How do you capture and process 3,000 to 5,000 shots and hand your client the image disk in a single day? Is a workflow that shoots tethered into Lightroom robust enough for professional work? How do you transport studio-quality gear to shoots across the country? These were many of the questions covered recently at the Image Mechanics workshop “Making the Transition to Digital Tech Part 1“.

I’ve long been a fan of the workshop’s instructor, Michael Britt – the managing partner at Image Mechanics. Michael wrote the original manual for Lightroom. He’s consulted for Apple on Aperture. His company has been responsible for managing literally millions of captures on professional shoots around the globe. The Image Mechanics client list reads like a Who’s Who of high-end editorial and advertising photographers.

For a guy, like me, who does not work in that realm, I could say that’s a lot of rah-rah. What’s made me a fan is that Michael does not hesitate to share what he knows about digital capture. This was the second time that I’d spent a day with Michael. (The first time was two years ago at the nearby Julia Dean Workshops.) Any industry leader who is willing to share the details of his entire workflow with anyone who is interested, gets my sincere appreciation and respect.

An Image Mechanics digital capture studio ready to roll.

Taking The Digital Capture Studio Wherever It Needs To Go

There are many benefits to shooting tethered. The first and foremost reason to shoot tethered is that you can make precise decisions about exposure. Another is that if your client is on-set, he or she can see large-scale images to confirm that you’re delivering what’s needed from the shoot. (For a detailed discussion of these and other benefits, read this Px article.)

An Image Mechanics field kit for digital capture includes an Apple 30″ Cinema Display, a G5 Tower, a MacBook Pro laptop, external drives (with multiple ways to connect to a computer), UPS battery backup and several sets of USB and Firewire cables for tethering a wide range of cameras to the computer. All of this is moved around on a special cart that converts into a computer stand.

Redundancy is the key to surviving the challenges that will inevitably pop-up in the field. Michael discussed redundancy in ways that I had never considered before (such as carrying a copy of your software and other essential files on a thumb drive in case your computer gear disappears – rent a computer in that distant city and you’re back in business).

Michael Britt talks about getting a 30" Apple Cinema Display and G5 Tower out to location shoots.

The Image Mechanics digital tech studio in action.

Using Lightroom As The Backbone Of A Digital Capture Workflow

I was surprised to learn that Lightroom is the backbone of the digital capture workflow at Image Mechanics. I figured they would use a proprietary capture system or one of the programs that costs twice the price of Lightroom. As digital capture technicians, they have to be ready to handle literally any gear that their professional clients throw at them – Canon, Nikon, Phase, Leaf, Hassy… Aside from using the manufacturer’s camera control software (like EOS Utility) to get the image from the camera to the computer, the rest of the Image Mechanic’s workflow is handled entirely in Lightroom.

One of the favorite debates among Lightroom users is whether to manage your images in one catalog or several. Given the volume of captures they manage and their need to efficiently archive their clients’ shoots, Image Mechanics creates a unique catalog for each shoot and stores that catalog with the captures. Michael shared the exact details of their folder structure for a shoot. I followed along on my laptop and headed home with a new workflow to deploy.

Demonstrating how to shoot tethered into Lightroom

Managing The Digital Archive

I shot 40,000 or so images last year. The Image Mechanics have to manage more than that every month. I’m one guy. They have to manage images for a long list of clients. Their average shoot generates more than 50 gigs of data. So, when Michael talked about their archiving system, I really paid attention. You can read the details about their approach here.

Image Mechanics stores one copy of their archive disks in custom-made, anti-static file cabinet inserts. A set of matching disks are kept off-site for data redundancy.

More From Image Mechanics

To get a sense of what professional digital capture is about, check out the Image Mechanics site.

Death To Film, their original blog, as been retired. Fortunately it remains online as it has a ton of great info.

Counter Intelligence is their new blog. It continues the IM tradition of sharing valuable insights.

Shoot Stories is where you can read the details of Image Mechanics in action on pro shoots.

Organizing External Drives with Adobe Lightroom is a great value. You can buy the PDF download for only $5.95.

Hardware & Software For Tethered Shooting

Like many shooters, you might be surprised to learn that you already have all (or most) of the gear needed for tethered shooting. [In a future post, I'll give you the details on how to set it up.]

• Digital SLR – Virtually any DSLR with a data port and external control software can be used for tethered shooting.
• Lightroom – Built by Adobe from the ground up for digital photography. In the past six months, it has become the backbone of my digital workflow.
• Data Transfer Cable – Most DSLRs come with a data transfer cable (although I’ve since purchased longer and more robust cables).
• Software for Camera Control (“Capture”) – This is the software by which your computer can actually control the camera’s settings. Canon provides Canon EOS Utility with their DSLRs. If you’re a Nikon shooter, you’ll have to get Nikon Camera Control Pro 2 [30-day trial here]. If you’re an Olympus shooter, you have to get Olympus Studio [30-day trial here].

