email and Google reader, which lets me easily follow a couple dozen blogs very efficiently. One button and the are all queued up, ready to read.But two other apps stand out as being particularly useful to location shooters: Weather Bug and Photocalc.
Why Weather Bug? Because, unlike the standard weather app, Weather Bug gives you the ability to see local weather radar. So you know how much time you have left before you are gonna have to bail from an outdoor shoot during transitional weather. And it is free, too.
And Photocalc, which is loaded up with mostly useless navel-gazing photo calculators to justify the $2.99 price tag, has one thing that is very useful: It grabs your location and will display the exact time of sunrise and sunset in your area.
That's a big help when you are doing the sunset backdrop thing and your subject is asking you what time to show up.
It also has a mini-spreadsheet-style guide number calculator, shown above, which will help to train your mind for faster flash power estimation.
If you want to learn more about Photocalc before foregoing 3/4 of a cup of Starbucks to buy it, check out WIRED blogger (and longtime Strobist reader) Charlie Sorrel's review.
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by David, at 12:50 AM.
44 Comments:
in my inspiration folder I have Joe and Moose.
dude amazing,
try and guess what i just did this morning before reading this post?
moved a whole folder i call 'ref photos' into my 80gb iPod classic so i can view a slideshow of my fav images on my way to work or uni or what ever and get some inspiration with music playing on the backgroud too. too bad you cant really put any information to go with the photos though, and the size is probably a lot bigger on iPhone as well. iPhones are hard to get, though. Unless you want to become a slave of a provider for a year or two. ( the only way in Finland as of now )
Hi David,
I have an iPod touch, not an iPhone, but I've noticed if I take screenshots on the device then when I plug it in to charge, Image Capture pops up because I've set it to launch whenever a 'camera' is attached. I guess it sees the images and assumes the iPod is a camera.
Anyway, my point is that assuming you're on a Mac, using Image Capture allows you to avoid launching that horrible iPhoto (I hate it too!) and doing the import/export dance.
Cheers,
Owen
If you want to skip the iPhoto and just grab the photos from iPhone to a dedicated folder use Image Capture.app (located on your Applications folder and is actually the application that iPhoto uses to import photos) which gives you access to select the photos you want (not like in iPhoto that take everything) and moves them straight away to the folder you want.
Just downloaded the iPhone app, really useful stuff and only £1.75. Thanks for the heads up!
Alan
Why use iPhoto when you can use the faster, more versatile Image Capture? Or, better yet, why not just import from the iPhone directly into Aperture (if you use it)? That's what I typically do.
And I use the star-rating system to choose which photos go into albums on my iPhone. 5-star is my best shot portfolio, 4-star is 'interesting,' 3-star is architecture, etc... makes it easy to tag photos in Aperture for my different iPhone albums.
Also, remember that the 3G has GPS geotagging on the photos you take with it—another useful feature (sometimes).
i have thousands of photos in my inspiration folders - both digital and physical.
for me, looking at other people's photos is as much a part of my photography as actually taking my own photos.
looking at outside resources, getting fresh ideas to incorporate into my own work, or noticing things about other people's photographs that i don't like and learning what not to do... that's refining my own aesthetic.
it's good to go outside the world of photography, too, and look at sculpture, graffiti, advertising, ballet, music videos, cave paintings, piles of trash in alleyways... inspiration is everywhere.
dave wright
san francisco photographer
I clicked on the Dan Winters url, and was taken to a "free antivirus software site!" Please check out the link, as it seems to be bad.
Lightroom can also suck photos in off your Camera Roll! ;)
Another great way to use the iphone is to use it to create your blog. That's what I'm doing over on www.johnricardblog.com It's a very simple process of just shooting pics with the iphone when I have downtime on my shoots, and then whenever I have more downtime, I use an app called "ShoZu" to upload the pics to both my blog and to flickr.
Great if you're in the US and have bought into the Apple thing... How about a Nokia user in the UK? Does anyone know of anything similar?
David, Unfortuantely, I do not write code. But it seems there are quite a few in the Strobist Community who do. My request is for an Exposure(TM)-like iPhone App (distributed for free, hint hint) that accesses images from the Strobist Flickr group. And wouldn't it be nice to be able to slectively add in our local Strobist Meetup groups as well? And wouldn't it be great to have another App(an RSS-like feed) for the Flickr Discussions for both the global and local Strobist groups??
