Third Week

My third week at my internship was a hard week with two different long shoot. I took the Monday off because I worked on Saturday at the Gay Pride Festival. So Tuesday was the most important shoot of my internship: shooting Ted Turner with different international journalists invited to hear him speak and get a picture with him. Justin and I photographed the journalists and Ted in his office on Lucky St. in downtown Atlanta. We shot around 9 portraits and broke down our lights (two lights shooting into umbrellas pointed into the corners of the room) and went back to the studio. The rest of the day we got ready for the big shoot for Boomerang, a “tween” network, that involved a lot of planning to get it all done.

The next day we shoot a large production for the “tween” network Boomerang in a neighborhood in East Atlanta called Gordan Parks. The day started at early at 7:30 am with meeting 4 assistants to pack and load up for the day. We arrived at the location and began looking at what we needed for the first set up which included all the pro-b lights (which was the first major time using all the new lights from Profoto equipment) many c-stands, and softboxes. The shoot idea was to create a stop motion look to all the action so each shot had to look seamless with lighting and angle. We started shooting in a spa setting with two other variations. We later went on to eight other locations with 3 variations each which included: outside with golf carts, inside a clothing store, inside a hair salon, outside in and near a fountain, and in the town square. The day was hot, long, and hot but I learned exactly how much goes into a big production for TV and I’m still amazed.

On Thursday in the studio we shot 12 people for ireport.com holding various cameras. Each person needed three different poses so it was easier to know what shots needed to be done and how to accommodate the photographer. Most of the models that were shot for the campaign were employees from image management, which included a photographer, editors, and creative people. I think this was the day where a lot of what I was doing solidified for me and I realized exactly what was expected of me and that I could accomplish it.

Friday of the third week began with another corporate headshot. It was asked of me to come in early to help Jeremy set up. After setting up and breaking it all down, I got to help organize the 2,000+ files from the shoot on Thursday using Capture One Pro. It was a stressful job because if I messed up I would lose a picture that we couldn’t get back exactly how it was. When I finished, Mark went over the metadata process with me. After learning how to enter the file metadata, I organized the large black cabinet kept in the studio. It is the home for the coffee makers, coffee, teas, cds and cd player, plates, cups, mugs, and condiments.

Picture from SLP

Found this picture from my summer internship's website. We shot wrapping paper and wrapped packages. I forgot about this before I came across it.

