technical stuff

Most corporate photographers and editorial photographers will, sooner or later, have to shoot in a factory or on a construction site. This means you have to wear safety gear.

I’ve photographed in factories and construction sites for many years. I did two jobs today, one at an aerospace manufacturer and the other at a hospital construction site. Here are a few suggestions to photographers who will be shooting in similar situations.

Safety Boots

They may look fashionable but do not buy safety shoes. Get 6″ or 8″ safety *boots*. Safety shoes may be allowed in some factories and warehouses but they’re not permitted on construction sites.

Safety boots must have the CSA green triangle patch which confirms that the footwear has a Grade 1 protective toe and a puncture-proof sole. It helps to also have electrical shock resistance.
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The more you use Photoshop, the more you find little issues with the software. For example, Photoshop lets you set the default unit of measurement for almost everything:

Almost everything.
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When shopping for a decent light stand bag, you might find that most stand bags are too small, don’t have wheels or are very expensive.

If you carry just a couple of stands and umbrellas, this may not be an issue for you. But if you need to carry a trunkful of stands, an armful of softboxes or umbrellas, a few rolls of 52″ background paper and more, there is a solution.

Go to a golf store or sporting goods store and check out golf travel bags. These bags are designed to transport a golf bag full of clubs and, in some cases, even a small golf cart. They often have big outside pockets to hold various golf accessories.
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It’s common to shoot business portraits against a seamless background. Photographers will often add a tonal gradient instead of using this flat-toned background. This gradient helps create depth, making the subject stand out more distinctly from the background.

But when the final image is saved as a JPEG, the file compression can cause the gradient to posterize, especially if the gradient was steep. Posterization occurs when the smooth transition of tones is replaced by abrupt colour shifts or banding. A small amount of posterization won’t be noticeable to the customer and won’t be visible in print or online images.

Low JPEG settings (high compression) make posterization more apparent, while the highest JPEG settings can minimize it. But if a customer needs a small file size, using a high-quality JPEG setting may not be feasible.
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There are several web sites that show how to replace the cells inside a Quantum Battery. Over the past 12 years, I’ve replaced the cells in my Quantum Battery 1 and Quantum Turbo a few times with no problems whatsoever. I have no experience with any other model of Quantum Battery.

Replacing the cells takes about 15 minutes and requires only a Phillips screwdriver. Having the cells replaced by the Canadian distributor takes a week and costs three or four times more. To be fair, the factory technicians check and repair/replace other parts, if required.

Canadian photographers looking for replacement cells might try BBM Battery but there are other retailers.
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