I have an iPad Air 2 and I simply love it. It’s my portable digital workhouse. I can pop into most cafés where free wi-fi is the norm. I can enjoy a delicious cup of java, while checking my inbox, or pen a draft for my next article for dPS.
iPad Air 2
My main reason for purchasing the iPad was that I went back to college recently. I thought about buying a laptop. After a bit of research, I decided an iPad, paired with a keyboard case, essentially turned it into a mini laptop of sorts. Plus it was less expensive and more portable. I’ve completed the course, but the iPad has now become a great companion for my photography.
I was recently in a cafe waiting to meet a client, when an idea started to take shape about the advantages of having an iPad as a photographer. Following on from a previous article I wrote on “Can an iPad be used as a softbox or custom background?“, I realized that I am using my iPad more and more in my photography work than ever before.
iPad Air 2 paired with a Logitech keyboard
I could go on at length, extolling the many virtues of having an iPad/tablet as a photographer. Instead, I’ll limit my list for now to just six.
Here are my top six reasons an iPad makes a good photography companion
- Portability makes it handy to take anywhere
- Displaying your work or portfolio makes you look good
- Editing and sharing images is easy
- Reading and learning
- Spoiled for choice with so many Apps
- Google Drive
1. Portability of the iPad
The iPad Air 2 and other tablets are just so light, and even more portable than most laptops. The iPad Air for me is the ultimate Digital Briefcase! The dimensions are 9.4 x 6.6 x 0.24 inches (240 x 169.5 x 6.1 mm). It weighs just 0.96 pounds (436 grams). I feel like James Bond! (sorry Jane Bond)
The iPad fits snugly into my camera bag.
2. To display your work
As a photographer, your work should speak for itself. As a commercial photographer, it’s what gets you your next gig. Now more than ever, there are so many ways to get your work online.
The first option is to have a personal website. But this does mean paying for a domain name and hosting. So what if you don’t want to invest in a website? If you are just starting out in your photography career or you’re a keen hobbyist? Again there are many ways to showcase your portfolio online and in most cases for free. For example there is Behance Display, Flickr, 500px and Morpholio to name just a few.
The retina display on the iPad allows maximum clarity of your photos, and makes it very easy for the viewer to look at the details by easily “zooming in” by pinching the screen. Also, flicking through your images or albums with a swipe of a finger, makes the experience much more tactile and hands-on. Similar to flipping pages of a book.
Recently, I met with a client and I needed to bring a digital portfolio with me. I don’t have my full range of work online. I also couldn’t rely on a solid wifi connection. So I put together a portfolio, saved it out as a PDF, and synced it to iBooks on the iPad. A typical page layout program, such as InDesign would be used to put a portfolio together. However, if you just have Photoshop, then here is a great way to create your own portfolio PDF for your iPad from multiple pages.
Creating a PDF portfolio from multiple pages in Photoshop
Open Photoshop and create all your pages the same size, 2048 X 1536 pixels. Place each image and text on a separate page. You can determine how many pages that you want in your portfolio. A general guide is 15-20 pages.
Go up to File>Automate>PDF Presentation. Check this box, “Add Open Files”, and click Save. Name your file and Save it to a location on your computer.
This is handy tip in creating a pdf file from multiple pages or images in Adobe Photoshop.
Make sure to check the Add Open Files box.
When another dialog box appears, make sure Optimize for Fast Web Preview is checked.
Make sure that the Optimize for Fast Web preview box is ticked.
Click on Compression under General (on the left side, see below screenshot). At the top, change the Adobe PDF Preset to High Quality Print, and next to Image Quality, change the setting from Maximum to Medium. Then click on the Save PDF button.
Choose the High Quality Print from the Adobe PDF Preset at the top. Then change Maximum beside Compression to Medium.
Tip: Try and keep the file size below 5mb so as you can email it to potential employers or clients. If you can’t optimize the file size to less than 5mb, then create another portfolio with less pages. PDF files can be viewed on a Mac or PC.
If you don’t have Photoshop, then read on to number six below, and I’ll show you how to create a PDF portfolio using Google Slides.
3. Editing and sharing images is easy
I haven’t done a lot of editing on the iPad. I prefer to do my post-processing at my desktop, where I have the big monitor and stylus. However, I think the iPad Pro could possibly change my mind.
I did try Snapseed. It’s impressive, so intuitive, and free. Other free editing apps are VSCO, Adobe Photoshop Express, and Instagram. What also makes these apps powerful is the ease with which you can share your images online to your social media accounts, or upload them to the cloud.
4. Reading and learning
I’m coming around to reading ebooks and PDFs on my iPad rather than a book. Although, you can’t beat a physical book in your hand. That said, from a practical point of view when travelling, carrying just one book takes up so much room!
I now have my Nikon D750 user manual downloaded on the iPad. This manual alone, although relatively compact in size, still has 507 pages and weighs 310g (11oz).
Tip: If you are using the Safari browser and open a PDF file, you can save it straight to iBooks.
5. Choice of Apps for the iPad
Given the array of apps already in the app store, it’s just not possible to run the gauntlet on them all. Here are a few that popped up on my radar.
- LightTrac ($8.99): LightTrac calculates and plots the angle of Sun and Moon on top of a map, for any location.
- The Photographer’s Ephemeris ($8.99): TPE shows you which direction the sun is shining at any given time during the day, no matter what location you choose.
- Pocket Light Meter (FREE): A light meter that is always in your pocket. It is indispensable for film photography with a manual camera. Measures reflected light, and allows reciprocity calculations.
- Simple DoF Calculator ($1.99): Simple DoF Calculator allows you to calculate the depth of field and hyperfocal distance for any given settings.
- Take notes to a new level with Evernote (FREE), the productivity app that keeps your projects, ideas, and inspiration handy across all your digital devices.
- Photography Releases – 500px has a free one. If you shoot Stock photography, a model/property release is a must have.
- Snapwire also has a free model/property release. I downloaded this app and found it really useful, especially as it stores the photographer’s information. No need to keep filling in this info for every release. Plus it has the templates for all of the major stock sites.
6. Google Drive
What’s not to like about Google Drive? Google Drive is a complete office suite with Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Plus you get 15 GB free storage online. In Google Photos, images not exceeding 2048 x 2048 pixels, and videos shorter than 15 minutes ,also do not count towards this limit. It is hard to find fault with this setup when it’s all free!
It is really a Digital Photo Assistant. You can access email, write and publish blog posts, keep track of your schedule and contacts. Share out documents and collaborate with clients online. I also love that you can work with Google docs offline. This has proven as a great time saver if your internet connection is poor, or you simply don’t have access to an internet connection when you need it.
Google Slides is Microsoft’s version of Powerpoint. Here’s an animated gif to illustrate how easy it is to create your PDF portfolio. It’s well worth giving it a go.
An animated gif illustrating how easy it is to use Google Slides to create a PDF portfolio for the iPad.
To sum it all up
It was a challenge to keep this list to just six things. I know this could change over the next few months as I continue to use the iPad.
I didn’t mention uploading your photos from your camera directly onto the iPad. You can, but you need the Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader – $29.00 or the Lightning to USB Camera Adaptor – $29.00.
I only mentioned a mere smidgen of available apps, and most of those were free. This is only a tip of the app-iceberg-store. Some of the paid apps look interesting too.
It’s mind boggling just keeping up with trends. With the recent launch of the iPad Pro. It won’t be long before the iPad has morphed into a real contender, in place of a laptop, for the photographer out in the field.
Do you have an iPad or tablet? What apps do you use? Please share in the comments below.
