Assisting My First Catalog Shoot

Peter Dokus Photography was hired to shoot a catalog for Hudson Jeans company. That’s where I came in. They were in need of a “digital tech.” Weapon of choice was the Hasselblad with a P45 Back, tethered to the MacBook Pro, and the program of choice was Capture One Pro by Phase One. I had no experience with this camera, so I had to learn quickly. What’s cool about these cameras is that you can change everything from F.stop, to shutter speed, to ISO all on the tethered program, without even touching the camera.

My main job was to file name every different pair of jeans so they are easy to differ from; as they are being shot. That’s the hard part. When I am doing that, I also need to check the focus on all the shots to make sure that we were not “blurring out” the jeans. Then, last but not least, change out lenses, batteries, handle any and all malfunctions with lighting, camera, and computer problems. Trust me, on a shoot, not everything is perfect, but it was my job to worry about these things not the photographer’s. That’s the beauty of having a photo assistant.

After a 10-hour day of shooting, I had to take care of the entire wrap up: roll up anything that had a cord, cover packs and heads, roll up the seamless, break down the high rollers and C-Stands, and take apart the camera. After that, the slow and painful part that turned the 10 hour day into a 12 hour day: the client and I had to go through 3000 shots and choose 1000 shots. I have never said “how about this one” or “this one’s good” so much in my life. I said it enough to last two lifetimes.

I learned a lot that day.

Genesis Test Shoot

My friend, Genesis agreed to pose for a test shoot so I could do an assignment for Peter to give me photo advice and to teach me how to process RAW photos with the program Capture One Pro. It was shot at the L.A. Lofts, Loft 1.

Working at The L.A Lofts

What I learn at the Lofts in a week or a month is more than 3 years at an art school and $90,000 less than I would owe in tuition. Every day, I meet new and important people, and I get a chance to work with the best. The good thing about working with the best is you learn from the best. Before I came to the studio, I didn’t even know the basics! What is a “C-stand”? What is a “Pack”? What is a “Head”? I knew nothing about grip equipment. Nothing about camera equipment or basic lighting. I came to Hollywood thinking I was going to be a photographer, when really a photographer is just a small portion of what I want to do in the industry. When you limit yourself to one profession, that closes you out to many other sources of income and experience.

For example, my boss, Peter Dokus is a commercial photographer, photo tech, and studio owner. I have never seen a photographer bust his ass as much as this guy. He taught me that being a photographer takes a long time. You don’t start from the top, you work your way up from the bottom!

It was not what I wanted to hear, but he has a point. Yeah, I am starting out cleaning toilets, cleaning the studio, and doing all the work that no one else wants to do. But it builds a respect for the industry and it makes the “higher ups” notice my hard work. Being exposed to the experienced people helps me learn what I can, where I can.

Small Timer Working for A Big Timer

This was my second gig working under Lou Cabales (Tech). All he told me was that everyone you will see at this shoot is important in the movie industry. I had no idea what he meant so I just went with it. I started out by carting all the equipment in my Jeep: c-stands, sandbags, seamless, medium rollers, gaffers tape, film, medium format camera, packs & heads, oh yeah, and me. My Jeep was filled to the top with everything we needed and then some.

My destination was a big mansion in Beverly Hills. As soon as I got there, I had to lug everything up a flight of 90-degree-angled stairs. That took me about a good 20 minutes. After that, I had to organize our equipment for the shoot, set up the seamless on 2 c-stands, power up the packs & heads, and set up our Elenchrome on a boom arm set on a medium roller, so it can be moved easily. The weapon of choice was a Mamiya with a film and Polaroid back. I have never used this camera before but I learned very quickly. I didn’t understand why there was a Polaroid back, but it’s much like digital but a slower process. Instead of looking at the LCD screen you look at a Polaroid and base your actual shot off the Polaroid. Then you switch to film. I consider that the old fashioned way now!

We got the lighting right and a proper exposure then the photographer popped in. It’s Brett Ratner. For those of you who don’t know who he is, click on the link. You have the option to find out about this person. I didn’t have that advantage; instead, I was working next to someone I didn’t even know. I later found out Brett was the director for the films Rush Hour 1, 2, and 3; XMEN 3; Red Dragon, and The Family Man. Those are just the films he did 1997-2007. Ok, I’m done getting carried away now.

So, Brett comes up to me and says, “You need to hold the camera steady for me.” In my mind, I wondered: Why am I holding the camera and the tripod is just sitting there? Oh well, so for 20 minutes of shooting I was a human tripod. “Hold steady, asshole,” he said. My arm was shaking and I felt like I couldn’t hold it much longer, but I sucked it up and just kept switching hands. I must say, it felt like torture during the shoot, but for some reason I enjoyed it. It made me feel important. Who would run to get everything he needed? Nobody. Just me.

After this day, I learned how to use medium format cameras, set up lighting in a house, and be a human tripod. I consider that a good day!