Ian Spanier Photography

Organized in the Mess

                                            Detroit junk yard © Ian Spanier Photography

LA Photographer Sam Frost,(http://samfroststudio.com) recently asked me how I label my images, organize my storage, and what drives I use for my storage. 

Although my desk generally looks like someone locked a rabid raccoon in my office and let them run wild, I do pride myself on an organized library of images and a good back up system.

FILE STORAGE

When I was starting to make the slow transition from film to digital I began by having my film scanned at my labs. At the same time, I was shooting a bit of digital here and there, but ultimately waiting for Canon to come out with a full size sensor before buying a digital camera. My negs and chromes were stored in ph-balanced sleeves organized by job name, separated into clamshell boxes by client. Figuring out a good system for digital files had its share of failures, but ultimately I came up with a pretty good system.

Initially I used a program called iView to catalog the images. This allowed me to assign keywords, client names, subject names and pretty much any other markers that would allow me to look up images at any time, with little or a lot of information. Keeping all the files on a computer was not going to work, so I stored all the files in individual job folders that were copied onto CDs, (yes CDs). I would name the CDs is-00001… then copy the same amount of information to an external hard drive. The CDs were stored in a 3-ring binder and the hard drive I kept hooked up to the computer. I had a separate portable drive to bring with me to jobs and on the road. CDs were pushed aside for DVDs, and as external drives got less expensive, I would move on to larger drives. The downside here was there was a ton of time being spent on making the DVDs, and the drives were not well protected. I primarily worked off the drives, and then went to the DVDs or CDs if there were any problems. 

Then Drobo came out. Drobo is a self-replicating hard drive system, essentially a RAID system, which can easily handle up to 16TB of data. This means that if one of the 4 (or now up to 8) drives crashed, the other drives would protect the data and you’d only loose the drive itself. I now have two Drobo units, one with data from 2008-2011, and the other with 2012-13. The Drobos use Western Digital Enterprise class internal drives. I purchased for about $25 a SATA dock that accepts the same drives, and using them, about every 3-6 months I backup my latest work, store those drives in static bags, placed inside a Tupperware case and stored in my storage unit in NYC. Seems a bit extreme, but what this essentially does is creates a system where my files are always backed up, and should there be any problems in my office, I have files on drives in a completely separate location. All the current jobs I am working on, (jobs that clients have yet to make final image orders), also live on 2 portable hard drives that travel with me to jobs. That way, the files are always accessible, and to be even more anal, the current jobs are in three separate locations at most times. 

When I dropped the DVDs I realized that naming the job folders should change as well. The sheer volume made it just too difficult to use the same system. Instead, jobs became separated by the best unique naming convention I could figure out, the shoot date. I use this system for everything now, which you will read more about below. 

NAMING CONVENTION

This is my regular workflow that I use on every shoot, whether I am shooting to CF card, tethered to Adobe Lightroom or Capture One. I have to say first off that I owe a lot to Scott Kelby’s Lightroom book; he is worth following for all his tips and knowledge, @ScottKelby

I start by naming each shoot with the shoot date, like 041213 then a “_” and some abbreviation of the client/subject. This is arbitrary and is just an easy method for me. So if my client is Danskin the job folder would read, 041213_dsk. Images would be named the exact same unless the client needs the files to be named specifically something else- like in the case of a clothing catalog where the style number is preferred. Either way, the files are numbered sequentially, with either four or five digits. 

On the shoot, files are shot into the Pictures folder on the laptop’s or tower’s hard drive. I label this folder RED to signify it’s the only folder and it needs to be backed up. During and after the shoot, the files are backed up to the portable drives. Once all the files are copied, I change the RED folder to ORANGE to signify that it has been backed up to an external drive. On the external drive I have a folder for new files which is labeled RED, one labeled BLUE for folders that I have moved to the Drobo, GREEN for lores files for clients, a second RED for files to retouch (as they are not backed up in that state), and finally a GREY folder for folders that are backed up to the Drobo and cataloged.

