FE ATUR E
tEthEr BetteR B Y GR E G S C O B LE TE
PHOTO © CLAY COOK
PDN ASKED PHOTOGRAPHERS WHY THEY SHOOT TETHERED AND THE RESPONSES ARE AS VARIED AS THE CREATIVES. For Toronto-based commercial photographer Giancarlo Pawelec, one of the main benefits of tethered shooting is getting a clearer look at your images. “Nothing beats looking at a photo at 15 inches or 27 inches or even 100 inches. You can pay attention to details you may have missed,” Pawelec says. If you’re worried that shooting tethered will slow down your workflow, Pawelec says that on balance, it’s actually more efficient. “You can’t suddenly jump on a ladder or start running, but you can see things you would have missed by just chimping—lighting, hair, jewelry, etc.” Spotting those issues during the shoot actually saves you time in reshoots or laborious post-production, Pawelec notes. Besides, he adds, just as film photographers love how the medium forces you to think before you shoot, a tethered workflow encourages the same mindfulness. Editorial and advertising photographer Clay Cook says that for many jobs, not shooting tethered isn’t even an option. “When you work in advertising and editorial, tethering is mandatory, sometimes even part of the contract,” Cook says. Beyond giving clients a chance to peer over your shoulder, tethering helps foster a collaborative environment among everyone working on a shoot—stylists, hair and makeup artists, models, etc. “It brings everyone in and is a game changer when you’re working with teams of people,” he adds.
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TEST & PREP No matter what type of photography you’re engaged in, don’t start tethering without shooting some personal projects first, advises beauty and commercial photographer Quentin Décaillet. This way, you can experiment with software and workflow outside the crucible of a paid assignment. Before photographer Jana Cruder even starts shooting, she ensures both her camera firmware and Lightroom are up to date. She then makes test shots “before I’m under the pressure of the shoot day to make sure everything runs smooth. If it is going to be a particularly tight shoot day, I may go as far as creating the capture folder and settings ahead of time for file naming and arranging shots by catalogues,” she says. Keeping your tether cable securely in place is another vital step in setting up a successful shoot. Pawelec secures his cable using the JerkStopper from Tether Tools, while Cook is partial to the TetherBlock (also marketed by Tether Tools, but invented by photographer/entrepreneur David Blattel).
THIS PAGE: AS AN EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING PHOTOGRAPHER, CLAY COOK IS OFTENTIMES REQUIRED TO SHOOT TETHERED. BUT HE APPRECIATES THE COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT IT CREATES ON SET BECAUSE EVERYONE (CLIENTS, STYLISTS HAIR AND MAKEUP ARTISTS, MODELS, ETC.) CAN PEER OVER YOUR SHOULDER.
| STUDIO + EQUIPMENT GUIDE 2019
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