Need help? How do you find the right person???

First of all let me take a moment to thank everyone for checking on me when I elected to get really sick over the last few months! I'm almost afraid to say that I am finally out of the water but I think it is finally safe to say that!

As I had to put off many of the shoots that I had going on in the month of August including most of my charity shoots I'm holding off for a moment on talking about my charity shoot.  What I finally had to do was a bit different so I'd like to talk about it later in the month after a few people have posted their charity shoots. I also have something that has come from my shoot that I may want to talk about if something has 100% worked itself out by the time I write that post.

I did a fun Senior shoot in the end of July and it was the first that I used my Make up/Hair Stylist/ Stylist, Issy.. Several other photographers asked me how do you  find the right person to help you in this role that you can trust.

So that is what this Friday's Blog comes from.  It is all about choosing the right Assistant when you need to have one.  It was really a bit of a challenge that I had to take on until I found Issy.

                  Issy and I do some modeling test shots for lighting before my client arrived.

I am not going to start right away introducing you to Issy because she and I go way back and that is part of this story!  Let's just talk first in general about choosing help!

Step 1. - Know what you want in an assistant

This may seem a bit silly but do you know what you want an assistant for?  Is it for make up? If it is for make up do you want them to do do hair?  Do you just want someone to hold your reflector? Will they be shooting as a back up?

If you don't know what you need help with you can't pick the right person for the job!  So first sit down and write a list of what things you may need help with on a given shoot.

Step 2. - How much are you willing to pay and how will you pay them?

In the case with Issy, I require $100 fee for her upfront at the start of the shoot.  If I either state I have to have her for a shoot or someone elects to want add her on to the shoot she is paid up front by the client.

Will this be true of every shoot we do together.  No.  3/4 of the time if we are only doing Senior shoots, or modeling portfolio shoots yes.  As the shoots get more complicated her fee goes up and I add it into the cost of what I am shooting vs. the client seeing a particular number unless they want a fee break down.  

So it is important to know what you are willing to pay and how it will be paid before you start your shot.

Step 3. - Test your Assistants before you work with them.

You do not want to look bad with a client and your help can make you look that way.  You need to either screen your help well or test them before you are in a real shooting situation.  Asking other photographers for references is also a good option but you risk having to schedule your shoots around theirs if they use the same person as you.

Before using Issy I had tested out 3 or 4 different make up artists.

Important factors for me were as follows:

1. Timeliness

2. Friendliness / how well clients liked and trusted their decisions.

3. Attentive listening to my instructions as well as the client.

4. Products they used

5. Overall job quality.

Some of the other people I tested before Issy lacked some or all of these traits leaving a potential for disaster for me.  They are however, a good group who I can use as a back up if I know that Issy is already busy.  I just need to be aware of each of their flaws.

For me it only took 3 steps to know how I wanted to screen my MUA.  It could be less steps for you depending on the position you need help with it could be more depending on the job you have that you need help with.

In the case with the lovely Issy I have been working with Issy since she was 15 as a model. So I already knew many of these traits about her.  

After being frustrated with several people I tried I started paying attention to the fact Issy was always professional.  She was great at styling herself while we were shooting.  Her make up was always point on and she likes to change up her own look.

This first shoot was a test for Issy and she did brilliantly. 

                                2nd location after Issy touched up her make up.

 My client completely loved her. She did a great job on her hair and make up.  

                  Mobile Make Up Studio for on location shoot in this case was my car.  

She made her feel very comfortable.  She helped her pick out outfits that flattered her and even helped her with posing.  

Issy helps CJ learn how to stand in a flattering pose.

                             Issy makes last minute adjustments after straightening CJ's hair

I'm blessed to have found a great Make up Artist who will fill many roles for me while she is "just" doing make up. We are a good match.

Issy cheerfully making the last hair adjustments for this shoot.

Don't wait until the last second to go looking for the right person.  Start looking now for when you do need someone!

I look forward as always to here your thoughts and successes! 

Week 1 - Internship - Loyalty and Not my job!

Let the fun begin - final full practice before the Season starts.

So first of all I can truly say I survived week 1 of my internship! It was a bit of an unexpected bumpy first week caused by rain and a few unexpected twists within in the team this week.  I'll be first to say if there hadn't been unexpected twists I might get bored. I love the unexpected challenges that drive other people crazy.  I love impossible odds and embrace change! Yes..you can think it that girl is CRAZY! I think that often it is surviving that fire of any unexpected challenge is what makes us stronger photographers! It teaches you to think on your feet!  Which leads me to this week's post.

