Friday, August 31, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, August 27, 2007
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.
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