5 assistants, 3 clients, 2 models, and a partridge in a pear tree

After a week of being away from the Studio helping my sister move to Chicago for graduate school, I was welcomed back with the most responsibility I had yet at my internship. I was in charge of the talent. This meant I had to pick them up at the Highland Inn and transport them to the shoot and then drive them to the airport at the end of the day. The first day of shooting was on August 28 and I arrived to pick up the models at 12:45 pm and then take them down the street 1 mile to a restaurant before 1 pm. As one could imagine I was nervous because I didn't want to look incompetent in front of these women who I helped pick out of a pool of models. The 2 models were very nice and talkative even though I could tell they had a rough night. One was from Brazil and other from LA, both being roughly my age. When I arrived at the shoot the crew was eating and had been working since 7:30 in the morning. They had shot a family barbecuing and apparently the fire, kids, and animals did not behave so most everyone was worn out. Of the 5 assistants there I didn't know 2 of them. Ryan and Keith were there, of course, along with John Herre who I hadn't seen since the NATICK shoot. The last two were Jason Fobart (or J-Fo) who was the digital assistant with a massive rig that included two 22 inch screens attached to a dolly custom made running off of a G5 tower, and Morgan (I never got a last name). Both of these guys I have heard Scott, Ryan, and Keith mention of and apparently all of these guys were the main people who get hired in ATL and it didn't hurt they were some of the nicest guys I have met while interning.
The shoot was great. Although the restaraunt was small there were a ton of people there. There were 2 stylists, 5 assistants (plus me), 2 client reps plus 1 of the client's client rep, studio producer, and 2 models. This was the least number of people. It reminded me of the famous picture that showed Richard Avedon's production crew.
The one thing that stood out to me about this shoot is how everyone had a job to do while the photographer did what he needed to do. Scott told me that sometimes the photographer has "tunnel vision". He/She wants a certain shot and sees it a certain way and when it doesn't work they get frustrated and needs people to help him pull back and see a way to solve the problem or start all over again.
I didn't really do much other than stand around and if I saw something that needed to be done I did it. I did everything from picking up trash and taking it out to moving things that will be in the shot and helping move lights. I tried not to be in the way of the assistants because I didn't want to step on any toes. Kyle, an assistant told me to always stay near the photographer so if they need something you are there to do it. So that is what I did. I also helped out Callie with ice and drinks. I just did anything I thought would help. After leaving taking the models to the airport I went back to the shoot to help and then left at 7:15 pm. Ready for the next day.
I arrived at the site of the next shoot the next day at 9:45 am after stopping to pick up some bananas on the way there. Again the site was very close to the Studio, about 1.5 miles. It was a huge 3 story house in the middle of Five Points on Euclid Ave. When I got there they had been shooting the first shot of 2 little girls playing musical instruments for 45 minutes. After watching the kids go from cute to rambuncious to cute and then obnoxious we set-up another shot for the kids to be making cookies. Scott mainly used the Keno and the Parabeam with this shoot more then the first day. The Keno and Parabeam are like a cross between softboxes and continuous lights with grid spots on them. He used these lights along this strobes to get a natural lighting situation, like he always does. Those shots went without a hitch and soon it was time for me to pick up another model. So I drove to the Highland Inn and picked her up at 12:15 pm and drove her to the house. She was immediately placed into makeup while the rest of the crew and I ate lunch. It was then time for the family shots. Both of the family shots were going great until it started to rain when we were shooting at the garage. We had some power problems with the computer and lights plugged into the same circuit and had to remedy that problem. Then it started to sprinkle so we moved everything into the garage. It then began to pour so we moved some of the shots to the front porch only using the sun, which was peaking through the clouds and one white reflector and a silver reflector. This was improvised because the other shot was not possible with the rain. Scott was able to pull away from the other shot to focus on another while the first shot was not possible. He managed to work through his tunnel vision. The shoot ended with me driving the model to the airport at 7:30 pm.

Table Clothes and Publix

Today, Aug 17th, I arrived at the Studio to help out Iain (the other photographer that rents a place in Scott's loft ). Iain mainly is known for his natural lighting of food photography and is from London. I was on as the second assistant and Kip was the first. I mainly watched everything that they did and talked to as many people as I could to find out what they did to get where they are. There were 2 food stylists, Angie and Adam (he was her assistant), and a prop stylist who brought 3 large tables full of stuff. After waiting around alot for the food to get prepared. I was sent to pick-up breakfast at a restaurant just down the road called Belly's General Store. When I got back and placed the food on a table for everyone to enjoy, I was asked to go downstairs in storage to get two rubbermaid buckets of table clothes for the shoot. After Iain picked out the one he liked with the least amount of stains he asked me to iron it. It was a good think I know how to iron, thanks mom. While waiting on the food to be cooked I noticed that Iain has a small research library filled with magazines like PDN, BON APETITE, DONNA HAY, and GOURMET. After I went to pick up lunch from Surin and Fellini's we went back to photographing food. We photographed blueberry cobbler, cookies, cakes, chicken salade and other receipies that someone designed for PUBLIX and we were photographing them for newspaper and magazine print. The chef also dropped by to see how the shoot was going and offered his input. I also helped by naming and organizing the files after capture (with Kip showing me how to use capture one) and flagging and masking the lighting rig. After photographing 8 of the 13 or so products the crew decided to stop because they were also going to shoot the next day. I left the studio at 6:47 pm.

Break and Lighting Set-up

On August 16th I was back in the studio after a week off. Scott was in New York for his birthday and to show his book around to clients. I was able to go home and spend time with my family and a friend of my going away to school in Texas. When I got to the studio at 1 pm I was asked again to go to Staples and buy an industrial 3-hole punch because the other broke. Upon returning to the studio I helped Callie with the model packets and wrote out an email with the model's name, sizes, and what part they were in the shoot (i.e. "white woman", "coffee girl"). After finishing that task, and Scott not being back in the studio, Callie left and Iain asked to help him set up his lighting rig for his food shoot the next day. While getting ready for him I shot pictures around the studio with my camera. Iain and I set up his lighting situation for the next day shoot with a table, with a strobe on the floor pointing up with a soft box aimed toward the ceiling, white poster board set at a 90 degree angle to bounce the flash forward, a diffusion box, a sheet of diffusion paper, and then two pieces of white foam core to bounce the flash back. He set up his computer next to the rig with his Hasselblad EL/M with a Phase One back tethered to his computer running Capture One. We left the studio after photographing 2 apples on a plate and he was happy with the results. I left at 5:45 pm.