The first two days I expected to shoot - weather got in my way! I had hoped to not shoot at the Sunday practice simply because I had plans to shoot a fun horse event up in Cleveland.  However, it didn't work out that way so I shot at practice on Sunday.  

Our practice field was taken so the team had to play someplace where the grass was more than a little bit too long.  I won't lie I loved it! (Sorry guys - I know it was hard to play in).  It made for fun creative shots that I won't have a chance to shoot again.  I won't lie I had a lot of fun looking for some fun angles that made it look worse like the one below.

Making the best of an unexpected playing field trying to not get lost in the grass.

These weren't ideal shooting or playing conditions but sometimes you have to go with the flow and make the best of the situation.  In my case I had fun shooting funny shots like this one.

The biggest issues of the week involved the loss of   some team members and fundraising.  I actually almost spent more time this week trying to brainstorm fundraisers because of deficits that our unexpectedly small team has caused. While trying to make sure our team has the best year and best field possible we realized we would need to do some fundraising to help our goals.

The question that might come to mind is why as a photographer is it my job to help with that? I did my job I showed up. I took pictures. 

I have yet to ever work with any client where the job was clear cut like that! When you shoot weddings you play wedding planner helping keep the bride from being stressed out.  You are sometimes the shoulder to cry on if something doesn't go right.  In fashion you might be making clothing work with pins, clips, whatever you can find!  The point is your job isn't just to hold a camera and you need to  be prepare to embrace that as an intern.  Your main focus will be to use your camera in most jobs that you do but that doesn't mean you won't be wearing multiple hats too.

I am supposed to be on vacation in June.  I have the privilege of helping to shoot a very important to me cake smash session.  I agreed to help my other friend who is a make up artist / hair stylist with a shoot or two while I was in town.  I loaned out my daughter as a model.  Even though I am acting as a photographer while on vacation when I realized she also needed another model, I agreed to step in.  You never know what will be asked of you when you are "just shooting".  You have to be ready to forget the words even mentally "that's not my job". Your job is anything that makes it easier for you when it is time to pick up your camera.

As I though over the loss of a few of our players this week it brought me to the other thing I learned this week - loyalty. There will always be something out there that looks better on paper than what you have.  If you are a music photographer that might be wanting to shoot the big shows. So it can look good when you have a chance to help assist another photographer at a big show.  However, if you are contracted already to shoot some local bands what does that really say about you if you go shoot the big show.  Sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture. The choices that we make in our careers will stay with us for life.  Sometimes it is best to earn your place in your given genre.  Start out shooting the smaller venues and move up to bigger venues as your skills grow.  When the bigger venues look back they will notice if you are a team player and how loyal you were to the the last person you worked for.  They will notice if you do choose to leave and move on to a better situation   how you ended your relationship with your last client or employer.  Did you leave the right way?  No one may comment at the time, but that doesn't mean they will not notice and not hire you if they are afraid you will leave the next time something better comes along.

If you commit to something commit to it 100%.  Even if you see it won't work out to be the perfect situation you had hoped for you will be able to have pride in yourself for seeing your commitment til the end.  As an intern this is an important lesson to learn before you do have something better offered to you and you have to make a snap decision.

So in closing I just wish our leaving team members well on their new teams and wish them a great season this year! It was great to get to be part of your careers.  I do truly hope to see each of you reach your true potential.  It has been nice to see how well this team has worked together to help each other be better players.  

This shot seemed metaphoric as we can't see who is left to catch this ball.

This week in class we are looking at Time Management and learning to multitask and prioritize. Both of these are important to learn as photographers and as busy students.  

Next week the team doesn't have practice and the formal pictures were put off due to the holidays. Upcoming we have a youth camp and formal pictures as we regroup and prepare for our season to start.

I hope you enjoyed the view of week 1.  I look forward to your thoughts!

Jessi

Let the Waiting Begin

Image Courtesy of Graphic Stock

While it is only day 2 of my internship I was hoping to have some cool images to share with you but instead I have the first lesson I can share from my Internship - be prepared to wait.  Things don't always go as planned!

I actually had 2 different shoot scheduled before today.  Last weekend I had scheduled to shoot the model that I am working with for our football team.  The shoot was part fashion for her and part team shooting / special projects for us.  The location we were shooting was an outdoor location.  Fear of looming storms had us reschedule for a different day.

So I planned to shoot my team the day before my internship actually started.  Practice cancelled due to our insane 40 degree weather in May.  We had hoped to do a few cool shots we could use for future fliers and we want to test a few things we will  be using for our formal shots next week. The formal shots we had to reschedule.

Today we have a practice. Well it looks like rain so it maybe rescheduled.  So now we are down to Sunday. I actually had plans to shoot a cool horse event on Sunday but it looks like I may have to  go shoot the team instead. 

