Technology is only helpful if it solves a problem.

And now that we have a problem - in the form of COVID-19, technology that 6 months ago didn’t seem particularly useful is now indispensable. 

As a commercial food photographer, I enjoy interacting and collaborating with my clients on set, but in the last few months I have been able to utilize technology, (that has been available to me for much longer), to work seamlessly with clients working remotely in an empty office, or at home with their kids. 

I started by joining the Zoom revolution. I had been a regular user of Google Hangouts, (to help facilitate a bi-monthly meeting of fellow creatives), but I found it somewhat limiting - and didn’t suspect it had a place in my professional life. But after hearing so much about Zoom lately, I decided to give it a try. Intuitive, fast, and easy to navigate, (not to mention that clients were more used to using it), made it the perfect tool to utilize in my client interactions. 

The specialized monitors and Mac Pro that are perfect for high-end capture and processing are not zoom meeting friendly. (Low volume speaker and no microphone). Enter a USB web camera, that I have had for years - (like before laptops had cameras!) Pair that with new Apple EarPods for a mic and speaker, and I had a pretty decent setup. 

Likewise, the software we utilize for tethered capture also had some features that I rarely used, but now allowed me to share a live view with my clients. I could work in “live view mode” as we tweaked position, and then share captures with adjustments, and even sharing the final shot in a layout.

Sometimes after launching a meeting and discussing the first shot, the client and I would just leave the Zoom window open. Allowing them to work on other projects while being able to quickly return to the Zoom meeting once I had something new to share. 

Overall, our remote shoots have been a success. In the past, working remotely with clients has meant a series of texts, emails, and watching the food “die” on set while waiting for comments. But with all of this “new” technology, my experience has been about the same as having the client on set - although not as much fun! Of course, collaborating in person is still preferable. There’s just something about creating together in real-time, but it’s good to know we have options.