Why We Invested In A Monitor

Hey friends! I hope your weekend is off to a great start. I just had a couple of cocktails myself so I think it's safe to say that mine definitely is! I'm excited to share this post with you all because investing in a monitor is one of the best decisions I could have ever made for myself, my back, and my eyes quite frankly. Since we purchased this bad boy, I legitimately feel like I can't live without it. Sort of like how we feel about Capture One, haha! I actually think I stay longer at my office simply because my monitor is here and I don't enjoy working without one anymore. Crazy right? Having a monitor is a true game-changer for so many reasons and I wanted to share a few of them in this post so keep reading for all the deets.

Photo Retouching

This one's a bit of a no brainer but I figured I would touch on this reason first because I can't tell you how amazing it is to edit images using a much larger screen. To be honest, I can't believe that I edited all of our work with my old 13 inch MacBook Pro for the first 2 years and a half of our business. I'm cringing now just thinking about it and although I upgraded to a 16 inch not too long, I still would much rather edit our work using my 32 inch monitor. It has become by actual baby. Well, more like my second baby after my 5D Mark III. 

Anyway, using a monitor to edit our work has been life-changing. I can see detail more clearly, edit my images more accurately, and somehow using a monitor increases the enjoyment I have for retouching which is INSANE for me. If any of you happen to read some of my early blog posts on our website, you'd know that editing isn't my favorite part of photography. Although, I would have to say I feel differently about that now simply because I love the images (and gifs) I'm retouching so much that it's become sort of therapeutic. My point is, editing wasn't always my favorite thing in the world but now it's become this really fun process. There's nothing quite like seeing your work large-scale. I mean, it's sort of this larger than life vibe, you know? 

Tethered Shoots

You know what's better than using Capture One to shoot tethered? Having a monitor to shoot tethered with. It is the BEST, you guys. No more squinting (well maybe a little for me because I have horrible eyesight) at your laptop because you've got this large monitor to look at now. Using the live view feature (on Capture One) while using a monitor has been really great for our shoot workflow. We can catch details so much more quickly and it's just overall a way better shooting experience when you can see what you're styling on a much larger screen. This is especially nice when you've got clients on site and everyone can see what's going on comfortably without huddling over a tiny laptop. Also, it just looks v professional.

Posture

One of the major reasons I'm so glad we invested in this monitor is that I simply have better posture when I'm using it. Most monitors tend to have some sort of base or stand that raises the screen so that you're not viewing it downwards (like you would a laptop) but more at an eye-level. Because of this, I sit more upright, my eyes are level with the screen, and I'm not hunching over the way I used to when I was just using my regular old laptop. Since I'm retouching images (or editing our podcast) for hours on end and clearly not getting any younger, the way I treat my body is super important to me these days. For this reason, I love using my monitor because it allows me to edit comfortably and forces me to practice better posture.

I've been slowly trying to convince Elle that she needs a monitor too. We'll see if she makes the jump but I truly hope that this offered a bit of insight into some of the reasons why we decided to invest in a monitor. As someone who is not super great with all the technical stuff, I didn't want to get too into the specifications about monitors because it's. A. WHOLE. THING. Besides, there are way better blog posts out there about what to consider when purchasing a monitor (like this one) but I'll keep it super brief. We have the LG 32" Class Ultrafine 4K UHD LED Monitor. This monitor is in our Amazon shop if you are interested in checking it out. It's a pretty penny but it came as a recommendation by our friend Lizzie Darden who is also a creative product photographer. 

Monitors are not a one size fits all but like many products out there, quality definitely comes at a price. It will be an investment but when you think about how often you'll be staring at this screen retouching images, then you'll want to make sure you're making the right choice. In the article I linked above, the author of the post said this about choosing the right monitor and I wanted to share that with you here because it's SO well said:

"I know it seems like a lot to think about when shopping for a display for photo editing, but it’s important to note that most people will spend more time sitting in front of their display driving good-quality color images than they will sitting in their cars.

So, it seems to me that we should invest time in researching quality displays, just as as we would research our next vehicle purchases.

It’s important to buy something to protect the health of our eyeballs, give us the best possible results, with the most pleasant working experience. What we save by buying a bargain display now could have a good chance of being spent with ophthalmologists in the future." - Justin Bodin.

Mic drop.

But in all seriousness, we hope you enjoyed this post and feel free to chat in the Slack channel and ask questions about monitors in the equipment section. Would love to hear if you've been wanting to get one yourself. 

Is it the weekend yet?
Arabela