How You’ll Benefit By Shooting Tethered Into Lightroom

• Precise Evaluation Of The Exposure – Even if you’re shooting RAW, the histogram on your camera’s LCD is still derived from JPEG data (think “close but not perfect info”). If you’re exposing so that the histogram is as far as you can to the right without clipping highlights, the LCD on your camera still might be too conservative. The histogram in Lightroom is built on the RAW data and is far more accurate. It’s also a heck of a lot easier to see. Further, you can use the exposure slider in Lightroom to determine the correct exposure setting for your camera. When evaluating a test image in Lightroom, if you slide the Exposure setting up .66 so that the histogram hovers just below the threshold of highlight clipping, you should open your aperture by 2/3 of a stop (as in open from f/8 to f/6.3) for your next test shot. Shoot again and evaluate the new histogram.
• Seeing The Exact Point Of Focus – If you’re shooting for minimum or selective depth-of-field, such as with macro or food photography, it’s far easier to immediately view the image on a large monitor rather than the camera’s LCD. Being able to zoom in to 100% moments after the image is made is a great help. I’ve joked that shooting tethered is like strapping a huge magnifying glass to the back of my camera.

Power-Chimping (above) or Tethered Into Lightroom (below)

• Evaluate The Gamut of  Color-Critical Subjects – If you’re creating color-critical images that have to fit into a reduced color space (like CMYK for the printing of catalogs and magazines), tethered shooting enables real-time, soft-proofing during the shoot. That’s a fancy way of saying that if it’s really important to get the exact shade of your client’s red dress to print, during a tethered shoot you can determine if its vibrant colors fall within the printable range of CMYK colors. [For more info on color management, read this post.]
• Create Job Specific File Names – Forget about names like “_MG_0319.CR2″. It’s easy to configure Lightroom to automatically rename your files as they come in. “Client_Date_Subject_0319.CR2″ is far easier to understand in the days and weeks after the shoot. Renaming the files at the time of capture assures consistency throughout the shoot.
• Add Detailed Copyright Data – Lightroom will embed complete copyright and contact information as your images are imported. Yes, you can do this later… but, having it done automatically as the images come in is more efficient.
• Append Job Specific Keywords On The Fly – Lightroom will append specific keywords as the images come in. This is very helpful on long shoots where you’ll likely want to view groups of images by subject, set number or another criterion for a quick evaluation.
• Immediate Data Redundancy – Most DLSRs will record the image to the camera’s card and simultaneously send the data down the cable. So, even on a field shoot, with nothing more than your camera, a cable and a laptop, you can have immediate data redundancy.
• With Tabletop Work, Tethered Is Far More Comfortable – If you’re shooting tabletop or some other static set where the camera is bolted to a tripod, you can save your back by driving the camera from your desktop rather than from behind the tripod. Once the frame is composed, you can change the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, metering pattern, etc. from your keyboard.

How Shooting Tethered Into Lightroom Benefits Your Clients

• Client Confidence – If your art director and client are on set, you can keep them at a distance by tethering into a long cable and configuring Lightroom to show each capture as a single, high-resolution image on screen as they come in. That way, they can see the images without standing over your shoulder.
• Closed Workflow – When shooting tethered on location or in your studio, your clients will view the images on your calibrated monitor rather than on their (often lousy) office monitor. This is invaluable when matching colors to products is critical.
• X/Y Comparisons – You can ease your client’s frustrations with sensory overload by presenting only two image candidates at a time and have her choose one of the two. Then bring up another image for comparison and have her choose the best of those two. For clients who are not professional photo editors, this is a very easy way to select the hero images.
• Keep Track of Client Selects – Get your client’s approval and flag her selects before the set is struck. Being able to quickly pull up a gallery of client selects will help you and your client maintain image consistency over a long shoot.
• Create Web Galleries… Quickly – With Lightroom, it’s easy to create and upload web galleries. Your client’s associates (or her clients) can review progress of? the shoot via web galleries – while the shoot is still underway.

Tethered Shooting Is Not So Great When…

• The Subject Is Running - There are maximum lengths for cables (USB = 80′ with active extensions, Firewire = 120′ with powered hub). If your subject is moving beyond the range of the cable, you’ll have to make your computer rig mobile or you’ll have to limit your range of shooting.
• You’re Shooting Faster Than The Camera Can Transfer Data – If you’re shooting like a machine gun, it’s probable that the camera won’t be able to transfer the data fast enough. In this situation, it’s possible to do your test shots (for exposure etc.) while tethered, uncable and then shoot to the camera’s card.

Like many photographers, I am a voyeur. That’s why I love to read Death To Film – the blog of Image Mechanics.

IM is the gang of superheros based in Santa Monica that’s lead by Michael Britt (the fellow who wrote the original Lightroom user’s guide for Adobe.) As digital capture specialists, these guys have to manage as many captures in a day as most non-pro shooters will create in a lifetime.

The greatest thing about the Image Mechanics crew and their blog is that they share virtually all of their secrets. Check out the latest post about their off-line archiving system. Then just start scrolling through their archives. You’ll find tale after tale about being in the trenches of high-volume digital capture. Need more? Then jump over to the IM site for another long session of good reading.