2020 has brought some significant changes to my life, including the new aspect of tethering. Being a wedding photographer, I had never considered the aspects of how tethering could help benefit me and improve my photography skills.
Tethering is lot like using field monitors on movies and television sets. I was familiar with watching playback immediately or live right on a field monitor, but never did I think the same should be applied to the photography industry. I was always cautious to be tethering, and frankly I believed it was a non-essential tool. One for those who “didn’t trust their eye, or trust in their ability to get the right focus”. But now that I’ve started tethering this year, my perspective has changed to see that it is something much more than that. It’s engaging with those around you, utilizing the great tools within Smart Shooter, and showing your vision to the client on a large screen immediately after grabbing that “one” shot.
Sure, having the ability to check your focus, composition or lighting on a monitor or laptop at a moment’s notice is fantastic, but what really surprised me was the ability to share these images immediately to a client and blow their mind away (or at least I hope). Flipping your camera around to show an image on a small, camera screen only brought me the rare “Ooohs” or “Ahhs” …partially because the details are gated by a small LCD screen that hides the fine details. When sharing an image right away on my laptop screen, it’s now changed to “Wow’s!” or “I see what you are doing here!” Having the ability to get that response right away, or even feedback on how to improve, completely changes the game.
Since I’ve been tethering, I’ve frequently chatted with other wedding photographers in the industry to bring more attention to this thought.
Let’s be real, the subjects in frame rarely have any idea what the image will look like until they have been delivered weeks, or even months later. For me, I take the approach with my clients to always be transparent. Having this ability to show off the images right after clicking that shutter button, has brought me the best compliments.
I only have one complaint, that I should have been tethering a long time ago.
