I was recently asked to write a series on Photography Assisting by my colleague and good friend Paul Manoian. After shadowing him on various shoots, I’ve decided to contribute to this effort in a series. In doing so I’ll start with a little history and background about myself.
My photographs have entranced the fans of Hot 107.5 FM for the past five years. Urban staging of Hip-Hop motifs characterize my unmistakable style. After concentrating on photographic stills for 10 year I’m now also doing editorial, fashion, and major motion picture still photography. In addition, I’ve worked as a freelance photography assistant in Detroit Michigan and Rio De Janeiro from 2007 thru 2009 with Nick Martinez formerly of Hour Magazine. On returning to the United States in 2009 I initially concentrated on portrait and documentary pieces working for local artists and minority newspapers. In 20011 I completed my first motion picture project working with Angela Burrows Dunlop for the film ‘Deranged’. But, that’s enough about me, let’s get to the good stuff!
Recently I began a series of documentaries from the standpoint of ‘Photography Assisting’. This series is currently being featured on this website and will be an ongoing series. In this series I’ll be covering some of the basic guidelines for the universal Do’s and Don’t’s on a ‘Set’ while functioning in the capacity of a photography assistant.
The first articles in the series will cover:
- Photography Set Etiquette
- Knowing Your Photographer
- Set Communication
- Knowing Who’s on Your Set
- Becoming a Set Authority
- How to Handle Challenges and Problems on a Set
These will be pointers and should be considered in your Photography assistant ‘HowTo’ hand book. There are many ways to accomplish the bullet points that have been outlined but the key thing to remember in your role as an assistant is that if you don’t apply them then you won’t benefit from the expertise and know-how these facts allude too.
Let’s get started!
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