What is tethered photography?
Shooting tethered is where you connect your camera to a computer, typically via USB cable, hence ‘tethered’. This allows you to take images and continuously view/save them onto your computer as you take photos. This is usually done in a studio setting, as it requires you to be connected to your camera at all times. Shooting tethered offers a lot more than simply viewing an image on your computer screen. If you even occasionally shoot in a studio-type setting and have not shot tethered yet, here are 10 reasons you should be:
1) No More Memory Anxiety
When shooting tethered, images can be transferred directly to your computer as they are taken. This essentially makes your computer hard drive your ‘memory card’. This means you will be able to take shots continuously without worrying about filling up your memory cards. Certain software allows the storing images on both your computer and a memory card at the same time. Redundancies are key for professional photographers with valuable customer images. Images are ready to go on your computer when it comes to post processing as well!
2) Enlarged Preview
Usually, we preview our scene with our camera’s live view function on the small 3” LCD. With tethered shooting, this tiny LCD does not have to be your main reference anymore. When tethered to a laptop, or better yet, a computer with a large external monitor, you can have a much larger live-view reference. A standard 15” monitor is already 5 times the viewing area! Live view on a larger screen leads to much better image planning. Any potential issues will be more obvious and can be corrected right away before you start shooting. This also reduces the number of images you take during a shoot, simplifying the sorting process later on.
3) Instant Review
Similar to preview, we also get better image review capabilities on our larger computer screens compared to the camera’s LCD. There are many reasons why this is more advantageous that just a live preview alone. For example, if you mainly shoot with flash guns instead of studio strobes with a modeling light, the live preview won’t look anything like the final shot. Shooting tethered allows you to take your shot, and perform a much more careful and productive review on an enlarged monitor. Issues and adjustments are much more obvious, and they don’t have to be found after you are done with your entire shoot.
4) Improved Workflow
As you take images, and depending on the software you are using, you can optimize your workflow through various organization techniques. Rating and otherwise tagging images as you shoot is incredibly simple when you are tethered to your computer. Also, with an enlarged review, you can give a more accurate rating to an image than if you were to rate an image in camera judging from the small LCD. If you are constantly tagging and rating during the shoot, you will speed through the post processing stage as your winning images are easily identifiable and ready for touch ups.
5) Remote Shooting Controls
When shooting tethered, certain software can take over the operation of your camera. This means shutter, aperture, ISO, focus, and other settings are all available to adjust from your computer! You do have to set your camera mode dial to manual, or whichever shooting mode you desire. This lets you have almost full control of your camera remotely. Some users still prefer to use the camera as they shoot and adjust settings, as they may be more efficient and familiar here. However, this is still an added feature that provides flexibility if you ever setup a studio shoot with not so easy access to the camera.
6) Work Effectively
When I’m not shooting tethered, I admit that sometimes I find myself more trigger happy. I’ll take many images just to ensure I have available options when I get back to my computer. This results in a much longer post processing time with the added sorting. Tethered shooting with constant preview/review of your images in more detail allows you to slow down and approach your shooting more thoughtfully. Analyzing images as you capture them allows you to focus on the image and its quality. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
7) Cost Effective
With all these benefits so far, there has to be a significant financial expense here, right? Wrong! The only added piece of gear you need here is a USB cable for your camera. You may already have the one that came with you camera in the box. You can splurge on a dedicated non-snag cable such as the infamous orange TetherPro cable from Tether Tools.
Software to start with can also be free. For Canon users, Canon EOS Utility is free and contains almost all the benefits discussed in this article. Most other software have free trials so you can test the functionality out before you spend a penny. If you’re interested in exploring the various software available, Tether Tools has a great list of the tethering software on the market. You can even filter out incompatible software by selecting your camera model; a great resource!
8) Speed!
One thing that was touched on multiple times already as a side effect of the other benefits, is speed. Shooting and editing time reduces dramatically with tethered photography. Let’s look at the areas where we will save time the most.
- No transferring images to computer after the shoot. This happens automatically as you take photos.
- No sorting through all the images one by one after the shoot. With real time tagging and rating, you can choose the winners as you shoot, and be ready to edit right away.
- Shoot less images with live preview and instant review. Thoughtfully curate your images after a single image, or before you’ve taken any images at all.
9) Power Options
We already have peace of mind with our memory redundancy, what about power? You can get long uninterrupted stretches of tethered photography if you don’t mind one more wire. AC power adapters are available for almost all DSLR / Mirrorless cameras. This uses a dummy battery which connects to an AC adapter that plugs into a wall outlet. With you tethered to a computer and hardwired to a power source, you essentially have no limits on operating time! This is most useful when shooting stationary on a tripod. This ensures you don’t have to deal with the wires much which could be annoying while moving around.
You can also use a battery grip if you want the extended operating time and don’t want to add another wire. This could be a huge compliment to provide peace of mind with tethering.
10) Better Business
Due to the increased speed of both taking images and post processing, you have time in your day! For professional photographers, that means more capacity for clients. Or this could mean you are able to offer much more for your clients in the same amount of time. For your clients or models, this reduces the time they spend with the photographer as well. Efficiency in the studio is important whether or not you are a professional photographer. Shooting tethered gives you no choice but to be more efficient in your environment.
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