If you are shooting by yourself or in tight places, you might consider getting one of these great laptop stands.  Here at Image Mechanics we use it for extreme locations and portability.  It is well balanced with a rubber mat that grips the laptop and there are several cool attachments.

Laptop Stand

What file size is needed for a billboard?  This is a question we receive on an almost daily basis.  Today we made some calls and ran some tests to put this debate to rest.

Most people think that billboards need to be shot on the biggest and best digital camera possible.  That's not true.  When printing a 14 foot x 48 foot billboard, Clear Channel, the largest monopoly media company in the US, requests a 3.75 inch x 12.25 inch file anywhere between 300 and 600dpi.  The Leaf 22 megapixel backs produce an original file size of 13.333 inches x 17.787 inches at 300 dpi - right in the middle of their specs.  Big enough, to say the least, and most images aren't run the full length of the billboard!  Check out Clear Channel sample billboards. 

Don't take my word for it, here's the link to clear channel info and specs

We spoke to other billboard companies as well and were told that they were fine with any image shot on a 10 megapixel camera or better - Canon 5D anyone?

So our conclusion, size doesn't matter, as long as it's 10 inches megapixels or larger, wink wink.  

Film and digital photography have just enough things in common to lull you into a false sense of familiarity.  Basic exposure rules still apply like they did with film, but just like different film stocks had their own exposure rules, digital chips have their own special requirements. Shooting digital is closer to the way we used to shoot 400 speed Tri-x rated at 200-250 ISO.  By doing this you effectively lowered the ISO by one stop to open up the shadows and add a little punch to the negative.  If you wanted to you could have shot it rated at 400 and get acceptable results but for an optimal negative you rated it slower.  

Digital works pretty much the same way.  Just because the chip says it is 100 ISO doesn't mean that your meter should be set to 100 and off you go.  First you have to deal with signal to noise ratio.  One of the best written articles about how a digital chip works is Expose to the Right on Luminous Landscape by Michael Richmann.

At Image Mechanics, the way we do it is to expose so that the important highlight detail is walking the edge of being blown out and then process it back down to the desired look.  The histogram is a good tool that gives you a feel for overall exposure but it can only tell you that something is blown or clipped, not whether it is important detail that you want to hold in your image.  To visually check what is blown or clipped, we use the shadow/highlight exposure warning in Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom.

The triangles located in the histogram toggle the Highlight & Shadow warnings

There are many internet reviews that break down every nuance and operation of DSLR's.  Most of these will repeat the camera manufacturers specs verbatim for you as well as post the company press release. Additionally, there are a bunch of sites that talk about how to use the gear to take great action snaps of your cat.  This review isn't going to cover any of that well trodden ground (although it is tempting to post some shots of my dog).  

I CAN HAVES USB

At Image Mechanics, we deal in high volume commercial digital capture.  We mainly shoot tethered to a computer then we process and deliver thousands of images every day.  When we write reviews, they are slanted towards how the equipment hinders or aids us in this task.  With a few minor exceptions, the Canon 1Ds Mark III definitely falls into the later category.