When I return to the office after the shoot, I copy the folder from the external drive to the Drobo, and change the folder to BLUE moving it into the BLUE folder then import it into my Lightroom catalog on my office desktop. Once I have finished, I change the folder on the Drobo to GREY.

I create a new Lightroom Catalog by calendar year to keep the catalog working efficiently.

Screen shot of my portable drive color coding system.

I keep these folders on the portable hard drive until the job is completely closed. I mirror that portable drive with my other portable drive- just to be safe when I am on the road.

METADATA

I cannot stress the importance of metadata enough. When I am creating or my digital tech is created a new catalog or session, my information is immediately being embedded into the files. The job name and key wording are all being done on set. This includes the client’s name, subject’s name, gender, ethnicity, location and so on. Many of my clients take the RAW files right from set, or I send a drive with images to them soon after the shoot, so this is not only important for the client then has files with this same information, but also for myself the future.

Do you really think you will remember every subject’s name? What if you get a call and someone wants to buy an image from two years ago and you have to go through thousands of images to find the subject of the photo? Time will be drastically saved if you can filter more specifically to the images you need. Recently I was asked to pull three years of images from six separate countries that needed to be separated by specific locations. Thankfully because I had the embedded metadata I was able to do this in no time at all. 

(Source: ianspanier.com)

Interesting Challenges

As photographers, we often get caught in a routine where we are doing the same basic lighting set ups for different shoots. I’ve never been a fan of the same old formula every day. As a result, I do try to vary my lighting, matching whatever the subject is to my choice for lighting. Telling a story with your lighting is as important as how the subject is composed in the frame. 

Every so often, there are those really fun challenges to overcome.  You might think this involves having to hang backwards off a cliff to get the right angle (did it), paraglide off a mountain tandem (that was sick), or fly backwards and blind to land on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean (that was crazy!). However, I am talking more about the lighting challenges to overcome. This is where we make the mistakes that make us stronger as photographers. 

When I can, I do like to do tests on my ideas prior to a shoot, but there are times or conditions when this isn’t possible. As I always preach, drawing up a plan will always make your life easier. When I am sketching up my plan for the shoot, I’ll have a loose idea of what I am theorizing will work. Much of this of course comes with experience, but unchartered waters are often ahead. 

Being a hands-on photographer it helps to have good assistants with you, but the job is on my shoulders, so I feel obligated to come up with a good plan. Here’s how I made this one work:

For this assignment, the Creative Director, Chris Hobrecker (http://thescribblefactory.com) wanted to showcase the 3-4 movements within each of these exercises, all in one shot! I felt the best way to show our model’s different positions would be to shoot on a dark background. In an ideal world, we would shoot in a studio, where we could control the environment.

The first hurdle would be that we needed to shoot on location at a gym. There was some specific equipment we’d need and getting it all to a studio would be too difficult. I asked all I could about the ceiling height, amount of space in the gym, etc. We’d definitely have space issues, and much of the gym had large windows or mirrors around. Ceiling height wasn’t great, but it was an open ceiling, so that at least helped a bit.

I got five 12x12’ black duvet, plenty of C-Stands, Medium Rollers and enough 6’ crossbars to make a wall of black fabric. As it turned out, we could only use 12’ of pipe on c-stands, mostly because of space. In some cases we just draped the fabric over machines that were in the way. I actually have a few pieces of black velvet around quite often at gym shoots, as there’s nothing more annoying than a white or silver machine that is catching a little bit of light that distracts from my subject. Giving my client a cleaner image is always for the best. I knew that I would intentionally burn in the bottom of the frame to keep the light focused on the model. This also applied to any light that spilled on the duvet. More ideal would be to have it further from my subject- or have black velvet that tends to eat up more light. 

The next hurdle would be dealing with a long exposure but a short flash duration. I needed the quick flash duration to freeze the action, whereas the long exposure would allow for the model’s movement to “drag” across the frame. Shooting on black would help this, and we used a Profoto 8a packs, a bi-tube head to get power and a fast flash duration on the key light. We removed the pyrex on the strobe to get a bit more power out of the light. This was inside a Photoflex Medium Octadome, with power set to f22 at iso 50 warmed up with a 1/4 CTO gel. Our highlight light was a Profoto Head inside a regular zoom reflector, set to f22.3. We also used a continuous 1000w light to help create the drag effect. This also gave me a good focus light. 