Perhaps, this request could qualify for one of the PW wizard give-away contests??
BTW, when are you planning to come to Minneapolis to teach the class?
Rick
David,
I was just thinking of using my phone to store pics and use it as a lighting file.
I was just wondering, lots of photographers have sites made in flash, so how would you store those images onto the phone?
And, with flickr there's the problem of having a transparent image on the photo so the actual is not downloaded.
How do you get those pics onto your iphone?
Cheers
I've been using Bridge's Photo Downloader and it too views the iPhone as a camera when you plug it in to the computer. I've found it to work fairly well.
Thanks for the other ideas David! Another reason why this is the first Blog I check every morning.
Adair Systems, the makers of Photocalc, make another iPhone app called Sunrise that calculates sunrise, solar noon, and sunset, based on your current location. I'm guessing it's the same code they use in photocalc without the overhead, and it's only $1. So, if you don't need the calculators and glossary, save yourself $2 and the precious space on your phone.
Okay, the obvious question is: how soon til we see the post where you've figured out how to sync with pocket wizards to light the phone's camera shots? :) As many cool ideas as you've shared, THAT'd be the killer...LOL
there is something wrong with the Winters link above.
It leads to a spam/malware website.
Be very careful!
This is the offending link:
http://www.danwintersphotography.com/
Weather Underground has an interface just for the iPhone, look in the upper right corner of their standard web page. Radar, set times, all on one screen; weather, too.
Another sun and set app is Sol, that gives set times, and the various forms of twilight.
Bron
A very useful feature on the iPhone and iPhone 3G is the ability to take screenshots. For example, you can browse to any of your photos on Flickr.com, zoom or crop in to fill the frame, and press the menu + power button at the same time for about 1-2 seconds. The screen will flash white briefly and then your picture will show up in Camera Roll.
I assign a photo of every person in my contact list this way, so when they call I see their pretty faces each time.
my favorite is Depth Of Field Master, its a web app that does exactly what it sounds - calculate the DOF for any camera/lens/FL/aperture etc.
//www.dofmaster.com
iphone app: //iphone.dofmaster.com
Chris
It seems like the iPhone could be very useful for making a location portfolio also. Just take pictures using the iphone around your home town of locations that are good to shoot. If you see one, just snap it really quick. They can be geo tagged so it's easy to find them later.
Does anyone know of an app to use that will calculate the hyper focal distance?
Whenever I import a photo into Aperture, I can add it to my iPod Touch's photo app. Here's how I do it:
In Aperture, I've created a Smart Album that looks for the label "iPod." Every time I import a photo that I want in my iPod, I label it "iPod."
In iTunes, I've told my iPod's Photo tab that I want to (1) sync photos from Aperture, and (2) sync Selected Albums, choosing "iPod" as the album to sync.
From that point, it's as simple as adding or deleting the iPod tag from any photo in Aperture. The rest is automatic, and my album on the iPod Touch is updated every time I sync.
I'm probably late to the party (comment-wise) on this one, but I've been doing that since I got the iphone 0G back in December.
As a side note I've been perusing the photobook section and magazine section at my local bookstore for years. It's something I do regularly. I spend several hours a week pouring over trendy mags and books. When I see something that inspires, I take out the iphone and grab a shot.
Jeremy Center
BRON said there's an iPhone app called SOL
Can't find it; does anyone know?
thx
Hey David, the light file is a great idea. i've been doing it for a while. i wish we could write notes with the photos. this way, you can iphonograph locations and add light notes, etc. i've never been a fan of iPhoto until the iPhone came around. its a great way to organize these secondary photos, without having to store them ( and post for clients through web gallery). iPhoto has made its way into my workflow
Hi David,
for the inspiration: I still do it on paper. I glue cutouts into my journal and scribble notes and drawings aside. To me its viewing images from others and remembering own ideas based on that. That works quite well for me as I am not into searching that stuff. Even more intuitive than the iPhone.
