Q&A with Tether Tools: Tips and Advice on Tethered Photography with your iPad

Posted by: on Aug 01, 2011

Q&A with Tether Tools: Tips and Advice on Tethered Photography with your iPad

Q: We get asked all the time “When I’m shooting, how do I incorporate my iPad into the workflow?”  That can mean a lot of things to different photographers, so here we break it down into various answers:

A: Tethering to the iPad: The luxury of pushing images from your camera to a larger screen, usually on a laptop, has spoiled us. Typically this is done via a cable connection from the camera to the laptop. Now there are endless options for apps that integrate with tethering software, which sync images to your iPad so you can tag, rate and share your images efficiently with others.

If you’d prefer to go wireless, the Eye-Fi Pro X2 Card is a popular solution for tethered iPad photo shoots.    The Eye-Fi card is actually an SD memory card with a built-in wireless connection that allows you to tell the card where you want your images sent. You can program it to wirelessly transfer images, as you shoot, from your camera to your iPad (or your iPod, laptop, or other device). There are various cards available, but we recommend the ProX2 for serious shooters using SD format.

A: Mounting your iPad: Securing your iPad during your shoot is critical to ensuring you can access all the tools you need without breaking up your momentum. Tether Tools new Wallee iPad Connect helps you mount the iPad to a tripod, crossbar, arm or a studio stand for access to it during the shoot. Besides the Wallee iPad Connect, Tether Tools also is selling a selection of Wallee System accessories like the Pivot, which floats the iPad just above your desk for post-production needs. Its any-angle positioning makes it perfect for using Adobe’s NAV app for the Photoshop toolbar. The Pivot is also great for client presentations both during and after the shoot.  It’s flip and turn versatility is a really impressive way to present your portfolio.

A: Using Photo Apps: Deciding on an app for reviewing, editing, organizing and showcasing photos can be a daunting but fun task. This is such a huge category that we’ve provided a post on our blog about photo apps.