All shots were exposed from 2-6 seconds depending on the exercise, and camera set to f18 at iso 50. We assumed we would have some issued when the model had to move a decent distance, like the shot at the start of this post, but rather than changing the settings mid shot (as if there was time), we decided to live with it, and I could always add a little light in post. Using a PocketWizard Transceiver I fired the strobes at the points of each sequence that needed to be highlighted, essentially position A,B,C and when needed D.

All in all, things went smoothly, and something that could have taken a long time to get right was accomplished in a few hours. Seeing the images on the computer as we shot, the writer/tech advisor was able to approve images right away, so we shot each sequence a few times just to be safe. 

I can’t say this is one that will apply again anytime soon, but it was a great challenge and a fun day.

(Source: ianspanier.com)

Anonymous asked: Dear Ian, I am a beginner photographer who has been asked to shoot the photos for a running book. It is a very intimidating thing for me since I do photography as a hobby, nevertheless, I see this as an opportunity to help me get better and let me decide if photography is for me. So the question I have for you is, what would be the lighting setup I should be looking to put together? The photos will be printed in black and white and will not be very large.

Hi

This is really a question for yourself. There’s no answer I can give you that is truly correct. What I can tell is to discuss with your client about what they are looking for. If all you can find out is that they want B&W then you need to prod them for more direction. Ask if they can show you examples of what they are looking for- OR -they hired you for your look. Perhaps you have a style that they like and that’s what they called you in to do. The best piece of advise I can give you is to go in with a plan, don’t think you can just show up and take pictures. Plan it out, know where you are shooting, what the model is wearing, who the model is, how it’s going to be lit, or if natural light, what time of day you are shooting. If you go in thinking it’s just about showing up with a camera and shooting, it will remain just a hobby for you. If you want to be a professional, then treat the job as a job, not just an opportunity to take some pictures because you have a camera. Good luck!

Guest blog posting

Check it out! http://tinyurl.com/c5cj8wf

Got Chromatic Aberation?

If you have seen that green/magenta cast in your images and need to get rid of them easily? Here’s my solution:

http://tinyurl.com/bgzwen9

Anonymous asked: Why Canon instead of using Nikon?

If I had willing clients I would still shoot film. I always shot a lot of different cameras, Rollei, Mamiya, various 4x5s, and I had a Canon Eos camera from college. When I finally made the move to digital, (which I didn’t do until the Mark II came out), I wanted a full frame camera. I had tested the early Leaf backs on my rz67 and hated the cropping. My mind “thought” in the fixed lenses, so cutting them down was not something I wanted to do. Now it’s different obviously, but I already had a few lenses, and then over the years accumulated a good amount of Canon gear. I considered switching last year to Nikon, as I was having issues with Canon’s focus abilities for over a year. I still am not 100% thrilled, as I am and always was very critical about focus. I have moved back as much as possible to fixed lenses, and find they are much sharper. I actually just got on loan the new 24-70II to test out to see if there are any improvements. Hope that helps! 

Long Beach Heroes

I finally got a chance to add this personal project to my site. I hope you enjoy these moving stories as much as we enjoyed reporting them.

http://tinyurl.com/bjnkru9

Long Beach Heroes

Please check out these real life hero stories Carrie Vining Spanier and I reported on in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Nine truly amazing individuals. http://tinyurl.com/a2f4eka

Appearance on Fox Good Day Street Talk NY

In the event you were not up at 6am Saturday, check out our interview on Fox Good Day Street Talk about Local Heroes Fire Fighter book:

tinyurl.com/akzrzuo

(Source: ianspanier.com)

Anonymous asked: Just bothered you with a few questions about your hands-free lighting setup (again, thanks--can't wait to try it myself!) but realized I forgot to add my email reply address: jacobsdavid@yahooDOTcom

That’s ok, I can answer here. I can’t say a different bag would work- the scope 200 had the unique channel that made this work so well. I’ve tried this with other backpacks and getting the arm to be still is tricky, you really have to stuff the bag, which defeats the point of killing 2 birds with 1 stone. 

