How to use the iPad as a second monitor to preview images wirelessly as they are shot.

Connecting an iPad to your computer and setting it up as a wireless preview monitor is fairly simple and a great thing to be able to offer clients present on tethered photoshoots so they can see the images as they come in. Firstly, ensure that the iPad and MacBook are connected to the same wireless network (if no network is available you can create your own using “Create Network” in the MacBook wireless menu). The MacBook and iPad should be running AirDisplay (a paid app for the iPad, free for the MacBook) so that the iPad can be enabled as a second monitor. Most tethered shooting programs (Capture One, Lightroom etc) have a preview window that you can open and move onto the second (iPad) monitor. Then attach the camera and start shooting. The shoot below of Amazon trekker Ed Stafford and Wheeler Dealers presenter Mike Brewer was undertaken using this method to preview the images.

A white background shoot with presenter Ria Cunningham.

Some shots from last Saturday’s photoshoot at Plan B in Brixton with DJ and promoter Gareth Wyn. Gareth recently put together an essential mix for Radio 1 (listen here) and as well as regular DJing gigs in Ibiza and various other locations for Cream, he also runs House Rules in Brixton and produces his own music.

Vintage clothing store Frocking Fabulous wanted some straight on, natural light look book style photographs of their product for ASOS’ online shop. Despite driving snow hampering things a little, it let up enough to be able to shoot for a few hours with model Izzy Lawrence. I had a little time to shoot the above portraits as well, first time I have shot natural light for a while.

This shoot was with Brian Richards, a man with similar symptoms to the “Elephant Man” Joseph Merrick. A production company were filming Brian as he visited the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel to see the Merrick’s skeleton. More images after the link.

Directed by Matt Brown and Danae Bravi, with me as DOP, this was our entry into the 48 Hour Film competition…

The premise of the competition is that you get randomly assigned a genre of film (we got musical!) plus some things which have to be included (in our case a bone, a runner, the name Sam Harris and the line “I was expecting something bigger”). You then have 48 hours to write, shoot and edit a short film. Both days were pretty involved with most of the filming taking place on the Saturday running from 8am to 4am the next morning, but we managed to get everything we needed thanks to an amazing team of people who I am looking forward to working with again on more projects…Awards are this Wednesday!

Some photos from a fun shoot for vintage clothing store Frocking Fabulous. More pics after the jump.

This shoot was to showcase Frocking Fabulous’ summer stock of vintage clothing. We found an amazing location in South London, no-one there, loads of parking and all the spots we shot at were in about 100 metres of each other plus a nice pub for after. Right to left in the bottom photo is me, Sofia who modelled the outfits, Helen, stylist and owner of Frocking Fabulous, Karen who assisted on the shoot, Charlotte our make up artist and the other model Emma.

For best results view the original Vimeo video here: http://vimeo.com/12158461. Shot using a Canon 5D mk2 and Kessler Crane’s Pocket Dolly Traveller on a recent trip to Epping Forest, I made this video as a test for an upcoming Discovery Channel documentary I’m shooting about the BFI’s restoration of a film made by Herbert Ponting when he accompanied Captain Scott’s Antarctic expedition in 1911.

Mimicking the recent John Lewis campaign, the brief was to shoot an image that represented the target audience of an upcoming European TV channel.This was very simply lit using two Alien Bee 800 strobes with grids. The first was used to create the spot on the background and the second was used high to create the hard shadow on the products. The shoe, bag and baby bottle were shot like that in camera and the other objects were hung with thread in the shoot and retouched into precariously balanced positions.

Looking forward to shooting more with the Canon 50mm 1.4 prime I bought last week. The wide f1.4 maximum aperture gives the nice blurred background and shallow depth of field in the photograph above, perfect for picking out subjects in the foreground.

]]> http://www.samspurgeon.com/equipment/canon-50mm-1-4-prime/feed/ 0