Huge iPad Arrays Used As Portrait Lights
What happens when you cross Kirk Tuck's insatiable love for LED panels with Jim Goldstein's unstopped craving for iPads? Nothing, 'till you add in a secret ingredient - a starving-for-innovation photographer Jesse Rosten.
Jesse did a complete portrait shoot using 9 (yea NINE) iPads as lighting sources. Those iPads were mounted on three fixtures in what I would adventurous mode. Video and a little about constraints after the jump.
Now if You are saying that this not convenient nor practical you are right, but hear Jesse:
"Nine iPads will set you back around $4,500. That amount of money can buy you a LOT of lumens in the form of a generic monobloc. This is not intended to be an exercise in excess, but rather a self-imposed limitation to help flex the creative muscles, and to make a point"
I'll join the club admitting that this is not the most practical or cheap way to light, but a hell of a nice project to have fun with.
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Comments
PR Stunt
This seems like it's just a PR stunt. If this were really a "self-imposed limitation to help flex the creative muscles" the photographer/production team could have simply limited the power to their strobes, limited the number of strobes, etc. PR stunts aren't inherrently bad, I just want honesty from the photographer...
Pimples
Wow, too bad they blew all the money on iFads, and none on Proactive for the model.
Also, how come stupid people have so much money?
They do make a good light source.
I've been playing with my iPad for lightpainting since I got it. Not sure what app they used, but I chose Flashlight. (with the period) because it was free, and was delighted that you can control the color of the light. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flashlight/id285281827?mt=8
How'd it work? Well, if I had a way to mount it to my tripod, it'd be spectacular for star-trails and lightpainting combos.
Here's an example: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ambitious_wench/4962196281/
You'll notice the light isn't even, but that's because I was hand holding my one iPad, and you do get tired after a bit.
All the best!
ipads????
What a dumb thing to do. Not even worth posting.
Sigh. I guess that's one way
Sigh. I guess that's one way to get their 15 minutes of fame.
I'm going to go rent a Gulfstream 650 to generate wind for my next shoot. It makes as much sense as using ipads as light sources.
Impractical but neat project
I'm sure the photographer's aware of the fact that this is merely a silly project he'd like to share, and the video was entertaining...
If AC outlet isn't an issue, I'd rather have these though. http://www.elumanation.com/eLume_LED_SlimFixture.html
Or standard LitePanel products for battery use.
Dave (www.davidleetong.com)
To take something extremely
To take something extremely expensive and use it to do something a much cheaper product can do, seems like exactly the opposite of what DIY-photo is about. Kinda pointless. I guess I'm just not in to the whole iPad hysteria either. :)
Yep, totally agreee, lets use
Yep, totally agreee, lets use an Array of 48 iPhone 4 to do the work ;)
haha! or one thousand iPod
haha! or one thousand iPod nanos
diy? dumb it yourself?
this is stupid. why would anyone what to do this?
It's different and looked like fun...
and now we all know what it looks like. Someone thought of it and followed through on the project.
I would be surprised if he actually bought all those iPads. So what if he did. He's experimenting with another kind of light and showing us what it's like. Now if I'm somewhere and need light I know of another source that will work. I consider that good info.
Thanks to the photographer and DIYP for passing it along.
You know....
.... I suppose it was an assumed tacit understanding that DIY photography meant doing it for less money. This does fall into the DIY category I guess, though it is no cooler than using an array of lcd screens.
What irks me is this statement...
$4,500. That amount of money can buy you a LOT of lumens in the form of a generic monobloc
Generic? I would not consider a full Elinchrom kit generic, but I guess when you toy around with 9 iPads the term generic becomes relative.
iPads? Meh... iPhone:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhcmbailey/5016466769/in/set-72157625001107...
wilco
Ridiculous, obviously, but wait, did Wilco gave permission to use one of their songs ? They're not even credited at the end of the video.
ugly catchlights.
ugly catchlights.
iPad
With the proper apps you could create some awesome creative lighting effects with this setup.
This application is pretty useless indeed. But iOS rocks hard for developing creative apps.
Haters gonna hate anyway.
RE: andyw715
I agree! Great if you want to play tic tac toe on your corneas... Otherwise stupid beyond belief.
Seems nuts
I don't even think I've seen nine iPads in a room together at one time. Somebody needs to invent light panels about the size of a large lightbox that can be hung on a wall or frame. When you've finished using them, they should be able to be rolled up and transported in cardboard tubes. And they should cost no more than $600 each. Get on to it!
nice one
we tried the same - but using iphone 4's leds as spot light: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZTPDdYlPX4
dumb maybe but gives possibilites...
What if you got some recycled old lcd panels and lit them up white (or whatever colour you wanted) and shot with that. Dumb down the electronics and the price and you may have something here...
What's with all the ranting?
What's with all the ranting? For sure this might not be practical. And I personally would not use iPads as light source aswell.
But photography is about fun and creativity. And these guys for sure had fun and were creative. Well I personally watched the clip and it inspired me to try out 2-3 ideas that came to mind while watching.
Thanks for the inspiration!
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