Doc Chey's and Layer Masks

On August 8th at the Studio I arrived at 10:30 am and was asked to turn around and get ink for a CMYK printer in the office. I got the model number of the printer and ink cartridge and this time I went to Office Max on Ponce. They also wanted my to drive to Sam Flax for 5 rolls of self-adhesive linen tape for Scott's Ad book. Upon returning it was lunch time and I got everyone's order and went to Doc Chey's, an oriental restaurant, for the order just down the street on N Highland. After returning and consuming the meal, Scott showed me how to retouch on a file so that he can remove what I did on each file by using a layer mask. I worked on 10 files taken for the NATICK shoot back on August 2nd. He let me go retouching hair, dirt, and imperfections with the file. That took at least 4 hours and then everyone in the studio left around 5pm.

Availibility and Staples

Today on August 7th I was at the studio from 1 to 5 pm. I arrived at the studio to Scott and Ryan working to get things done from the last shoot and to get ready for on next shoot coming up on August 28 and 29th. Callie needed some things from Staples so I left for that. I could not find an Staples close enough so I went to Office Depot and purchased a recycle bin, light bulbs, and printer paper. I also went to the bank to deposit some checks for Scott. After returning, Callie was upset that I didn't go to Staples but I assured her I got the same exact paper, just a different package. I then helped with model availability sheets for the upcoming shoot. I wrote down the models names in order on the table from front to back in piles (front of the table was the ones Scott really liked, the next pile back was not as much liked, etc). I also wrote down price, agency affiliated with, and if they were available. I also talked with Iain about working with him on the 17th.

Pictures from Aug 2 Shoot

August 3 and Pre-visualization

On Friday Aug 3^rd I came into the studio at 10:30 in the morning. I talked to Scott about the shoot the day before. We talked about how he pre-visualized the images and then knew how to shoot them. Afterwards, I put some boxes into storage downstairs and put the leftover drinks from the coolers into the fridge. I talked to Matt, the food photographer assistant, about what all he does to help Iain. He is about my age and went to school for photography as well.

I left the studio at noon.

August 2 and Photoshoot

I arrived at the studio on August 2^nd at 7 in the morning. Since Callie was at the shoot - house to get the keys, I had to pick up 6 bags of ice for the 3 colors filled with bottled water, Red Bull, assorted soft drinks, and Gatorade. There were 3 assistants at the shoot this time and they were Keith Martin, Ryan Flynn, and John Herre . . .plus me.

We unloaded everything once arriving at the house. The owners were out of town so we had the place to ourselves. We began putting everything together in, or working from, the driveway. This included all the stands, strobes, digital workstation (with laptop and large screen) and tripod.

The first shot was set up in front of the house with the large softbox to the right. The model was standing on the front porch so Scott had to stand on a ladder. The second shot was inside of the house in the living room with the model laying on a chair. The shot included a Fernell light (a movie light that can focus or flood the light much like a flashlight) fitted with a strobe outside to flash light into the window like the sun and a beauty dish as the key light off to the left. Another strip light was set up on the right to light the side of the model and used as a hair light. The third shot was with the model standing behind the island in the kitchen / living room with the beauty light to the left and the curtain used as scrim for the ambient light into the window. The fourth shot was set up with the model on the stairs with a strobe with a grid while using curtains as a scrim for the ambient light and the Fernell light coming through the window. The fifth shoot was up stairs in the TV room with the model laying on a couch with using a softbox and reflectors. The sixth shot was set up in the shower of the master bedroom. The model was standing in the window of the shower. The glass of the shower window was frosted so a strobe was set up to simulate sunlight coming through with the beauty dish in the shower with the photographer. The last shots were set up downstairs with a strobe and reflectors.

