John Harrington-WHAT WE USE - Introduction
Thursday, January 24, 2008One of the things that happens often, is friends and colleagues ask what equipment we use, how we pack it, travel with it, and so forth. Further, with interns coming and going (40+, to date), it was a frequent occurrence that I was training and explaining to them what we use, and how we use it. So, during what was our slow period around the holidays, we ramped up and produced a series of videos. All together, they total 1 hour, 49 minutes, and took a month to produce, from production meetings to finishing editing - much more than I had expected to commit, but none-the-less it was a worthwhile endeavor. I've been collecting video for some time, from shoots and setup images, and so I've combined related video from those to an explanation of each case. I was inspired by Chase Jarvis' similar series, and am pleased with my results.
Below is the introduction, and I have transcribed every segment, and, there are links to every piece of equipment we could find on either Adorama, Amazon, or, B&H, in case you're looking for that tool yourself.
Here is the video introduction to all 32 segments, giving you an overview of the work we do using the equipment. Let me know what you think!
Hi, I’m John Harrington and we’re going to break out and break down the wide variety of equipment we use to deliver images to our clients. From traveling light through the capital, to air to ground work, to air to air work, from airports to clean rooms, from recording studios to inaugurations. You’ll get to see all of the equipment we use to make these images happen. We’re headquartered in the nation’s capital and it’s our gateway to the world.
Before I pull out the gear I should probably tell you a little bit about me. I’ve been making images for about 20 years, from impeachment hearings and Supreme Court inaugurations to annual reports, to the white house, I’ve served as an official photographer to folks like the Rolling Stones and Liz Taylor. I’ve produced commercial and advertising work for the likes of Lockheed Martin to Coca Cola, from XM satellite radio to General Motors.
I’ve probably traveled to every state. Among them Alaska, Arizona, and trips to Cuba and Prague for editorial assignments. Wherever we go, it’s the need for gear that means we’re traveling on business. To that end, we make sure we have the right gear for the right job and that invariably changes. It’s critical too that our gear get into the aircraft, make the connection, and it survives the luggage handlers… and that’s a challenge.
So let’s show you what we use, why we use it, and more importantly, how we keep it organized for the load and go day trip to the air cargo drop off. These video are just as much for our newly minded staff, insights and “how to’s” for our new interns, and a response to other photographers who ask what we use and how we pack it.
Lastly on the occasion that a client asks why it costs so much to produce an image for a specific shoot, because “Its just one portrait” they say, we can share with them this video so they too can understand what it takes to make “Just one picture”.
So here we go. Next up we’ll go over the various lighting tools we use for assignments. From our portable, battery powered Hensel Porty’s, to our Hensel Vela’s and our Hensel Tria kits. To our Rololights and why we use each. One nice thing about being standardized to Hensel is we have one series of speed rings, grid spot connectors, and so forth.
Since every job is different, we want to have our gear segmented out and in their own cases, so we can bring what we need and just what we need. Further, every case is labeled with our contact information in case an absent minded assistant leaves something behind. Also, because gear can break down, every system is labeled with a number so we can know which unit it is. This way when something goes down, you know which one needs to be set aside. Each kit is different and serves a very specific purpose.
So let’s take a look.
Individual Segments:
Softbox & Light Modifier Kit ||| Lighting Stands Case ||| Primary Hensel Vela Lighting Kit ||| Rololights Continuous Source Lighting ||| Rololights Lighting Stands Kit ||| Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III Kit ||| Nikon D3 Kit ||| Jacobsen Sound Blimp Kit ||| California Sunbounce Lighting Reflector ||| Gels & Gelly Rolls ||| Lowel DP Hotlight Kit ||| Lowel Omni & Tota Hotlight Kit ||| Macbook Pro Laptop Kit ||| Hensel Porty Bi-Tube Kit ||| Hensel Porty Kit ||| Hensel Porty Ringlight Kit ||| Hensel Tria 1500 Kit ||| Hensel Tria 3000 Kit ||| Hensel Vela Add-On Kit ||| Cord Kit ||| Kenyon Gyro Kit ||| Reviewing Kit ||| Photo Equipment Carts ||| Photo Equipment Cases ||| Computers & Monitors - Travel Kit ||| Fog Machine ||| Hasselblad Kit ||| White Lightning Lighting Kit ||| Video Kit ||| Audio Entertainment Kit ||| Audio Sound Kit ||| Sandbags ||| Stands
What We Use •
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Keep up the good work.
Mark Milstein
