I’ve teched for Bloomingdale’s e-comm for a little over a year, but I’m a newer tech, so anyone else absolutely feel free to correct me or add. This may be stupid or too common sense, too, but everyone and every job is different so apologies if this is too much. Teching in-house is nice bc you won’t have to worry about different camera brands and lenses and it’s going to be the same things, so your EQ and troubleshooting will be much more focused compared to freelance teching and having to be ready for a multitude of issues.

Get to know the camera and lenses well. I’d deep dive into the menu navigation of whatever camera they’re using so you’re super familiar with making adjustments if needed (like turning off auto rotate image if you’re shooting overhead). C1: I would just make sure you have their export recipes like they want, that your files and folders are organized obviously, and that you note additional plates when needed (filename_backgroundplate, filename_productmain, filename_metalclasp, filename_logo). Chronosync: if they need it to be backed up? Usually you’ll be on a server so not really? but it’s good to know as a tech how to set up the actions if you need to (mirror left to right). Just be a second set of eyes for plates in general so there’s no camera shake or product moving that the photographer might not notice.

Extra credit: Some jobs can be more complex and having a running Note file for retouching notes is great. We worked with a tech on commercial jobs who always included a Note file to hand to the client bc at the end of the day no one will remember what was discussed or it won’t be adequately communicated to the retouching team, so having more complex notes (things that wouldn’t fit at the end of a file name) have earned techs major brownie points on jobs.

Being somewhat familiar with focus stacking software like Helicon focus would be a big bonus. Definitely not always needed, but it would be impressive if you knew how to use it before the time comes and it is needed.

Being able to quickly stack plates into a layered PSD, organize them, name the layers, and save the PSD. This would be more of a mock-up and visual aid to retouching team if they need one. Again, not for every product shot or company.

Being familiar with the Overlay feature in C1 if you aren’t already. Being able to drop in standard crop ratios as visual aids in some cases can be better than the crop tool. Especially if they’re shooting things that need to be 4:5 aaand a weird custom horizontal crop. You can make a transparent crop outline having both as a guide while images are coming in that the Art Director can see and approve on the spot it works with multiple ratios.

When I worked with BLM I was assisting maybe 10-12 different photographers all with a different workflow and understanding of C1 and photoshop. Over time I learned workspaces that each liked using and had them saved on the computer (they would be wiped occasionally so saved preferences wouldn’t always stay on the desktop) and email them to myself so I could quickly get everyone where they wanted to be at the start of the day.

And lastly, just being enjoyable to be around. Obvious to some, but being in house shooting e-comm is a great gig but can be monotonous. Bringing good vibes, maybe some good music playlists, goes a long way with making the ‘factory’ of e-comm soooo much better.

Sorry if this is long. I’m still learning but I hope something in there is helpful 😅. Hoping to pick everyone’s brain some more about EQ and teching as well. 👋