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Field Report - event photography with iPad and Canon 5D Mark II

C

CameraGeek

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hello

So - my summer vacation is doing event photography at a small airplane gathering, followed by similar work at the largest airplane gathering in the US, Airventure Oshkosh.

Images were set for Raw + JPEG

Event number 1 assignment - shoot stills and load them to a Zenfolio web site as fast as I can during the event. Using the iPad and the Zenfolio app, I was able to upload images faster than ever using 3G and wireless. I managed to get more photos on Zenfolio faster than in years past - huge success. Easy workflow.

Event number 2 - photojournalist for an aviation web site, shooting images and writing stories. Used the iPad for both. Again, easy workflow for images - used Photogene to touch up and resize images for the editor. Perfect. He wanted 600 pixel images, and that took seconds in Photogene.

Used my iPad keyboard dock to write - fantastic! again, a huge improvement over years past.

Issues? One major one. By the end of the second event I had filled the iPad memory, and had to resort to a laptop instead.

But for what I had to do, the iPad was a fantastic addition to my toolset, enabled me to cover event number one better, and to upload images rapidly to a Zenfolio account.

any other camera geeks, I would be very interested to hear similar good or bad experiences
 
As soon as I get my Camera Connection kit in my hands I'll test it out. But I don't do photography for work, just a hobby/pleasure, so I can't really compare my experience to yours. I just wanted to be able to look at large size photos while I'm still out and about instead of waiting to get back to my house.
 
Picture Me 2 on an iPad!

Wow CameraGeek... Totally cool

Well, this weekend I am planning to do a couple of headshots.
I will tethered to the iPad with my camera and see if works. Otherwise, I will carry the card reader.

I will keep you posted. I am bookmarking this page so I won't forget.

The app that I love using is MoodBoard and Photo Story on my ipad.
 
I use shuttersnitch and an eye-fi card. It will send the jpgs (supposedly raw support after OS 4 update) to the iPad via wifi. I have a mifi 3g router that I use for internet for the iPad and laptop so I just use that with the camera as well. It will send the higher rez jpgs to the iPad in a couple of seconds after taking the shot. It is longer if shooting raw+jpeg but I think that is on the eye-fi card's part. I just take pictures for a hobby and to document some work stuff.
 
Great Story Camera Geek,

I use my iPad in similar gigs as yourself, here is a recent one.

Shot a outdoor concert for a local band, during intermission I dumped my cards onto the ipad via the CCK. Then I emailed some samples, and showed the band some samples, and even charged them via square.

I took down potential clients, and even booked some shoots to my calendar.

Loving the iPad in my day to day life, but mainly bought it for a way to dump photos in the field. 🙂
 
when you load pictures to the ipad, is it loading the full raw files, or the jpg displays of the raw files? i can't imagine my 16gb ipad holding very many raw files...
 
maximus96 said:
when you load pictures to the ipad, is it loading the full raw files, or the jpg displays of the raw files? i can't imagine my 16gb ipad holding very many raw files...
Click to expand...

Raw+JPEG files are minimal size, unlike many I didn't get stuck in the mega pixel hum-drum... My favorite camera is the D2H, I use it as my main camera for most things, but I also use a D200 for other things, all my camera's give a low dent in my 16gb.

But I also make sure that I take all the kids videos, extra photos, ect, off the pad before hand.
 
CameraGeek - great report, thx!
spacepower7 said:
Hard to imagine that Epson is selling many of those photo viewers anymore
Click to expand...
How true... I did however get years of good use out of my old Epson P-2000 for photo backup while on the road, but my 64GB iPad now replaces it. Infinitely more versatile.

Don't know about the newer Epson units, but the P-2000 is so sloooowww now by comparison (I had both it and my new iPad with me on one trip earlier this year - just in case...). The main downside was I needed to buy a new camera bag to carry iPad instead of P2000 with my gear.

p.s. in reply to another question
when you load pictures to the ipad, is it loading the full raw files, or the jpg displays of the raw files? i can't imagine my 16gb ipad holding very many raw files...
Click to expand...
the full RAW files are indeed stored on the iPad although the iPad itself can only manipulate or make use of reduced JPG versions onboard. but you can later download the original full RAWs later from iPad to your computer.
 
RE: RAW - event photography

maximus96 said:
when you load pictures to the ipad, is it loading the full raw files, or the jpg displays of the raw files? i can't imagine my 16gb ipad holding very many raw files...
Click to expand...

Detailed answer.

yes - it does load and store the RAW images. Important thing to know is that on the iPad, what you see from a RAW image in the photo app on the iPad is a jpeg. If you then use that jpeg to send the image out, it is a very low resolution compared to the RAW. Surprised me at first.

In iPhoto, it imports both the RAW and any jpeg if you shoot RAW+(whatever)

You then have the RAW image on your computer to process.

I ran through 64GB in a hurry so no - a 16GB iPad may be ineffective with RAW images....

I did another event over Labor Day and with the same basic workflow continue to be impressed at the ability to store and see the images, edit them a bit, and get them in an email. If only I could upload to my web site from the iPad.