This shoot I learned a lot of how to work with a crew and with a model. Scott told the model a few things that I remembered like “Tell me a story with your eyes” and “I am going to ask you a question and answer me with your eyes”. This showed me that Scott realizes the model will make the picture. He also pressed the idea of previsualization of all the photographs.

I left the studio at 8 pm.

August 1 and Pre-Pro Number 2

On August 1^st, I arrived at the studio at 3:30 in the afternoon and talked about the shoot on the 2^nd. I talked to Iain, the food photographer that rents out of Scott Lowden Studios. I helped with organizing the model photos and took out 8 cardboard boxes to the trash. We talked about the schedule for the shoot and that I needed to get 6 bags of ice and get the model from the hotel next door, Highland Inn, at 7:20 AM. Also, there was a preproduction meeting that Scott wanted to see. It basically was an extension of the first meeting with the stylist. She brought the clothes she found and Scott and the art directors from Current talked them over. Scott also took polaroids of the clothes and taped them to printed pictures of the locations where the model would be wearing what clothes to help visualize the images.

July 31 and Scouting Again

On July 31 I arrived at the studio at 10:45 in the morning to Scott, Callie, and Ryan working on the production for the Natick shoot and managing the contact list. They told me that The Glen was rented out on the day they were going to shoot and they didn’t want a crew in the hotel that day. This was frustrating because they already let us scout the place and then took it back and wouldn’t let us shoot there. We went to scout a modern house off of North Avenue that would be a nice substitute for The Glen. Scott brought his camera again and shot everything just like scouting the last time. The house was very graphic and thoroughly modern with big windows, mainly made of concrete, monochromatic palate, and a sense of being in a museum because of little or no personal touches.

After arriving back to the studio, Scott and Ryan immediately processed the scouting shots and put them up on his website for the art director to look at. Scott showed me how to put up those pictures on his website with a php program specifically written for his website.

Before I left in the evening at 4:30, Scott received an email from Mark Anderson, an editorial photographer in Atlanta, who needed an assistant on Monday August 6^th.

July 26 and Pre-Pro Meeting

On July 26 I met up with Scott at his studio at 9:30 in the morning to go to a meeting at the ad agency Current to talk to the stylist about the Natick shoot. We drove over to the agency and when we arrived I sat and listening to the meeting. It consisted of the stylist, Kim, and the agency talking about what kind of clothes she needed to buy and bring and from what stores. After the meeting, Scott and I drove back to the studio. We talked about how he found his photography style. He said that he likes to have the picture show the people in the photos were it looks like they have done something, are doing something, or will do something. He said that it gives the photographs another level rather than just a pretty girl in a pretty place.

After getting back to the studio I helped scan model releases that the signatures weren’t legible. I scanned them darker so the signatures could be seen more clearly. I also cut up about 90 photos.

I also found this quote in a “The Negative” by Ansel Adams: “Once you begin the process of visualization the final image becomes the paramount importance, and you are far less concerned with the subject per se than with your representation of it”.

I left the studio at 5 pm.

July 25 and Scouting

When I arrived at the studio at 10:30 in the morning I was quickly put to work organizing model photos for an advertising job with a mall that is opening in Natick, Mass. Callie, the studio manager, told me that dealing with model talent was the hardest part of the job and I get to see why with this shoot production. The organization of the talent included printing out pictures of the models, writing the name of the model, writing out the representing model agency, and the price of the model. Scott likes to have the pictures in his hands to physically move around on a table and not on the computer. He laid them out with titles (like “white boy” or “ethnic woman”) and in the first pile his first picks, the second pile his second picks, and the third pile his last ditch picks. This way he can go down the list and check availability and write yes and no on the actual pictures.

After helping to organize the model pictures and information Scott, Ryan, and I went to scout “The Glen”, a restaurant / hotel in downtown Atlanta, GA. We met people from Current, the ad agency that contracted Scott, who were acting art directors for the shoot. We walked around the hotel and Scott shot pictures of what he thought could be used for the shoot\After scouting, we all rode back to the studio and talked about the shoot on Thursday Aug. 2^nd and the preparation day before. Scott told me that if a photographer wasn’t sure about the lighting he could have it worked about before hand by either setting up in a similar area or come in a few days before and do a test day.

