Suspended above water with a client in a MoHo, now what?
We get things thrown at us that most people would think were akin to asking for a million dollars, tax free, but it’s all in a days work for us at Image Mechanics. A perfect example was when Michael Grecco asked us to be suspended over the water at Marine Stadium in Long Beach, shooting tethered, and still have the images viewable by the client in a motorhome. Our solution ended up being Apple Remote Desktop (now a standard feature in Leopard).
It goes a little something like this:
* MacPro 8-core and 30″ monitor, set up as main base station in motorhome.
* Linksys WRT-54gc wireless router gaf-taped to side of motorhome with 7dBi antenna to run our local area network.
* Canon 1Ds MkII, MacBook Pro 17″, Tripp-Lite UPS Battery Backup and external USB drive all attached to cherry picker, extended over the water.
* Photographer and I, together in close quarters, making the magic happen (the images I mean).
While Grecco shot in the picker basket, the client could see exactly what was happening on the tethered laptop thanks to Remote Desktop. And this was all viewable in the comfort and convenience of the motorhome with a walkie standing by to give feedback and suggestions. Does it get any better? The client certainly didn’t think so, and rewarded us with a stress-free and highly enjoyable day. This goes to show that no matter how big or small the task, there is always a solution, and Image Mechanics will strive to find it. Check out the images!
Dawn on the water, good ole’ Long Beach.
Canon 1Ds Mark III in Palm Springs
Recently I had the pleasure of working with the very talented Sydney-based photographer Hugh Stewart on a Palm Springs-based shoot for Marshall’s spring looks. With a final tally of 14,146 21-megapixel frames over four days, an immediate delivery schedule, and other above-and-beyond requests, this shoot proved to be a good test for our 35mm capture workflow capabilities using the new Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III.
Hugh Stewart shooting away.
Here is everything that was called for on this job:
- Full eight-core Mac Pro capture setup for primary shooting location
- Secondary MacBook Pro laptop for separate remote location setups
- On-set prints from each shoot setup for hard proofing
- Delivery of RAWs and processed full-res TIFF selects mere hours after the last shot
Did I mention I was the only tech on this job?
Speaking in Sydney
I have been traveling so much with the PDN On the Road tour and Photo Plus Expo that I had quite a collection of bits in my bag by the time I got to Sydney for the Digital Media Festival. I dumped everything on my hotel dresser and realized it was a pretty good representation of my recent travels so I opened up the curtain and stood on a chair to get this shot.
Travel for work is usually just that - work. It can be tiresome and difficult, especially if you have a lot of gear to keep track of. I had so much going on that I just looked at the Sydney trip as another thing on my schedule that I had to get through before the end of the year. My attitude totally changed the first morning in Sydney while having coffee in Darling Harbor. I was gathering my thoughts outside the convention center before I gave my lecture and I realized what an amazing place this was and I was privileged to be there.
iPhone shot of Darling Harbor
You heard it right folks, the jaded crust is slowly coming off of me. First, on the PDN OTR tour, I meet some amazing and inspirational people who reinvigorated my passion for photography and now I am enjoying business travel. Who is this person looking back at me in the mirror?
Digital Q&A at A&I
FYI, the Image Mechanics team will be hosting a digital Q&A at A&I (couldn’t think of any more acronyms). We will be there to show our workflow using the new Leaf 75s and answer digital photo questions. It is a free event and A&I is giving away two free 20″x30″ Lightjet prints at each event so bring your digital files along with your questions.
Chicago PDN On the Road
The Chicago leg of the PDN On the Road seminar series kicked off with a bang. First, someone almost killed themselves breaking into our studio. They kicked a hole in the security glass and tried to climb through it. The glass slid down guillotine style about 8 inches and cut the intruder up pretty good. Nothing was stolen but everything was a mess. Then we get on the plane where a large unstable passenger who had never flown before sat across the aisle from me. He pretty much begged to be let off the plane the whole 4 hour flight. Not very relaxing to say the least.
Image Mechanics Executive Director Pip Newson accompanied me on this leg of the tour. As any of you who are clients know, she is the go-to person for problem solving. It turns out she also has meerkat like senses for finding good restaurants. We were cruising along in the cab on the way from the airport and she spotted Bourgeois Pig, a place she saw on Rachel Ray. It was a great coffee house and I highly recommend it if you are in the area.
