artistip

Do you sometimes get lists of selected photos from your clients, which they want you to print? How do you actually pick those photos out of the folder in which they were stored? Do you take the long, manual-select path, Holding your CTRL key and clicking on each listed photo? Do you sometimes lose attention for a second and release that damn CTRL key and need to go all over again? Man, this little thing can actually burn a photographer hours of work doing practically nothing. If it's only a small amount of photos - no problem, the manual selecting works fine. But what if you get a 400 photos list? Well there's an automated way of selecting and copying the files, it's easy to perform once you learn the workflow, and it's not based on a software, but only a simple batch file.

You know how it goes when you open the box and take that first look of the contents? The first thing you notice is always the largest,boldest item in the box. So when I opened the SP-Systems Excalibur 1600 package I was instantly caught by the shiny metallic blue colored flash unit. Like it or not, it sure has a strong presence... Then I picked it up and explored the design and structure more thoroughly; The flash is well built, compact, feels strong yet not too heavy,with good ergonomics including a built in carrying handle. With a positive first impression I went ahead and opened the whole kit to explore what's in it. Let's take a look:

Do you have a Canon 580EX flash you wish to sync with your camera when used off shoe? I do. and for long time I've been using all sorts of hot shoe adapters, when all I wanted to do is just plug a Pocket Wizard or any other radio slave to my flash. Then I bumped into Lotto's post on photography-on-the.net forum. Now, you know how it goes when you see a useful and simple trick/shortcut/device and go "Gosh, this is so simple!! why didn't I see this a year ago?" This is how I reacted after seeing how simple it is to implant an1/8" socket to receive the standard sync plugs directly into the 580EX.

How do you hand your photos to your clients? Do you have a pre-printed stock of your logo medias, or do you just burn your files on blank Office depot medias and scribble the contents with a Magic Marker?

Well I admit I used to do that in the past... Before I started printing my own disks I used to deliver my work on generic medias, either branded or blank labeled. Very unprofessional, but that was in early days when CD printers were not around yet.  For large batches I would have ordered pre-printed medias with my logo on them but that was somewhat limiting as to what could be done with the design. What if I wanted to put on a photo of the couple got married? Or a portrait from the latest corporate photo-shoot? Or even just a logo of the convention I shot? I wanted to be able to custom design my disks and I didn't want to spend a fortune on that.