How I used my iPad to post photographs "near live" from Stamford Bridge last Tuesday night.

One of my (many) roles is that of roving photographer for the The Chels website. As such I'm often to be found at Stamford Bridge where, thanks to a much more enlightened approach to fan liaison from the Abramovic regime I can cover matches below first team level.

With the action images that I produce having a very clear "sell by" date, it's important that I get them processed and available to viewers as quickly as I can.

Prior to this season that has involved an hours trip home, 10 minutes to download and import the images into Lightroom, 45 minutes of selection and editing, and another 30 minutes or more to export and publish them to my Facebook gallery.

This often means that my images aren't available until around 1am, too late for the majority of viewers who want to check back on the game before they head to bed.

So, having purchased an iPad, I was keen to ensure that I used it to get my images processed and published as quickly as possible. Last Tuesday's Chelsea v Blackburn reserve game provided a first opportunity to do so. Here's how I acheived it!

Part 1. Download of captured images to iPad:

With Eye-fi not supporting compact flash cards, I was limited to the Apple Camera Connection Kit (around £23), which is great, but has certain limitations. Firstly it supports either SD cards or USB only.  My Canon cameras write data to Compact Flash (CF) cards, so I was limited to USB. A search through various online forums suggested strongly that I wouldn't be able to directly connect a card reader (apparantly this draws too much power for the iPad to manage) so I needed a card reader with a source of power.  I could have connected my main camera to the iPad and downloaded via cable, but there was an inherent risk that I wouldn't be able to use the camera whilst the download took place and thus miss out on a lightening attack. My solution was to alternate two CF cards between my main camera, which I used to photograph with and secondary backup camera which was simply used to download images to the iPad.  This was the most expensive card reader I'd ever used!

Part 2. Editing images.

I always try to get things as correct as possible in camera, but the nature of photographing sports like Football means that a little cropping is often necessary to ensure the most dramatic images. I've installed a couple of applications on my iPad that can straighten and crop my images, and tried each that night.

First up was Adobe Photoshop Express (free) - the straighten and crop functions were simple enough, but I hit a major issue when it came to saving the images. Despite photographing in .jpg mode and despite cropping, the save process was taking two or three minutes to complete. As I was looking to upload maybe 50-60 images in the course of a 90 minute game, this clearly wasn't going to work. So I switched to Snapseed (£2.99). Once again it was quick to rotate and crop the images as required, and this time the saving process took only a few seconds. So we had a solution.

Part 3. Watermarking.

I've had an issue in the past with people stealing my Facebook football images and posting them to their own streams without attribution. It's strange, as they could simply link to my album where the pictures are all freely available but sadly they didn't always take this honest route. I therefore needed to put a watermark on the images that referred viewers back to my Facebook page should they find the images somewhere else. I couldn't find a way to do this in Snapseed so it was time to switch to a second app. OneEdit (£1.49) allowed me to do this for a batch of images in a single sweep and seemed ideal.

I loaded the images in batches, and set OneEdit to create a textural watermark (although it can overlay .jpgs also, and I may use this facility in the future to create a more arresting graphical watermark). One button click was all that was necessary to add the watermark to each batch of images and a second click exported the images back to my camera roll

Part 4. Import into Facebook Album.

Although OneEdit does allow an automatic export to Facebook, it will only export to albums on your personal Facebook page. If, like me you have a business page  and want to export to this, then you're stumped. I've put an enhancement request into the developers to add this, as it would be a great help.

I couldn't find any iPad apps that bulk export to albums on Facebook business pages (add a comment below if you know different!) so was forced to install a iPhone app instead. iLoader2 (£1.49) connects first to your personal profile, then offers the option of jumping to any pages you administer. From there it's a simple process to bulk export the images into the required albums. In addition to this, as it doesn't support hi-res uploading, there was no need to resize the images to fit the 595 pixel limit.

So, whilst the game went on around me, with one eye on my iPad and the other on the game, I could edit and upload batches of images, using half time as major catch up period. At the end of the game I had only the last 10 or so images to upload. My trip home was therefore taken up with the editing of these, and as soon as my tube appeared back above ground, I was ready to start the final upload.

I therefore arrived home with the job essentially done. This was especially useful as I had a 6am start the following day! The only remaining task was to copy the completed, full sized images from my iPad and bang them into Lightroom, something that can be done easily through iTunes or DropBox when I have a quiet moment.

So that's my football workflow for the moment. It'll no doubt improve with time - but for now it's sped up majorly from what went before, and that's good enough for me.

If you know of any better apps or workflow then please add a comment below and let me know.

Dan

A photographers wedding preparations

When presented with a headline figure, many people wonder if their wedding photography is an unaffordable luxury and whether their photographer is "raking it in" with their high charges.