Scott also told me some things about scouting: Don’t burn bridges with the owners of the places you are shooting, if you are shooting for someone else, you should shoot even the bad angles so you can explain that these are bad angles, keep a library of scouting pictures so you can use them for other shoots, a good scouting lens would be a zoom lens like 28 – 104 mm, shoot a room wide then go in tight for specific shoots, and shoot a background how it will look - if will be out of focus shoot background that way.

I left the studio at 6 pm.

Food and Pre-Production

Today (Tuesday July 24) had me realizing that I needed more hours at "the studio" to make the mark of 150. So, this week I decided to starting coming in on Wednesday along with Tuesday and Thursday. When I arrived at the studio at 1 pm today there was not much going on. In the main studio area, Ian and his assistant Matt, had a table top set up with lights for a butter toffee job they were shoot for publix. Like always I asked Callie how she was doing and continued on to Scott at his monitors in the next room. After speaking with Scott about what was on the schedule he informed me that they were waiting on approval of an estimate for a job. They did not want to do too much because it would be a lost cause if they did not get the job, but they did not want to be behind if they did. So they were in what Scott calls a "holding pattern". So most of my day was spent talking to Ian about his phase-1 back on his hasselblad and if he would ever consider stepping up to fully digital. He said that he really liked the idea of analogue and digital and you can not beat a t* lens unless you morgage your house for the 40+ thousand dollars H2 system. After about 3 hours of watching the set designer, art director, and photographer talk out the shot, Scott and I shot 8 more product shots for Whimsey Press. They were notebooks but long and skinny. We shot it in 15 minutes because all we had to do was recreate the set-up from the other 80 we shot. After the product shots I left because he was leaving. It was 5:45 pm.

Stock Photography and a Gas-Powered Generator

Today at SLP I came in at 2 pm to Scott in a meeting with his rep, Holly, from RepGirl and an ad guy from Delta. Scott has shot many ads for Delta and was talking to John about another idea he had and what he thought about it. I came in on the end of it so I didn't get to hear much of the production just the wrap up. After John from Delta and Holly left, Scott told me he wanted me to pick up some things from Ace Hardware on Howell Mill so that is where I went. He gave me a list and the company credit card, which made me feel powerful. I went to Ace Hardware to buy a gas generator, 6 "A" clamps, and 3 3-way splitters. I found the generator and splitters in no time but had trouble finding the clamps in the small store. I asked 3 different people and each time they didn't know what "A" clamps were. One guy asked me what they were for and I said to clamp stuff together. Finally, someone knew what I was talking about and led me there, which of course was the next isle over. However, they only had 3 large and no small ones.

Upon returning to SLP, Scott was edited pictures for his portfolio when a modeling agency called and it was time for the meeting they planned two days ago. The meeting was about an estimate that Scott had done 2 months ago with data from the agency and now they had changed their mind about giving up rights to pictures for Scott's stock library. Scott noted that this company was based on a knew model and 98% of the other agencies don't operate like this particular one does because it deals with "real" people as models and not models. SLP also has a connection to his particular company because Scott's old studio manager, Emily, and her husband run it.

After listening to the phone meeting, Scott informed me we would be shooting alot next week and maybe a casting call. He also told me to bring in some photos I have been taken to show him and talk about. I am looking forward to the critic. I left at 5 pm.

Estimates and Shooting for Ebay

I asked for the last week off to record a cd in Knoxville, TN. This was the first day back since Scott got married in Mexico. Eveyone I told the photographer I intern with was getting married asked the same question, who did he get to shoot the wedding. When I asked him later in the day he laughed and said some local guy who shot jpegs plus both of Scott's assistants - Ryan and Keith.

The day started kind of bad for me because I overslept. After debating if I should call in sick or face the truth, I called to say I was running late and would be there as soon as I could. Scott said "no biggie" and told me that I could help by picking up a package at Mark Anderson's house. I drove by there on the way to the studio and everything was fine and be there at 11:30 am. The studio has three jobs coming up in the next few weeks and mainly today they were estimating these jobs and producing them. One of the jobs, the one at the end of August, is a high fashion shoot with alot of different models and such. I will be able to see the process of producing a shoot as well as actually shooting it and then finishing it. One of the jobs I did today was to print out comp cards for models from an agency who specifcially sent certain models who would give all the rights up for the pictures taken, or buy it out. Part of Scott's deal with this particular shoot is that he will get the rights to the pictures not used and he can sell them into stock photography. After printing out models, ryan and I shot products for ebay. One of which is a very fast G5 apple that the screen was damaged while flying to Arizona a few months ago with SLP. Other things being sold was a 15 in power book and a huge collection of nikon cameras (a f5, d100, and n90), lens, and accessories.

