# Commercial shoot inside MRI room.



## RMThompson (Aug 28, 2012)

Posting this picture to share a story about one of the most difficult places I've ever had to shoot in, an MRI room! This is actually the second time I had to shoot inside an MRI room, and this particular shot wasn't really "inside" the room, but close enough to make everything difficult.

There is tape on the ground that indicates when you're too close to the MRI, also, that big silver bar thing with a green light (one of the products I was shooting for) is an advanced metal detector and go off whenever any metal is moving near it. 

Of course ALL of my photograph equipment is metal, so it makes things interesting. If you get TOO close to the MRI the shutter speed can be effected, and that means the insides of the camera might be damaged. 

Anyway it was pretty crazy. For this shot, I had an assistant holding a flash on the inside of the room out of frame with a diffuser on it. I WISH I could've put an umbrella or softbox in the room but there wasn't enough space. The point of the shot is to show an MRI-safe wheelchair going inside the room with the green light ON, rather than off for a non-mri-safe wheelchair!


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## Parker219 (Aug 28, 2012)

Considering the conditions, IMO great job! :thumbup:


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## Heitz (Aug 28, 2012)

I feel like the subject in this shot is the MRI, not the chair.


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## photospherix (Aug 28, 2012)

I have to agree with Heitz. Until I read the message, I was thinking it was a great shot of the MRI on location.


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## tirediron (Aug 28, 2012)

Not perhaps the way I would have done it, but I think it works.


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## Christie Photo (Aug 28, 2012)

Heitz said:


> I feel like the subject in this shot is the MRI, not the chair.



Oh...  I dunno.  Perhaps it's hard to appreciate here online, but I think the MRI is soft enough to keep attention on the foreground.
I do wish, however, that you correct the key-stoning since the detector is important.  Perhaps you can "bring down" the levels in the room a bit.

Good goin'.

-Pete


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## Jaemie (Aug 28, 2012)

RMThompson said:


> The point of the shot is to show an MRI-safe wheelchair going inside the room with the green light ON, rather than off for a non-mri-safe wheelchair!



Then, why doesn't the composition include more than just the smallest glimpse of a wheelchair? From what little is visible, it could be any type of wheelchair, MRI or non-MRI. Perhaps a wider lens would have helped?

It sounds like a challenging assignment with that tight space and a strong magnetic field. Aside from the question about the wheelchair, I think this is a good image.


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## RMThompson (Aug 28, 2012)

Thanks guys, for what it's worth I doubt this particular image will even make the campaign. I used it on my site as a sample of the commercial work because it has SEVERAL products.

See the MRI safe monitor in front of the MRI? I do work for that company, this picture would be more suited for them (it was a joint shoot with that company and the metal detector company, hence the two logos). I have several images of this series of the MRI Wheelchair coming about. I also have this one that shows a sample for the company and an action shot of the red lights (and shows the previous shot pre-photoshop!)








When I do these types of commercial shoots the marketing guys come in with SPECIFIC shots in mind and we try to get them as close as possible. Last time I shot with them they had the entire thing storyboarded before I got there and I just lit the shot and snapped the photo.


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## Parker219 (Aug 28, 2012)

^ Could they have that guy stand still so the red box is not blurry? We would still get that he is going in the door. I understand they are going for that motion blurr, but to me it is very distracting. Just my thoughts. If they like it, thats all that counts I guess.


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## kundalini (Aug 28, 2012)

I'm a site planner (Angio, Cardio & CT) for Siemens Medical Solutions imaging equipment and thought you were touting our equipment.  

I'm not sure the metal detector company would be over-the-moon with their equipment shown skewed at the doorway.


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## RMThompson (Aug 28, 2012)

kundalini said:


> I'm a site planner (Angio, Cardio & CT) for Siemens Medical Solutions imaging equipment and thought you were touting our equipment.
> 
> I'm not sure the metal detector company would be over-the-moon with their equipment shown skewed at the doorway.



Ah, no the companies I work with aren't associated with Siemens, although they work with these machines a lot as you would guess.

As for the tilt, this, again, is not a final for their campaign, but rather sort of a tear for my portfolio that has both products in it at once, and trust me there are dozens of this shot from every angle lol. One thing I've learned about commercial work is to capture as MUCH as possible!


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## Steve5D (Aug 29, 2012)

If the photo is to tout the attributes of an MRI safe wheelchair, you absolutely have to include more of the wheelchair. Period. Everything about the picture screams "LOOK AT THE MRI MACHINE!"


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## 2WheelPhoto (Aug 29, 2012)

Nice pics.  To nitpic for the sake of forum critique -

In the second shot the red box catches the eye such as the aperture is too wide or shutter too slow.  Also without looking at exif it appears distorted, and the second thing that catches the eye is a door that appears to be jumping at me.  Lots of waste on the left. Perhaps shooting in portrait mode may have made the pic better all around?


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## Ballistics (Aug 29, 2012)

The distortion in the first picture is pretty bad. Unless that MRI sign is just crooked and that pole is bent. Looks sloppy.


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## RMThompson (Aug 30, 2012)

2WheelPhoto said:


> Nice pics.  To nitpic for the sake of forum critique -
> 
> In the second shot the red box catches the eye such as the aperture is too wide or shutter too slow.  Also without looking at exif it appears distorted, and the second thing that catches the eye is a door that appears to be jumping at me.  Lots of waste on the left. Perhaps shooting in portrait mode may have made the pic better all around?



The blur was photoshopped, lol, it's not actual motion blur. 

Also, the empty space is required in these shoots as the graphic designer (who is responsible for further editing) will put some sort of a haze over the image and add text, other images, etc. Again, these shots were well planned out by the company I was shooting for.


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## ClickAddict (Aug 30, 2012)

For those of you not familiar with how powerful an MRI's magnetic field is and think he might be exagerating, when I started at the hospital here they showed a video of a wrench, let go from about 6 feet away being pulled to the machine fast enough to shatter a brick.  check here for some more examples: Breaking Stuff With an MRI Machine and a Wrench &bull; VideoSift: Online Video *Quality Control

And as for the emphasis on the MRI machine rather than the detector, if it's in a publication regarding the detectors, people will be drawn to it.  Sort of like an ad for car tires.  You can show the whole car because even if the composition is not centered on the tires, if the title on the page says "Bridgstone All season......" people will look at the tires. Even though the picture on it's own might screem "Look at the car".


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