iPad – a worthy photographer’s tool?
- This topic has 22 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated Aug 8, 2010 at 10:39 pm by
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So –
My wife purchased a 3g iPad for me for my birthday back in May. This was an unsolicited/unrequested gift – we’d only briefly spoken of the machine’s potential for a photographer, but I honestly hadn’t really researched it that closely, and I generally don’t chase after new technology as a first adopter – well, that changed when she gave me the gift.
Since then I’ve downloaded the apps I think I’ll need, and have had the opportunity to use it in client meetings, and in the field in a journalistic situation.
I am *very* impressed.
I haven’t yet used it to download or edit photos – though I could see a situation where that could happen. But more on that in a bit.
First – client meeting.
I was able to hand the client the iPad, and they could slide through the images, open-pinching for more detail so they had a true sense of the quality of my work. We then went to an app that let us get a look at the sun’s position in the sky at future date and at a potential shoot location. Very useful for us, and very impressive to the client – they were immediately sold on working with me for their project, and I’ve more work with them in the future (architectural firm – hurrah me).
Now – in the field:
I was returning from the veterinarian office with my pooch and only a couple miles from home when all hell started breaking loose around me. Suddenly there were cops zooming all over hell; it was as if the police were fire ants, and someone had poked a stick in their mound. As I approached my house, the police heli showed up, and started circling about 1/4 mile away. I offloaded the pooch, grabbed 2 cameras, the iPad and my cell phone, and hit the door.
I pulled into a church parking lot that seemed the center of attention, got out, and began to work. Immediately was able to snag a couple of interviews with witnesses – there’d been a bank robbery not far away, and a deputy sheriff had been shot during a chase. The chase ended up a half a block away in a hail of gunfire, which my witness had heard. I was able to get the interviews with the iPad in 2 key keystrokes.
I moved up to a second floor balcony where I had a great position on the manhunt that was underway. The police were pushing through a stand of woods next to a greenbelt/flood plain.
Then I emailed friends with media contacts here. They put me on to a couple they had, and off we went.
I was able to get google earth coordinates, street names, everything you’d need to fill out cutlines for the images.
I would also have been able, if I’d had the camera connection kit, to send in the photos from location.
Later, I had the only photograph of the remaining (living) suspect being loaded into a police cruiser.
All the outlets were interested – none ended up using any of it tho, as the deputy that was shot was only grazed and was going to be fine. Yeah – in other words it wasn’t a story unless the deputy had been badly wounded. Amazing.
Anyway, the paper ran the crappy shots their dispatched stringer got – and I got nothing, but I learned a TON that day about the potential of the iPad, and I am *very* impressed.
http://www.kendallarsonphotography.com/SugarLandRobbery/ These are non-cropped – just FYI – just so you have a sense of what was shot there.
Thought my experience might be useful to you all.
Kendal
I have been using it as a tool since launch. I would highly recommend using Photographer’s Contract Maker . I have all my clients sign my contracts prior to shooting and I email it to them on the spot. When they get home from the shoot they have the contract signed and in their inBox. It works great.
I also use the iPad to show my “Folio” to prospective clients and to also give them an idea on work performed. In my opinion it is well worth the cost and has been a nice addition to my photography.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/photographers-contract-maker/id356115074?mt=8
PS. I love the new iPhone 4 HD video and camera. The on-board LED flash has helped a ton. I am getting some very nice shots with my first initial test phase. The 3hr wait this past weekend was worth it imo 😉 But then again…I just had to have it. LOL
Nice review Kendal.
Exactly how good is the quality when you are viewing images on an ipad?
Insane good.
Grumble..
ianything is really starting to mean isuck as far as I’m concerned with Apple & reliability.
I would probably have one, if both my own, and my wifes iphones had lasted a little longer than 2 weeks without 1 total failure and another needing sending out for a few days to be sorted.
I’ve also had at least half a dozen ipods fail in the family.I think I hate Apple now because I need their stuff, but they make it so poorly.
As I write this, the track pad one my almost new 17′ is not working well and is clearly on the way out.
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
ugh – that’s ugly stuff there David.
Hate to hear the the QC isn’t up to par with their stuff.
That said, my iPad has (so far) functioned flawlessly (knocking self on head to simulate a knock on wood)
Truth be told, the whole Mac-religion thing has always bothered me – even when I’ve owned mac and integrated ’em into a Unix business environment. But – there is a time and place for everything, and I think now is the time for these notepad systems.
I expect more and more content in print to migrate towards an electronic medium. In fact, and article I wrote and shot for Kayak Angler is coming out this month, and will be available for the iPad. I can’t wait to show potential clients (if it’s any good that is)
if you could load some limited software on the iPad id likely buy for use as a portable photo manager/limited editor. Instead will wait to see what comes out down the road.
As for Apple. iPhones, iPads etc are gadgets, they come and go.
