Drop Shots is a remote workplace solution that allows clients to take part in and collaborate on photo shoots virtually and in real-time via a low-latency view through the lens of the photographer’s camera.

Developed by the agency Hayden5 for use with its photographers, Drop Shots is touted as a high-quality photography capture and remote collaboration product that plugs brands, agencies, and publishers directly into a photographer’s camera and set to allow them to work collaboratively from anywhere.

Drop Shots is deployed with a Set Link, Crew Cam, and Witness Cam as well as access to a Live Gallery feed. The Set Link is Hayden5’s name for its live, low-latency view through the photographer’s lens and provides clients with a view of exactly what the photographer is seeing through the electronic viewfinder. The Crew Cam is a link to a smartphone camera that is pointed at the photographer and crew so that clients can get a view for what is happening on the other side of the lens.

The Witness Cam is a third vantage point provided by a second smartphone camera that is a wide view and Hayden5 says it allows clients to know exactly what is happening on the entire set.

These feeds are provided to the client through a single interface along with a link to the Live Gallery which uploads images as they are captured.

“First there was the darkroom, then file uploads, and now we’re operating in real-time,” Todd Wiseman Jr, Co-Founder and Creative Director at Hayden5 says.

“There’s no more waiting for feedback. Everyone can see what’s happening as it happens. The photographer and production team can be in LA and the client can be on their laptop or desktop in London, and still see every moment and every frame in real-time.”

Hayden5 demonstrates the Drop Shots product through photographer Karl Ferguson Jr. in the video below.

http://https://vimeo.com/700961004

Ferguson Jr. used the system both in a studio and on location as the company says that the system’s “proprietary mobile workflow” allows for the same level of remote collaboration in a portable package. The company says the functionality of the mobile system is based on its remote video production service, Crew+.

The company believes that because Drop Shots allows photographers to work with clients in different cities, it expands the talent pool of photographers for clients who don’t want to bear the cost of international travel, which means photographers who are local to cities clients want to shoot in can be worked with directly through the virtual system.

As noted, this system is made for Haden5’s in-house photographers that it as an agency manages. That might be good news for many photographers, as this level of over-the-shoulder micro-management might be abused by some clients who could spend more time interrupting a shoot than improving it.

Originally published here.