crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

Being asked to do a gala event tomorrow...emergency. Event photog backed out.

Promised photos for the evening with edits and posted to web. BUT said I would look into doing prints there.

Anyone experienced trying tethered capture from LR on a laptop with extra screen and printing? Dont want to buy photobooth sw.
How painful is the workflow?

Thanks.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Shooting tethered to LR is a simple process. But shooting AND printing on-site during an event is really a job for several people. On to shoot, one to cull the images and pick the ones to print and (then print them) and preferably another person to keep the people organized and ensure the right people get the right image. If you have never done this before and plan to do it alone...well...good luck with that.

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

Even when not doing tethering and no printing i normally do with an assistant. You are right....this could get interesting. I just checked out the setup and it seems to work pretty smoothly(including mouse, 2nd monitor, printer and camera tether) but crowd control, cropping and printing (will use an import preset) + focusing on the people will be an issue ...will see if i can lure a family member to help me....

Howard5252 Loc: New York / Florida (now)

Don't make a promise that you're not sure you can keep. You said you'd look into making the prints ... tell
the people you can't do it on site ... it wouldn't be fair to you or them.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

....or you.

JeffT Loc: Central NY

I have done some similar events where I print out photos for mounting onto buttons. Tethering generally works well. Canon cameras write to both the USB and the card so if the tether fails in the middle of a transfer (as in, "OOPS I pulled out the cord") you don't loose pictures. It is my understanding that Nilon does not write to the card when tethered. I have had to resort to the card a number of times. In the middle of the craziness of such an event, tethering always seems a bit fragile. My main concern is the printing part. I have had more printer problems than anything else in these situations. If I was asked to do an event that required printing more that around 30 pictures, I would not want to do it without a printer designed for robust fast printing.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

It is true that Nikon ONLY writes to the computer when tethered, but your fear that losing the connection will lose images is incorrect. If you loose the connection, then the images write to the card. I use Nikon and shoot tethered all the time without an issue. I shoot to Capture One a far superior program for tethered shooting than LR. MUCH faster and has never just dropped the connection as LR seemed to do with regularity. Anyone who wants to do tethered shooting on a regular basis should check out Capture One. LR is fine if you only do it occasionally.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

As the Captain says, beware. Doing things 'en mass' can be quite a workout. I have used Lightroom to do tethered work, occasionally. The last time I got 'roped' into this was for a charity event for kids with Santa. I shot tethered (wired) and used Lightroom to send prints to a local (very small) printer (4x6) which were sold for $ 2. Kids and parents loved it, and so did I as I really like working with children! I also have a Cam Ranger and a "Event" printer, along with software, that can easily handle a large event, but that requires more help and much more setup. Best of luck.

PhotosBySteve

Less than one day to prepare? I would never do anything on a job that I am not completely familiar with and practiced time and time again! If you need to ask, don't doit! It's a sure way to fail. I would tell the client exactly what I can offer, with 100% confidence, nothing more than that. Otherwise higher as assistant that it's capable of performing the required tasks, or just say no.

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

Event is done.

We agreed on either facbook group, dropbox or my website with a password for all the photos. That was the agreement from the first call.
Agree with setting expectations ....The printing was "if I think it will work".

But you are correct about being familiar. There was nothing related to 100% confidence without seeing the venue first. He said he would provide the backdrop yada yada.
I got there, nope. BUT I brought everything anyway. Except the table as he sent me a photo of that (didnt need it in the end)
Took one look at the venue and flow and did not even bring in the printer setup. (iP8720, Laptop, 2nd monitor tripod etc etc -all stayed in the car)
Just portable studio setup.


(....and there is always a first time....and it's not a sure way to fail. Preperation, practice, forethought, planning ...with uber-redundancy and expectation setting is a sure way to succeed :-)

PhotosBySteve

Good to hear!