Im now on a Mac and while it’s taking some getting used to it kicks windows butt (imo). Ive long since gotten sick of windows. Hemmed and hawwed over going mac for a long time. Don’t know why I waited so long.It’s always fun to see folks wanting some new technology to do what it is clearly not meant for. I seriously doubt they will ever give an iPad the power of a laptop to process, edit or organize volume images. That’s what makes it a gadget, albeit powerful gadget. As for showing a folio on an iPad, that would almost extricate the iPad from gadgetdom in my opinion. I think iPads are meant to be the new book / newspaper for the foreseeable future. I do a lot of photography for a university here in town, and we pretty much agree that all the images I’ve done for them that include students with books, will be obsolete in five (I say two) years. Textbook publishers at all levels, are looking at their huge profits about to become, what Obama would call, obscene profits. (BUY stock in textbook publishers.)
I sit and read, and surf on my laptop while watching TV all the time, and now I’ll do it on a simplified device – the iPad. Makes sense to me. It’s certainly difficult to get PC people to switch though, when they can just wait three years for the Microshaft version of today’s Mac OS. No offense intended.
Bugger.
#1 son wants an ipad.. ::)
Instant karma for rubbishing the brand ?
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
It’s true that people often try to use things as they aren’t intended but to me that’s the attraction.
If the iPad was nothing but an e reader and uncapable of anything more there’d be very little interest.
It doesn’t need the power of a laptop to serve as Photo tank. Anytime I go away for a few days or more I wish I had one to dump images into for preview and back up purposes.
With the iPad I’d have better resolution, a larger screen and it’s smaller/lighter than a laptop not to mention less expensive.
Would I want to be able to load CS5? No
But iPhoto or similar absolutely and I can see that possibly occurring. The tech is still new, who knows what a year or two will bring[align=left:3pfak8cl][/align:3pfak8cl]if you could load some limited software on the iPad id likely buy for use as a portable photo manager/limited editor. Instead will wait to see what comes out down the road.
As for Apple. iPhones, iPads etc are gadgets, they come and go.
Im now on a Mac and while it’s taking some getting used to it kicks windows butt (imo). Ive long since gotten sick of windows. Hemmed and hawwed over going mac for a long time. Don’t know why I waited so long.But you can John.
I really really wish Apple would make a small lap-top with full OS and USB ect.
Something with a 7′ or 8′ screen would be awesome.If it was tougher (and more reliable) than a normal lap-top would be good as well.
I would carry it around in the camera bag for tethering & backing up on location and maybe even do a bit of editing while traveling…
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
That surprises me Kendal. A couple guys at work picked one up right away and had them in the office. Right away I thought about photo tank uses and started picking their brains. Neither felt it could do the job nor did they know if you could DL the images from a camera to the Ipad. Both said they could only transfer from a pc.
interesting.
There’s a camera connection kit – around $29 – bloody hard to acquire as their stock is nearly always zero, but I have one on order now. It allows a direct camera connection, or an sd card read.
Given how long this thing has been out, I’m very surprised by the variety of photo-related offerings you’ll find in the app store – it’s pretty impressive.
I’m looking forward to the next year, as I expect the software offerings to become even more robust and varied.
Btw – I use Goodreader to move all my files – just put ’em up on my ftp, and then d/l ’em to the iPad from there. There are other ways, some possibly faster (ie: camera connection kit and sd card) but that seems to be working very well for me. The advantage of using Goodreader is that I’m also able to manage my files, and preview image files as well. Good app – an immediate must-buy IMO.
KL
Couldn’t agree more Aaron, and largely it’ll be a generational shift.
The Silverbacks will be slow to adapt, but the 20 – 35 year old crowd will be moving very quickly towards devices that easily let them read in electronic form.
I’ve suggested we might even see a renaissance in the newspaper industry due to this; loads of the previously mentioned demo have never read the “paper” when it’s in that form – this might change that.
KL
There’s a camera connection kit – around $29 – bloody hard to acquire as their stock is nearly always zero, but I have one on order now. It allows a direct camera connection, or an sd card read.
Given how long this thing has been out, I’m very surprised by the variety of photo-related offerings you’ll find in the app store – it’s pretty impressive.
I’m looking forward to the next year, as I expect the software offerings to become even more robust and varied.
Btw – I use Goodreader to move all my files – just put ’em up on my ftp, and then d/l ’em to the iPad from there. There are other ways, some possibly faster (ie: camera connection kit and sd card) but that seems to be working very well for me. The advantage of using Goodreader is that I’m also able to manage my files, and preview image files as well. Good app – an immediate must-buy IMO.
KL
I do the same 😉
Just found another awesome use for this thing; I successfully used a free app (RDP) which lets me login remotely to my editing desktop.
Yes – I can run Lightroom remotely – or any other program I have on my desktop box, such as a browser should I want/need to access a website that requires flash, or access files that I need to work on – etc.
It’s Mocha Remote Desktop (RDP) for iPhone/iPad/iTouch — pretty easy to set up – must have one of the following to run tho:
Windows XP Pro or Vista or 7. It won’t run on Windows servers, nor on XP Home
http://www.mochasoft.dk/iphone_rdp.htm for a bit more about it.
No more $20 a month anymore with GoToMyPC when I’m on the road.
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