Hopefully, tomorrow I will help with the estimating and get my hands dirty with the jobs coming up. I am looking forward to seeing a project all the way to the end. I left at 6 pm.

Errands and Meeting

Today, June 28, was the day after the Whimsy Press photoshoot. Today was another errand day. This time I was sent to Sam Flax clear across town. I drove over there to buy vellum envelopes for Scott's mailers. Scott also me to research paper cutters and see if they make them longer than 11 inches. At "the flax" I found the vellum envelopes pretty easily and then walked to find a salesperson to help me with the paper cutter question. Apparently, after looking at the magazine that Sam Flax orders from and finding they do not make them any longer than 12 inches (Scott wanted 14 or 15 inches).
On my return Callie, Scott's studio manager called me and told me to get some lunch before I get back. I stopped at the restraunt next to SLP studio called Del Sol which is really great food and the lady who runs it is very nice. I got a grilled chicken salad and returned to the studio.
Upon returning I was asked by Scott to look up prices on Ebay of broken computers and other equipment to compare prices. I found prices on 2 seagate HDs, a imac G5 with a broken screen, a G4 tower, an external Lacie DVD burner, 2 apple laptop batteries, a 15 in power book, and a 12 in G5 power book.
At 3 30 pm there was a brainstorming meeting for a tool company calendar for Cyclone. Scott and the 4 other ad guys threw around ideas for location, demographics, and other details of the company product calender. They settled on the shop as location with hot girls. I know it sounds pretty cliche, but I am sure Scott will find a way to shoot it interestingly with a tiny bit of cliche.
After all the hour long meeting, another of Scott's assistants John Herre came in with a stylist friend, named Heather. She was from Atlanta but moved to New York to work and how she is back and looking for jobs.

While John and Heather waited for Scott, I was able to talk about working in the commerical photography world and eventually for Scott. They both gave me great ideas for learning an eye for commerical photography. Heather said to look in magazine such as ITALIAN VOGUE, NYLON, LOWMO, and W for ideas and rip them out and save them. John suggested writing down what you learned on each photoshoot and to diagram out lighting on any photo for ads.

These are great ideas that I will do. Thanks John and Heather.

Photos From Whimsy Press Photo Shoot

Product Shoot

On June 26 was the second photoshoot I got to help with at SLP. We shot about 60 table top shots for whimsy press. Scott's fiance Wendy, Donna, Lisa, and Lisa's dog Trixie where all there to help guide the photographic journey. The three females acted as art director as we shot the notecards, bookplates, journals, stickers, baby clothes, and wrapping paper.
Scott used a white seamless on a table top with a white laminate board in the background to create a horizon line in the background. He also used a Molar on a boom stand for high and to the left lighing with the white laminate board as a reflector used as a fill. He also wanted to use his 35 mm tilt-shift lens but someone checked it out with another camera body so he was forced to use his 50 mm on his canon mark II.
My job on the shoot was as digital assistant. Scott gave me a print out of their digital work flow where they make sure that each picture is saved to 3 locations. He also showed me about the metadata with all the shot information written into it. The main point of my job on this shoot was to write all the metadata for each shot. This consisted of me copying and pasting the main metadata and then asking for the name of each product. Asking for the names was smooth at first because I simply used a phrase from the note cards like "Love is Lovely cards" or "Havannah Cards". However, when it got to the journals, stickers, wrapping paper, and others I had to ask on every single one because of the bizarre names. After about the 30th time of asking, I figured that of the three people they might catch on that I needed names and that they would offer it after each photograph but no, I had to annoy them by saying, "Excuse me, uh, Wendy? what is the name of this one?" and she would tell me. Or I would point at the screen and she would nod in approval and then I would say, "What is the day of this one?" and she would say, "Oh, it's Poppi Art" and I would say thanks.

All in all, today was a good day. I learned alot about art directors and how to ask the name of a product 15 different ways, among other things. I was there from 8 30 am to 4 30.