With a full day’s photography and wedding album almost always costing in excess of £1000 it seems a huge fee for a “single days’ work”.

For me however, a wedding is much more than a single days’ work and to demonstrate this I thought I'd take you through my check list for the day before a wedding.

The first task is to check that my kit is clean - this involves.

• 3 Camera bodies (two used, and one backup).   Clean viewfinder, puff dust from mirror and sensor.  
• 5 Lenses. Clean front and back elements of each, along with inside and outside of filters, clear dust from mount and exterior, check full extent of zoom and focus mechanisms for smooth travel.  Ensure set to Auto and not manual focus.

Now I have clean kit, I need to make sure that my cameras are set up correctly.   I check that all are:

• Set to the correct ISO for the expected conditions.
• Have the right motor drive mode set.
• Are set to RAW format for the highest possible image quality.
• Have their internal clocks synchronised (so that images taken across both [or all three] cameras can be imported and displayed "in time order" and the overall order is correct - which helps to tell the story of the day.
• Have the correct white balance set.
• Have the correct focussing mode set.

I can then move to my memory cards.    I prefer to use several smaller cards during the course of a wedding - this spreads the already small risk of image loss further should one card become corrupted.     I therefore need to check that every card is formatted and blank, ready to be inserted in seconds into either camera when required.

Next come the camera batteries.   Most weddings pass with one set of batteries per camera being sufficient, but of course I carry multiple backups.    Camera batteries at least, are pretty good at holding a charge but I always check that every battery is fully topped up the day before someone gets married.

Once the camera is ready I prepare the 4 flashes.   I clean the front, battery contacts and hot shoe attachment for each of these, as well as checking full zoom, bounce and rotate movements.  All are checked for use both on camera, and when remotely triggered.      I'll also check and pack my coloured gels which allow me to "create" a sunset in camera even when nature lets me down should the couple wish for this sort of shot:

These flashes run on 4xAA batteries.   I always use NI-MH rechargeables, these have several advantages.   They allow me to shoot faster than non-rechargeable batteries, and unlike normal NI-CAD rechargeables are less susceptible to "memory effect"  and don't discharge themselves whilst stored as quickly.

Each of my batteries is labelled as belonging to one of 16 sets that I carry with me always.   Every set is fully charged the day before a wedding, and goes through a multiple discharge/refresh cycle in my most advanced battery charger each six months which further prolongs their life and ensures that they are always in "tip-top" condition.

My flash triggers consist of rechargeable receivers and a battery based sender.  These are also recharged and checked before leaving for every wedding, and I also ensure I have at least one spare battery for each trigger.

Once this is all packed away safely, I can relax right?   Unfortunately not!

Now comes the car.   I can't risk any mechanical problems en-route to the wedding (even though I always build spare time into my journeys), so off to the garage it is to check:

• Fuel 
• Oil Level
• Water Level
• Tyre Pressure

Then the sat-nav needs pre-loading with the location of (all of the) venues along with printing out of paper based directions as a backup.    I'll also spend a little time here checking various travel websites for advance notice on any possible disruptions to the next day’s journeys.

Into the boot goes a stepladder (useful if I'm short of space or just need a slightly different perspective on a shot), along with a beautiful pair of white lacy umbrellas (well this is England after all!) and a very pretty clothes hanger (because you don't want a picture of a gorgeous, expensive and unique bridal gown spoiled by me shooting it hanging from a cheap, ugly clothes hanger do you?!).  I also pack the mini photo cards that will direct guests to the online wedding gallery ready to be placed on the tables at the reception.

At this stage I'll also pack at least one light stand, a reflector and possibly an easel and any signing frames that the couple want displayed at their reception.  I'll then make sure to have a couple of energy bars and some water available in the car should they be necessary on my long working day.

The expensive camera kit of course is safely locked away ready to be loaded into the car the following morning (just in case the local burglar is reading this!)

Around 10 days before the wedding l will have had a final chat with my brides & grooms, checking that there have been no last minute hitches or changes to the schedule and that I have plenty of contact numbers for the couple and the venues.    These details are printed out and additionally synchronised onto my phone, which is then fully charged and set to vibrate.

Finally, I'll remove my suit from its dry cleaning bag, check my shirt is neatly pressed and lay out the remaining clothing for the day, before shining my shoes.

As you've seen the day before a wedding is busy and a vital part of my professional service.   Missing any one of the steps can result in missed shots (or worse) and weddings are a one-time only experience.   I love the adrenaline of being in this situation, but adrenaline is quickly replaced by fear if I don't feel prepared, and that's not a pleasant sensation.

Make sure that your wedding photographer demonstrates the same level of care about your wedding photographs – you deserve nothing less!


Dan