Shooting Tethered at the creativeLIVE Studio

1: USB Booster Extension Cable

There are a lot of USB extension cables out there that you could chain together to reach say 50', but unless you're using a booster extension cable like this one by Iogear, you probably won't get USB 2.0 speeds. Iogear says you can daisy chain these cables to reach a USB device up to 75' away, but if you're crafty you can probably go a little further to reach 96'. I'll admit, in most wired tethered shooting scenarios you're going to be within 60' or even 30' of your computer so just one or two boosters will work, but come on - 96 feet! In practice I've ran into very few speed issues with long USB cable runs at or under 80' though at lengths of 96' and longer there is a slight delay.

2: 16' USB Cable 

The next piece of the puzzle is the cable that goes from the extenders to the camera. What you're looking for here is a 16' USB 2.0 Male A to Male Mini B cable. They typically go for around $30 online and they'll last you if you treat them well. Moral of the story here is look for a quality cable that isn't more than you need (like a $70 super durable high flex gold cable) and isn't a cheep and thin it'll-do-for-now cable.

3: Jerk Stopper

This one is optional, but I highly recommend it. Tether Tools makes this handy little device that saves your camera from having the USB cable ripped or torn out of your USB port on your camera. You could also use this for your HDMI cables running out of your camera like we did during our Glamour Photography workshop with Sue Bryce.

And that's it! Everything you need to know for a simple and effective solution for tethered shooting 32' - 64' from your computer. If you want to dig further into the world of Studio Tethering I totally recommend checking out Tether Tools at http://www.tethertools.com/. 

I'll be posting about geeky tech-related things from time to time in the future, so if there's anything you want me to cover let's chat about it on the forums.