BTW, the plate in the forground with food on it is mine and the one polished clean was Pip’s. She may look small but she can out eat me most days with her high metabolism.
Sydney Digital Media Festival
If you read this blog from down under, you should come by and say hello at the Digital Media Festival this week. I will be speaking Thursday the 15th at 9AM. I am dreading the flight but I am very much looking forward to the event and to seeing Sydney. Still can’t believe they wouldn’t spring for Pip to be my translator.
Photo Plus Expo
I am speaking this Thursday the 18th at Photo Plus Expo at 1:00 PM (High Volume Workflow) and again on Friday at 3:45 (Lightroom Laptop Workflow). If you are in NY this week please look me up.
Czech it Out!
Hi everyone! I’m Adam, and this is my first D2F blog post. You may have been in touch with me for job deliveries, or seen me around on shoots. Recently I had the immense pleasure of embarking on a two week excursion to the Czech Republic, within the (former) Eastern Bloc. The trip was incredible, and thanks to the fact that my friend who I was traveling with has family in Czech and spoke the native language fluently, I got to see a lot of amazing parts of Czech that your average tourist would probably never encounter.
We at Image Mechanics enjoy sharing personal projects when we think they’re cool, so I’ve put up a gallery of photos from my travels for people to check out. Just click this nifty little image below:
Hope you enjoy it! If you have any questions about visiting the Czech Republic, I can be reached at adam (at) imagemechanics (dot) com.
On the Road in Atlanta
I arrived Sunday for the PDN On the Road series in Atlanta. The trip was pretty good even though on the Chicago to Atlanta leg I had to sit next to the bathroom. I have had worse flights so all in all it was a very efficient and painless trip. I loved being able to jump on the MARTA train at the airport and arrive at my hotel 17 minutes later for a grand total of $1.75. Individually and as a company, I am constantly evaluating my choices and how they affect the environment. This one was an easy choice. Check out the escalator from the train station. It was so long and steep that it made me a little anxious - keep in mind that until my back surgery, I was a frequent rock climber and heights don’t usually bother me. This is one extreme escalator.
iPhone night shot
After the speaker dinner, Aaron Schindler and I popped our heads into Daily’s Downstairs where we heard some great live music. I would loosely classify the sound as ska/jazz with a Joe Jackson influence. They are called Wabi Sabi and I liked them so much that I bought their CD.
No Dust or Bust! (yes, I’m cheesy)
Is your sensor looking a little dirty? Well, it’s inevitable and not very difficult to remedy with a steady hand and a bit o’ nerves. Recently we received the Delkin Sensor Scope System, for use with 35mm D-SLRs and put it through our usual tests (remember, we test this stuff so you don’t have to.)
The package is cool, tons of sensor swabs, large bottle of cleaning fluid, the actual scope and a little USB vacuum thingy. Everything is pretty dang useful, especially the scope. It is essentially a lighted loupe which is designed to fit perfectly in the lens mount of both Canon and Nikon bodies so that you can see the dirt which is there and know when your cleaning has removed it. I would recommend purchasing the scope and the wands/fluid seperately and save yourself the $20 from the hokey USB vacuum.
Now we get down to the task at hand.
The instructions are pretty basic; set your camera to it’s sensor clean option, inspect the sensor with the scope, clean sensor with wand, re-inspect with scope, and repeat process till clean.
Our conclusion, it works. The sensor is clean and free of residue and accomplished with minimal complication. Why pay for a sensor cleaning service where you lose your camera for 3 days and pay $40 each time when for a $130 investment you can clean your sensor at your own convenience. Of course, safety is paramount, so follow the directions and make sure your camera’s battery is fully charged to avoid premature shutter return. Other than that I’d recommend this system to anyone serious about taking clean, dust free images. Just remember to buy the scope and duster refill kit seperately. It’ll save you the $20 from the vacuum to put towards a nice 12 pack for congratulations on a job well done, you deserve it.
P.S. For our medium format backs we’ve found the sensor brushes from Visible Dust to be more than adequate since wet cleaning is very rarely necessary.
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