What I usualy and frequently do with my 1 year old N95 (sorry, no iPhone) are snapshots of locations I want to come back for a shoot. And yes, I can geotag these images.
hi all: for people who are just interested in the sunrise / sunset time. The same company who wrote photocal also have a program "Sunrise". It is $0.99 USD.
http://www.adairsystems.com/sunrise/
Of all the functions of the iPhone I've found its a great networking tool. I send digital personalised business cards directly from it when I meet someone I may one day like to do business with. I have found lots of advantages for this already. You can save a design of your card and email it as an attachment or personalise some text. I still carry the paper copies just incase.
Since I'm always on the go, I use my iPhone to take quick photos so friends and family can see what I'm up to and where I'm at. I then upload them via email to my Tumblr site at:
Andrew Acomb on Tumblr
or my brightkite site at:
Andrew Acomb on Brightkite
Then I wrote a widget so I can display the three most recent Tumblr photos on my blog at:
Andrew Acomb's Blog
And for Brighkite, I wrote another widget so I can put my location in the green box on my blog on the right.
Check it out. If anyone wants to use some of the code, let me know.
Andrew
Couple of thoughts...
I'm a bit of a Luddite... I don't own or want to own or need to own any newfangled "i"-anything! I figure just goin' digital is enough of a trauma for me for this decade.
Secondly, I'm lazy as h*ll... I take David's "SUBJECT DRIVEN LIGHTING" as an absolute dictum. Once I've got that fabulous shot "in the can" I really don't ever want to use it again. I start fresh with each & every subject and create a unique picture from scratch. Sure I make many mistakes over and over again, but they're getting fewer and fewer. Should I live to, say, 2087, I should have the whole dang thing down pat!
Lighting file... be damned!
Sol: Daylight Clock
page 10 of 11 under utilities, in the app store.
Search did not find it.
Moon Phase is fun; Werewolf warning.
Bron
Ditch Weatherbug and get Fizz Weather. I had to switch because I kept getting tired of the unreliable radar. Fizz is the best couple of dollars I've spent in the app store yet. Much sleeker interface, too.
You don't have to use iPhoto to import your pictures from your iPhone. Aperture also works to access your photos on your iPhone. If you have Aperture set up to auto launch whenever a camera is attached, it will open when you plug in your iPhone to sync it. I don't have Lightroom yet, but I wonder if it works the same way.
I recently picked up a Zune mp3 player to do something very similar. Though I'm not able to run any apps on it, I do have several galleries setup on the phone. A lighting and inspirational gallery was one of the first that i loaded, then follow that with my own galleries including landscapes, portraiture, and such.
The screen size is comparable to the iTouch and iPhone, with much (10x) more memory space.
I like to use the audio tag feature on my G9 to attach verbal lighting diagrams and other information to the photos I shoot with my G9.
It's really handy especially when traveling. :)
One thing I didn't realize about the iphone is that when your viewing photos, you can tilt the phone forward (away from you) and it will turn the image around so that somebody facing you can see the photo.
I have been using the iPhone as a portable portfolio for a year now, (yeah I was one of those guys in line for the original launch) and it is great. You can use iPhoto to customize great photo albums for various target audiences and when you are at the market, bar, or photo shoot you can show people instantly what you can do, or better show then what you are talking about when explaining a setup.
Another app that users might want is one called Tides. Its free and knowing tides can be just as useful as knowing sunset for pics. Nothing worse than turning up at a location with a model to find it under water (not that I have ever done that you understand ;))
You can download the photos from your iPhone in Lightroom as well. Since I use Lightroom as my main catalog, raw editor, etc. I turned off the iPhoto auto sync thing and have Lightroom pop up the download dialog when a memory card with pics is detected.
Just thought I would let all the Lightroom people know since others have covered Aperture and iPhoto
picoli ($4.99) is another great app. sorta like a mini-photoshop for your phone to make up for the built in camera. i probably would not even bother taking camera shots without this app.
for the question regarding hyper focal distance, there is a an app called iSee4K. its free, i think its actually for the Red cameras, but it works for this purpose too.
* i just got it cause it was free.
iTunes can watch a folder and sync it. I have photos exported from Lightroom through a preset that processes them/sizes them into that folder. Next time you sync, those pics are there.
I've discovered 2 iPhone apps cool for photographers: iSee4K and Dual Level a spirit level for iPhone all free.
You can't beat the iPhone for this kind of application but another great app for this is Evernote. It works on Mac and PC AND iPhone. Check it out: http://www.evernote.com/
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