workstation, digital, LaCie, Wacom, tablet, MacBook Pro, laptop
Portable Digital Workstation
10/Jan/2010 02:30 PM
Taking the lead from photographer Chase Jarvis, I have put together a portable digital workstation. At Murder City Photography, we use this station for on-site shoots and can get instant pre-approval from our clients saving time and reshoots. Our workstation includes a Pelican 1490 hard case with a foam interior. We went with foam because of superior shock protection it gives over the fitted laptop insert. We use a 15" MacBook Pro (4Gb RAM, 320Gb Hard Drive) as our workstation and loaded it with Literoom 3 beta as a front end to Photoshop CS4, Photo Mechanic, Nikon View, and the entire NIK suite of programs. We shoot tethered to the workstation using Sofortbild.
To the left of the laptop we store a surge protector. Under the laptop we store a 250Gb LaCie shock mounted hard drive. It connects to the laptop via Firewire 800 cable. The foam is notched on the side so the cable can connect to the laptop and everything stays in the case. The hard drive is attached to the case by velcro. The other bay is where the power supply is stored or sometimes an additional 250Gb hard drive.
In the top pockets are stored blank DVDs for instant deliveries, cables for drives etc., and a Wacom "Bamboo" graphics tablet with mouse. I personally would rather use the mouse than the onboard laptop track pad. The top right pocket holds a card reader and pens, pencils, etc.
This system has proved invaluable to our operation. The ability to provide real time previews to clients during a shoot is both reassuring to client and ourselves. We know we have the results we want before we leave the shoot and many times we are able to deliver the finished product to the client by the time we are packed and ready to leave. A great savings on time and delivery expense.