Floor plate is another name for a baby plate:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/3612-REG/Avenger_F800_Baby_Wall_Plate.html

regarding the octadome, I also tried a small octadome and it would work- but it’s a bit too big, the minidome was perfect.

good luck!

Lessons learned from the speed dating of portfolio reviews.

This past week I attended the ASMP NY Chapter sponsored portfolio review. I have been to the last four of these events, and have picked up a few things along the way. I thought it would be helpful to share five points of advice:

1. Bring your best, show the least.

The biggest mistake I have made in the past was to bring far too many portfolios with me. It’s overwhelming to the reviewers who are seeing as many as 15 photographers in the evening to see too much from just one person. iPad’s have compounded this issue, where you can easily have all your work loaded on the tablet. Although I have all my work loaded on it, I don’t even give the reviewer the chance to see it all. You can always say, “I have a portfolio of this or that kind of work…” and ask to email it to them. This not only wets their appetite, but also opens to door for future correspondence. 

This review I decided to bring my printed portfolio of my Sport & Fitness work,  which over the course of meetings and reviews this year I’ve found to receive the best response from the majority. Along with this, I brought my iPad with my Portrait work, and a copy of my personal project, a new book called Local Heroes: Portraits of American Volunteer Firefighters. 

I began each review with the printed Sport & Fitness portfolio and always mentioned my other work is primarily portrait work, which includes everything from celebrity to business. This I have on the iPad ready to go if they want to see that, and I mention that I finished a personal project and the book just came out. Each reviewer wanted to see the book, and that brings up the next point.

2. Personal Work

You must have some personal work with you. It’s a very difficult position to be in as a reviewee with 10 min to impress someone. It’s basically speed dating for new clients. Truth be told, most of the time you have been judged in the first minute and/or first few images you show. I found myself in the past trying to show reviewers how I should fit their list of photographers because LOOK I have all this commercial work that I do. Reality is a slap in the face, and the hit comes that thousands of photographers can do what you do. The real point of the meeting is that the reviewer wants to know who YOU are. It’s selfish, they want to know for themselves, you know why? Simple, THEY want to know if they can stand being next to you on a shoot for a day, a week or a month. Showing personal work, and talking about yourself is more important to all the commercial work you do. They can easily see if you have the talent to do the commercial work, so your time is best spent showing them who YOU are. 

3. Go in with a plan, but be flexible

Before the review you will get a list of the reviewers. From there, make your hit list, who fits (as best as you can tell) the kind of work you do and more importantly, make sure what you are planning to show fits their magazine, ad agency, etc. I see many photographers clammer to get on certain lines to meet the reviewer because it’s a big title or ad agency, and they in no way fit the kind of work that reviewer does. We are all in it to try to get more clients and more work- so plan your time out well, just going to the see the NY Times because you like the NY Times, does not mean it’s a good use of your time. 

I put my hit list in a notebook and when I arrive at the location I make notes of where each of the reviewers I want to meet are sitting, and I prioritize where I will go once the reviews start. No plan and you will waste time, but you have to be flexible, and maximize your time. The popular reviewers will have a line, because it’s inevitable that the 10 minutes/review will not coincide, you can end up standing on line and waiting for up to an hour. This is a big mistake. I don’t get on any line more than 2 people, and if I am last on line, and see an open spot for one of the reviewers who is lower on my list, I’ll take the open chair. You are there to meet those top priorities, however, you are also there to show your work to potential clients, standing on line the bulk of the evening, you will fail at that task.

4. Presentation, as always, is EVERYTHING

That’s the golden rule. iPad’s have taken over of course, for their size, ease of use and memory to hold all you like. However, I may be old school, but I believe it’s important to show a print book. The majority of my work ends up in print, so showing how I take the image from start to print I believe is important. Everything looks good on an iPad, the backlight is a wonderful thing, and I do hear the horror stories from many art directors and photo editors who made the mistake of relying on judging a photographer only from an iPad or website. It’s also a part of my personality, to show them that I am hands-on, I produce, I light, I retouch and I print. I like to show them that.

