Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Proofing with portable DVD

This was the last assignment for 2007. I was asked to photograph 9 executive head shots as well as environment portraits. This short video shows the set-up of the head shots as well as one of the environment portraits we had to do.

I've been using a portable DVD player on location in order to see a larger image than what is provided on the back of the camera. I find it a lot easier for my clients and subjects to review the images than crowding around the back of the camera. Have a look here. DT

29 comments:

Unknown said...

Great idea. I assume you can get some sort of screen for when you're using it outdoors in the sun?

David Tejada said...

Rarely do I use this device outside. Mostly just when shooting portraits or other lit set-ups.

Timothy Thompson said...

What a great idea. We bought a two screen system a couple months ago. I never thought about using it this way but it would sure beat hauling the laptop along. The second screen I have is even smaller since it doesn't have the DVD player in it. I had to haul it out even before finishing your video just to try it out.

Thanks for your efforts.

Anonymous said...

the dvd player = really good idea, and we have one allready, i rss your site and its very informative, thans very much for doing it

Albert said...

portable dvd player - brilliant! these things are around $150 now so it's not too big of a hit to add to the kit. thanks for the tip, i think i'll be adding this to my arsenal at some point down the road.

Beau A.C. Harbin said...

Very cool idea David. Thanks for sharing it.

Anonymous said...

Wow David, what a great idea with the DVD player. Keep 'em coming. Love the blog.

Unknown said...

Utterly stunning - guess what I'm off to buy tomorrow?

John Lewis Photography said...

David, thanks for all the stuff you have posted, I really is helpful. A question about the setup. Is there anything special to be done in setting up the DVD player to receive the image and also will all DVD players work this way?

many thanks John

Ethan said...

Wonderful idea, David. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

David,
Great job on your posts but my questions have everything to do with your portrait setup:
Is your jumbo softbox fitted with a hot light? It looks like the only flash I see is on your background light. I see you are using a long lense. Care to share your f stop/shutter speed/iso settings for that setup.
I love your work and have finally decided on what branch of photography interests me the most - the type of corporate work you are doing. Did you start off to do that type of work or did you fall into it?
Thanks,
Craig Collier
Memphis, TN

David Tejada said...

The softbox is fitted with a strobe head like the background light. I was shooting with a Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 lens. My ISO was 100 and my f-stop was about f5.6.

This is a very straight forward portrait.

Thanks for your comments. DT

Anonymous said...

Thats a great idea- but why not use a laptop? I see you are using a Nikon. Seems to me you can use Nikon's camera control pro and even make adjustments to your shot as well.

David Tejada said...

The only time I use an external device like this is when I shoot portraits. I'm not so interested in showing a processed image to a client rather just a larger proof so they can see what it is that I'm capturing.

Anonymous said...

I tried to use a portable DVD like this a while ago, but it kept displaying in the wrong aspect ratio so I gave up on the idea. It kept stretching the photos and I couldn't find a way to correct it.

Anonymous said...

Just discovered your blog and video's through the Strobist blog. Brilliant stuff, and very, very helpful. I am going to dig through your blog! I have recently made the switch to offering photographic services professionally and am investigating buying studio flash, so your site will be helpful.

Rogier, The Netherlands

Anonymous said...

Oh sweet idea - thanks (and you should be on a commission for the number of these you have sold!)

Jay

Anonymous said...

David, Thank your for your videos, you just saved me a fortune this year. Question: Do you plug into the A/V out and into the DVD player? The one I had got confiscated by my teenage son, never to be seen again. Any particular model?

Anonymous said...

David, I want to say thanks for all the videos and the time you have put into them, you have saved me a fortune,thank you.
I have a question on the DVD player.I'm have a D2h and soon to have a D2x. What should I look for in terms of connection ports on the DVD player According to my camera manual I should just plug the EG-D2 cable into the A/V output on the camera, do I just plug the other end into a A/v in on the DVD player? Sorry for the simple question but I was given two of these over the years and they disappear when they are around teenagers.

David Tejada said...

I've been using my Polaroid DVD player for almost 2 years. You will need a player that has a video in port.

I used the AV cord which came with my D2X and all I needed was a size up plug on the end going into the player. I picked one up at Radio Shack for a few bucks.

Anonymous said...

Once again, Thank you, I'm reading back thru and noticed the DVD player attached to the tripod.
May you and your family have a happy and properous New Year.

Darius said...

I tryed with my Sony Alpha DSLR-A100, and works perfectly, but it's uses a USB to RCA cord, but the USB port on the camera it's behind the memory's access door.

So if you whant to use this "trick" you must remove the door or shoot the camera with the door opened.

Great tips on every post!

Guncats said...

Wow... an remarkably good idea. But I do Have one question. I have a very old Port. Dvd Player. When I tried it, in the manner you were using yours, the pictures looked rather fuzzy. Like I said, a very old player. Do you have a recommendation for a Port. Dvd Palyer? Which one are you using??

Mitch Osborne said...

This is a great idea, and one I have an immediate use for. But I have run into a problem with the 16:9 aspect ratio. The photos are stretched out. There are no controls I can find on the Canon 20D to change this, and the DVD's player(by LG)controls don't seem to effect the AV input. I have no problem with aspect when displaying images on a widescreen tv.

Is this an LG problem? Am I missing something? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Ladislav Soukup said...

hey, I also using portable DVD player as "bigger" preview :D
Also... once I was shooting for about 3 meters above model and I need to show the photos to my assistant down there - I wish I had portable DVD player with a long video cable there...

Unknown said...

Just picked up the 8in Sony DVD player from Radio Shack yesterday. They had all the correct cords and took my D90 to the store and were very nice to let me open a new box and set it up. Make sure you have the screen set to standard rather than full for the proper aspect ratio. This is so much easier to take on location than tethering a laptop.

Oberazzi said...

This is a nifty tip. As a visually impaired photographer, I have been looking at ways to get immediate feedback on a larger LCD. I posted the question to the strobist group on flickr and someone suggested I check out this post. I do not have a portable DVD player (too small to watch movies for me), bu I will borrow one to check it out.

I will also blog about this on my website sometime in the next week or so.

Thanks!

Tim O'Brien
www.timobrienphotos.com

Anonymous said...

David,
I bought a Sony portable DVD player to use as a proofing device. However, I cannot find a cord or adapter to connect my D300 to it. I have been to Radio Shack, Best Buy, etc in an effort to do so. Please provide more details on how you accomplished this.

Mark

Unknown said...

Great ideas.. It helps me a lot..


portable dvr system