I don't believe in being stagnate even though I've not been able to shoot.

Yesterday the owner said to me we should come up with one more fundraiser for the team.  We tossed around a few ideas and came up with one that we thing will be fun and raise a bit of money.  NO!! You just have to wait and see I'm not ready to spill the beans on this one yet!

So what have I learned so far as my first two official days of an intern?

1. Sometimes you just have to be patient!                                                                                    Even the best laid plans don't always work out in any  business.  This is especially true if you are an outdoor photographer.

     2. Make a back up plan or maybe 3!

         The only thing you can do to combat when things don't go the way you want is to have a

         a few back up plans.  While the internship is approximately 10 hours a week some weeks you

         due to things going wrong you may work 2 hours and the next week you may put in 20 hours.  

         Just like with any job sometimes you have to put in overtime when it is needed.

  3. Don't panic!

      You do want to make the most of your internship but panicking when things don't go right won't

      help you at all. 

Part of the internship process is about learning to work in a professional environment. This week's discussion is about 7 behaviors that that a professional has to balance. I can tell you that at least one of those behaviors had to come into play this week so I didn't freak out on my employer over things going wrong. 

In reality no matter what type of photography you shoot things will happen.  Clients won't show up. Equipment will decide to not work.  Your entire concept for a shoot may suddenly fall apart on you and you will have to scramble to make something work. So in a way this problem is exactly what you want to have happen in an internship! It is a good lesson to learn while the stakes aren't so high.

Fingers cross everyone that we don't have a bizarre blizzard, or monsoon this week so I can share some of the images taken late this week and what we are doing with them as we wait for our season to start!

Upcoming projects before the season starts include team photos, modeling shoots, fund raiser, and youth football camp! It will be a busy few weeks. Our official season starts June 6th.

The Journey to Internship

                                                  The flyer the Silverhawks made for me.

As the Semi-Pro Football Season is about to start here in Ohio so is my internship as the Photographer for the Jackson Silverhawks.  Officially my internship starts on May 14th and ends July 29th however I will already be doing some work with the team starting this weekend.  It struck me that the journey to my internship as well as the time I spend as an intern could be an interesting series for the Friday blogs.

So the first part of the process is how did I end up with this really cool internship. It is a process that I started as soon as I started at AI in 2013.  I knew I wanted an internship.  Before starting at AI I had taken a photograph class at our local zoo and met a wonderful photographer who pointed out to me how many great groups we have in Ohio for photographers.    I took another class at our local library where I met another photographer who pointed me to a few more groups. Both introduced me to some wonderful people who were willing to help me on my photographic journey.

The one thing that I started to see is how important connections can be when you start looking for an internship.  I didn't just have one internship offer I had several. So my work at networking gave me the chance to pick the internship that was right for me.

I actually met the Jackson Silverhawks last year.  I had seen an ad from a photographer on Craigslist that was looking to network with other photographers.  I contacted him and we talked a bit online. He mentioned to me that he shot Semi-Pro football and he was looking for a second shooter.

Here is a secret. I didn't love sports. Hilariously I was captain of my own school's Pep Club and I had to make all the hoops for our football team to run through but I was clueless. I held the hoop and I went home.  However, I never turn down the chance to shoot something new.  I always say you will never know what you truly love to shoot if you haven't learned what you hate to shoot. So I told that photographer I'd love to be his second shooter.  He offered me a small amount of money but I mostly cared about the experience.

I met the other photographer in person at the first game.  He gave me a few tips about shooting but pretty much just let me shoot and learn by shooting.  He then quit and I suddenly became the first and only shooter for the team.  I told the Owner I would stand by him for this season.  I shoot through the summer.  It was definitely a learning process where sometimes I did great and other times I wish I had done better.  I shot not only my team but the other teams we played.  I gave the other players access to tag themselves in my pictures.

At the end of the season the team owner mentioned me considering doing an internship for him the next year. I told him I would think about it because I knew his current coach was leaving with most of the team so I didn't know what the teams status would be next year.

With in a week of the season ending, I had 4 different teams ask me to be their photographer for the next year.  I ended up accepting the paid internship offered to me to stay with the Jackson Silverhawks.  I was grateful to the team for giving me the chance.  Had I not been given the chance I never would have learned I love sports photography. The team owner and I have a lot of great ideas for this season and I can't wait to slowly share them all with you guys.  I will also show how he is helping to promote my website and Facebook page as well.

Next week I'll talk about the actual process of applying for an internship once you have someone who offers you one.  I look forward to hearing your questions!