Aviation Photographer Jason Burt Reviews the Air Direct

Posted by: on Apr 02, 2020

Aviation Photographer Jason Burt Reviews the Air Direct
Photo Credit: Jason Burt

We sat down with commercial, headshot and aviation photographer Jason Burt on his first impression and subsequent experience with the Air Direct and how it’s become an integral piece of his workflow in achieving that perfect shot-whether on location or in the studio. 

For Jason, his decision to purchase the Air Direct was based on research and prior experience with Tether Tools’ solutions. 

“I mainly chose the Air Direct for its speed and the support and quality of other Tether Tools products. I looked at the competitor but the internal antenna rather than external ones to get broken off was a game changer.”  

Photo Credit: Jason Burt

In addition, he was excited to see the Air Direct’s “quality construction of the product itself. Love that it included quality cables, the charger and a USB power cable.” 

When we asked what the best features were of the Air Direct, Jason was quick to reply. 

“Speed and robust connections. It’s much faster than the previous units I’ve used. Battery life is great.” 

Jason’s primary cameras are the Nikon D850 and D3X and his primary tethering software being Lightroom. But that software changed when he purchased the Air Direct Wireless Tethering System. Jason switched to Smart Shooter after his Air Direct purchase.  

“I can’t say enough good things about the Smart Shooter software either. I, like others, have macOS Catalina so Lightroom won’t tether with this setup. Currently, I got the trial of Smart Shooter and was instantly impressed.” 

Photo Credit: Jason Burt

Seeing as the Air Direct is engineered for mobility, we were curious to find out what kind of jobs Jason had in mind when using the Air Direct.  

“I do some seasonal volume photography like dance schools and Santa pictures. I’m most excited about incorporating the speed and reliability of the Air Direct in these areas. For dance schools, we shoot several nights in a row and tether to the laptop where my assistant enters the orders into the software as the images are imported. For Santa pictures, we tether to a laptop and print on site, so speed is key there too. 

There are not many jobs I wouldn’t use the Air Direct on. Some of my assignments are quick, down and dirty and I don’t tether at all, but most anything else I take the time to shoot to a laptop for better control. My primary work is photographing private and executive jets. I love the iPad interface for doing this; however, speed and range aren’t as important as I shoot RAW to the camera card and small JPEGS to the iPad for quick review.  I’m never more than about 10 feet from the camera while shooting these.” 

Photo Credit: Jason Burt

We then asked Jason what improvements he’d like to see in the Air Direct.  

“The size… as technology advances, I’m sure it can be made smaller… that’s my favorite part of the Case Air is the tiny size. I understand that the antenna and power requirements lead to its size… not a bad size but wish it was smaller.” 

Photo Credit: Jason Burt

However, he didn’t want to end his conversation about the Air Direct on that note. 

“[The Air Direct] was one of the easiest setup processes I’ve had.” 

Jason Burt is a commercial and headshot photographer based in Little Rock, Arkansas. With more than 20 years experience, Jason has been published in many state and local publications, and photographed for many Arkansas-based corporations. In recent years, Jason has focused his career in aviation photography, shooting around 35 aircrafts yearly.