I am amazed that I still see photographers who show a stack of prints. It says volumes about those photographers, nothing positive in my mind. You could be a great photographer, but if you present your work like a slob, then you are a just a great slob of a photographer. At the very least, mount them, put them in a nice box, something- but don’t pull them out of a plastic bag and expect to be viewed in a positive light.

5. Thank you

During each meeting, I make a note of what image(s) the reviewer reacts to most, and that will be the image I email to the reviewer as a epromo card post meeting. As well, in the email thanking the reviewer, I mentioned something specific we speak about, and I include links to my website, as well as both my portfolios which I have on issue.com as you can see from the portfolio links above. Failing to contact the reviewers after the meeting seems like a no-brainer, but I know for a fact many photographers do not do this.

Hope this helps some of you out there, please feel free to email any questions! 

(Source: ianspanier.com)

5 Bags for 5 Different Shoots

Nowadays you can pretty much get a bag for each and every situation you as a photographer may face, and you should. Although it would be perfectly acceptable to have just one camera bag, why not customize to your assignment and utilize the technology that’s available today?

 I thought it would be interesting to show you five of the bags I use on a fairly regular basis alongside the images that were created using the bags to get where I needed to go. I use some of these bags more often than others, and yet each is undeniably a valuable asset.

 Ultimately, the point here is that an organized and useful bag system is incredibly important in keeping your mind where it should be, on the assignment.

PRO ROLLER x200

Steven Tyler shot on location in Norwood, Mass. Rolling into a location with the Pro Roller is always smooth © Ian Spanier Photography 2012

This is probably my most used bag, whether it’s navigating airports, flights, city streets, taxis, rental cars, or just hotel lobbies, this bag has become a go-to piece of equipment for me.

This is typically how it’s packed. Not shown are my 15” MacBook, external battery and book of notes.

The Pro Roller packed for a job, 2 bodies, 4 lenses, batteries, memory cards, light meter, chargers, laptop, and all necessary cords © Ian Spanier Photography 2012

I use this bag for all my studio shoots, and any location shoot that I know I’ll be rolling into.

What really sold me on this bag was when I had injured my neck and at the time could not easily carry a backpack. This bag saved me, a few months of rehabbing was not stifled by assignments, and I healed quickly.

 The summer I got the bag, was a particularly hot one, and I remember just before getting the bag, I had taken a backpack to a shoot at a law firm where I had to dress up, my shirt was soaked.  This is easily avoided with the Roller. Even running for a flight is that much easier with up to 50lbs of gear rolling behind me as opposed to it on my back.

 One of my favorite features is the built in lock, on the occasions I have no choice but to put the bag under a plane, I know it’s locked and secure.

DRYZONE 200

The Dryzone in use while shooting a story on a sailboat, one less thing to worry about was that my gear would be dry inside the bag no matter what the conditions. Photo by Christopher Parker

When I got the assignment to shoot Fly Fishermen on the Margaree River in Nova Scotia I was told we’d be given all the waterproofing the fishermen would have, waders, and whatnot.  We’d be walking regularly through chest deep water. Honestly, I don’t care if I get wet, but what was I going to do with my cameras and lenses? The Dryzone was NECESSARY. It’s kind of hard to trust any waterproof bag   when you are about to walk into that river with $15k-20k worth of equipment inside.

Fly Fisherman Charles Gaines on the Margaree River, the rain kept us all wet, but everything inside the Dryzone remained clean and dry. © Ian Spanier Photography 2012

At the first deep crossing I had no choice but to go for it. I took a breath and stepped in. The water was just below my chin, (not saying much as I am only 5’5”), but the bag was totally solid. Not a drop of water entered the bag, and my gear was completely dry.  I had no more fears when my gear was inside the bag, outside was another story; we had four solid days of rain on the shoot.

THE COMBO

As I mentioned, for most of my shoots I use the Pro Roller to carry my gear. On shoots where I will not be tethered to a computer or standing in one place I’ll carry the SlingShot 200aw as my personal item on domestic flights, or internationally where you can’t always use a personal item, I’ll stow it in my checked luggage to use on location.