I truly hope Apple takes some input from the photo community and makes some improvements as they upgrade their firmware. Lots of potential here that falls just a tiny bit short....

But I remain very happy with how the iPad works for my style of event photography....
 
CameraGeek said:
...In iPhoto, it imports both the RAW and any jpeg if you shoot RAW+(whatever)

You then have the RAW image on your computer to process.
Click to expand...
just to add, for reference... Aperture and Image Capture will also let you download both RAW and JPEG files from the iPad to your Mac

I truly hope Apple takes some input from the photo community and makes some improvements as they upgrade their firmware. Lots of potential here that falls just a tiny bit short...
Click to expand...
I agree. it wouldn't take too much of a change.
for example, I wish they would let you at least rename Events in the iPad's photo app. or, before you click on the Import button, let you specify the name of an album the images will be stored into.

Right now when you import photos using the CCK, you get a separate event for each upload, with the current date as the event's name. if you upload several cards on the same day, you'll get multiple events each with the identical event name. there is no other convenient grouping of your uploads - either everything that's been uploaded in one big album "All Imported", or by Last Imported, or by dated-event.

since the iPod doesn't let you manually sort photos into folders (that would be nice, too...), at least by letting you rename each upload session with something more meaningful, you could do a bit better organization of your shots while on the road.
 
Hey guys,

Hope you don't mind if I jump in as well. I've been using my iPad and my Nikon D3s for a few months now. It is my combination of choice. I hope that Apple gives the ability to label events and allow folder creation on the fly. I've been using Filterstorm to edit. It is a really nice app. It takes a bit to get going but once you view the tutorials and play around it is pretty easy to use, and has watermarking. I use Portfolio to catalog my shots for viewing. Video Safe will let you store and secure photos and videos from prying eyes. With these three apps, I am pretty much set. I would love an iPad version of Lightroom or Aperture. 🙂
 
I'll also agree with the experience shared here: the iPad is amazing to copy and view your photos on, but the relatively low storage means you run out of space very quickly.

For the iPad 2nd gen. i'm praying there is at least a 128GB model, or even a 256GB model — I don't care how much it costs!
 
EssentialParado said:
I'll also agree with the experience shared here: the iPad is amazing to copy and view your photos on, but the relatively low storage means you run out of space very quickly.

For the iPad 2nd gen. i'm praying there is at least a 128GB model, or even a 256GB model — I don't care how much it costs!
Click to expand...

Ditto.....
 
a great alternate solution

Hey there,
I just stumbled upon this thread and thought that you would want to check out the app that our company is sharing with event photographers. Check it out here http://photopartyupload.com

It allows event photographers to wirelessly transfer photos to their iPad then allows gusts to upload to Facebook, Twitter, and Email.

Enjoy,
Brian
 
CameraGeek said:
But for what I had to do, the iPad was a fantastic addition to my toolset, enabled me to cover event number one better, and to upload images rapidly to a Zenfolio account.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your story.

I'm strictly an amateur photographer, but I've found the iPad an invaluable addition. I typically use the iPad, in conjunction with the camera connection kit, to get rapid feedback on the pictures I take. The large, bright screen lets me see very quickly where I'm making mistakes with my shots, where the light, framing, composition, or focus is wrong. That way I can make corrections, and come back from a trip or an event with pictures as good as I can make them, capturing the images I want.

I've also found the subjects of my pictures get a tremendous thrill out of seeing themselves almost live in the images. At parties and other events, I find it makes people much more enthusiastic about being photographed. Even the "grumpy Gus" who typically hides in the corner comes out of his shell when he sees everyone else getting in on the action. I've even found people ask me to let them preview pictures they've taken with their cameras on the iPad.

I typically use my cameras' SD cards to store the raw picture data. SD cards are relatively cheap, and provided you don't lose them, seem to be the best way of getting the photos back to my desktop for final tweaking. I do use the Photoshop App and Sketchbook Pro on the iPad to make "on the fly" image edits and crops.

I've always felt that the iPad itself wasn't a very good camera. Its too bulky to walk around snapping pictures. The tiny lens itself is always going to fundamentally limit image quality. And, in practice, I've found that people find a small handheld camera is much less intimidating to subjects.
 
BMP84 said:
Raw+JPEG files are minimal size, unlike many I didn't get stuck in the mega pixel hum-drum... My favorite camera is the D2H, I use it as my main camera for most things, but I also use a D200 for other things, all my camera's give a low dent in my 16gb.

But I also make sure that I take all the kids videos, extra photos, ect, off the pad before hand.
Click to expand...

D2H is a work horse and the file size is just right for the mobile event photog.
 
I'll chime in as well. I take my iPad 2 with me to model shoots. I use Easy Release to manage the model release and then shoot with a Nikon D3 and eyefi card with Shuttersnitch. I only send jpgs to the iPad. I then let the clients review the images and star the ones they like. This way, clients can select the proofs they like during the shoot.
 
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