Magazine Shoot …My first offical gig!

My boss Peter D. gave me my first official job in the studio. A magazine article needed professional shots of two young country singers. Peter scheduled me as the photographer and his studio manager, Ian, as my tech. It was a little awkward at first because they are both my bosses!

Well, I got over that little hump. It was time to be professional. Ian helped me set up a 10-foot white seamless near the window so we could shoot natural light. My weapon of choice was the Cannon 5D with a 50mm lens tethered to a dual screen Mac Pro. Oh yeah, whipping out the big guns! Then the big question came up from the producer: “So how are we going to shoot this?” That was a big reality check. You know those Twix commercials when an interesting situation comes up and the world pauses so you can think and eat a Twix? Well, this was NOT one of those moments. Out of nowhere I blurted out all these different ideas: bust out the cowboy hats, the guitars, the plaid shirts, and lets get shooting. I pose them all over the white seamless. I can do this! I did some creative shots with a super wide angle lens to distort the picture in a creative way.

Time to switch outfits and background. Oh yeah, forgot to mention we had about 5 different sets in the studio for a good variety. The next set was my favorite; it was a textured gray concrete wall in the studio. Everyone that shoots in the studio loves this wall; it has a great look to it and it can be used for almost anything!

After they changed into another outfit, I had them posed leaning against the wall, standing a little in front of the wall, and sitting against the wall. The wide angle lens works perfect for this; I can make the wall look endless like an alley or like the corner of a recording studio. Every shot I thought was a good shot.

So, we move on through the day with three more sets. We got what we wanted and wrapped up around 5pm. I thought it was over, well it was over for them, but not for Ian and me. We sat at the computer for 4 hours editing down pictures and filing them into folders so it was easier to edit. We didn’t finish. We had about 2000 pictures and got them down to about 700, but we still only needed 10 pictures for the article. It took us about 2 more days to finish the editing. We finally had our 10 pictures edited and ready to be sent out.

It was a great experience to run my own paid shoot. I felt important like everyone was depending on me to get the job done, which was the case! I learned that I didn’t have to take so many pictures of the same thing. It only makes it harder later during the editing.

I will have pictures posted from this shoot soon!

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.

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!

Working with One of the Best Assistants in the Commercial World

Working at The LA Lofts has endless advantages, not only do I have access to a studio when there is no rental, and use of camera and grip equipment, the contacts I make are the biggest thing! The first contact I made was with professional assistant/photographer: Lou Cabales. This guy has talent. He has a method to everything that makes the job easier. He taught me the basics of being an assistant for production shoots, magazine shoots, and some catalog shoots as well. Everything from the organization of equipment, to methods of unloading equipment, to being able to think of what the photographer needs even before the photographer knows.

With that said, he put me on my first job! I was a “third assistant grip.” The job was for a popular LA based magazine and the photographer was Kurt Iswarienko a fashion/commercial photographer from West Hollywood. The talent we were shooting was Patrick Dempsey at The Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. I didn’t know we were shooting Patrick until he came up from behind me and hopped into the set! At first, I was a little starstruck and for about a good ten minuets I couldn’t remember his name to save my life.

Then it was time to work. I had to haul about 15 highrollers, 20 c-stands, 10 packs and 10 heads up a flight of stairs. It took the other two assistants and I about a good half an hour to finish that up. After we hauled up all the grip equipment, it was time for breakfast compliments of Kurt, the photographer we were assisting. After that, there was some down time for all the assistants to hang out and talk while the photographer and digital tech set up the camera and the “look.” About an hour goes by and it’s time to work, holding reflectors, changing stops on the packs, running around grabbing whatever the photographer needs when he is shooting. About 2 hours of the same thing over and over again. The shoot is wrapped up, it was time to break down all the grip and haul it down to the grip truck.

What I learned from this shoot was that an assistant is required to have the following attatched to him at all times: sharpie pen, non-slip gloves, ballpoint pen, sharp knife, 6 gaffers tape strips stuck to your shirt, and a pad of paper. That is a standard pack, sometimes other accessories are required that are unique to every shoot. I also learned that it is important to always be moving, staying busy, and never talk during the shoot unless you are away from the photographer.

Olympic Volleyball Player Magazine Shoot Assisting for Todd Stone

Todd Stone, is a professional photographer that is partnered with Peter Dokus at the LA Lofts. Peter introduced me to him as an intern and suggested that I work with him on any shoots he has locally. And he already had something for me. A location shoot in Laguna Beach for a sports magazine, shooting an Olympic gold medalist for volleyball. Todd wanted me to be a Tech/grip assistant for the shoot. My job was to upload the cf card to the computer and file each look in a different folder, at the same time checking sharpness, and keeping the packs & heads running and out of the sand and water.

When I got there, we unpacked, I set up the lighting and the camera as well as the laptop. We did some test shots then got shooting. We set up a dive shot. It required us to be close to the water with the equipment so I had to be careful about where things electronic were placed. After that shot, we went to a sand court and he did some action shots.

After the shoot, we packed up everything and I headed home.