When I arrive to the hotel or location, I download what I need into the SlingShot and I am off.

A typical example of how I transport my gear in the Pro Roller x200 and download and repack what I need on set with the SlingShot 200aw at the hotel or in the trunk of the car. The Pro Roller also has a tripod mount when inspiration calls and your tripod isn’t accessible. © Ian Spanier Photography 2012 

                               On location in Greenland’s polar ice cap. 

I love the built in lens cloth, and the outer pockets really allow for storing the little items that help throughout a location shoot- mini flashlight, filters, hand-warmers, pens, batteries etc. – all accessible without taking off the bag.  It’s also great when it’s slung around to the front to use it as additional support, giving me just a little more of a solid position when shooting hand-held in low-light conditions.

Rolling a case on this surface would never work, and I am sure a big pack would slow me down, the SlingShot had plenty of room for what I’d need for the time we had on the ice cap. This shot became the opener for the feature story. © Ian Spanier Photography 2012  

The Pro Roller gets me there, and I’m more mobile with the SlingShot.

TOPLOADER 70AW

Just before the first flight. We had to run off the cliff to launch, so I’d put the camera in the Toploader and run. It was easy pull the camera out as soon as we took flight and put it away for landing. Even though I had cargo pants on, I felt more secure keeping memory cards in the Toploader. Having everything under my chin was far easier than digging into my pockets.

This is a specialty bag for sure, it’s actually great for everyday use, and I will switch it from chest harness to a regular shoulder strap when I am just carrying a camera, lens, batteries and some cards. 

When I got an assignment to shoot paragliding in Switzerland and France it was a no-brainer to bring this bag. The top load style allows you to set the camera in the case as if it was sitting securely on a table.

I had never paraglided before, and the guide was quite impressed when after jumping off Mount Saleve I not only changed memory cards, but also changed lenses hundreds of feet in the air as the wind was whipping.

The last shot of the day, I joined one of the guides half way up Mont Blanc in France. It would have been impossible to do this job without the Toploader. © Ian Spanier Photography 2012  

S&F SERIES

This is the truly the most modifiable bag system I have ever seen. There are so many combinations you can create for most any shoot. Last year I was given an assignment to shoot five Reality-TV stars for A&E’s Shipping Wars in five remote locations.

The budget wouldn’t allow us to travel with larger lights, and picking up rentals in the various cities would not work in each of the locations. We needed a consistent look, so we had to light it. I had just started using Photoflex’s Triton lights, and the small 300-watt monoblocks could do the trick, so long as we could carry them on the flights.

Fearing any lost luggage issues, we fit 2 heads, 2 batteries with backup batteries, pocket wizards, speed rings, an extension arm, modifiers and any additional accessories in the s&f duffle bag, combined with the Pro Roller, it was considered my “personal item.”

An entire light kit in one carry-on bag, organized so that the TSA didn’t question a thing. © Ian Spanier Photography 2012 

We checked stands on the flights, and if they didn’t make it, we could hand hold. As it turned out in Colorado, a winter storm negated using our lightweight stands and my assistant became a sturdier stand.

On set with trucker Marc Singer from A&E’s Shipping Wars. My assistant Zach Bako served as light stand. We not only zipped through the shots, but had the ability to do three set-ups in less than 30 min. © Ian Spanier Photography 2012 

On set, I also shot behind the scenes, and using the Pro Lens Exchange, and two accessory cases, I had all I needed attached to my belt and could work alongside the videographers without being limited in movement whatsoever.

Two added favorites, the cell phone case is amazing and my iPhone is easily accessible with one hand from whatever it’s attached to. The water bottle holder is with me on nearly all travel shoots, I’ve found freeing up my hands in the airport is fantastic, and on the shoot, having water bottles on me when I’m shooting documentary style allows me to keep working without a break…especially in cases where breaks are few and far between.

The final shot used by A&E to promote the show. © Ian Spanier Photography 2012 

The result was, I hope you agree, a professional quality shoot packed into a carry-on bag.

(Source: ianspanier.com)