Where do Professional Photographers come from?
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some come from Visual Communications where they are able to master photography. while visual comms also allow you to be proficient in graphics design.
u are given the best of both worlds thou.
Nowadays, local polys and even ite provide photography courses as their elective modules. so i must say there are a lot of "trained photographers" out there waiting to be discovered.
singapore also got other institutes for photography such as Objectives and i duno if NAFA and Lasalle do provide such courses either.
but so far, photographers i've worked with comes either from VC or they are old school pros who are trained by their mentors way back. i come from a background where i was taught by a mentor. he didnt give me a good life back then. but i learn alot of things... but still it needs to be practiced.. and yeah. forgot how to process film in darkroom already... sigh.... and i lost all the notes.. :cry:
u are given the best of both worlds thou.
Nowadays, local polys and even ite provide photography courses as their elective modules. so i must say there are a lot of "trained photographers" out there waiting to be discovered.
singapore also got other institutes for photography such as Objectives and i duno if NAFA and Lasalle do provide such courses either.
but so far, photographers i've worked with comes either from VC or they are old school pros who are trained by their mentors way back. i come from a background where i was taught by a mentor. he didnt give me a good life back then. but i learn alot of things... but still it needs to be practiced.. and yeah. forgot how to process film in darkroom already... sigh.... and i lost all the notes.. :cry:
FYI, when people refer to the old school photographers, it doesn't mean that they had gone to "professional photography programs in schools", it actually means that these "old school" photographers learned photography the way it was done before, using film.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
beside, a mentor it is very important,
different period of time you will need different mentor.
and also, be humbler, be teachable.
I went through an American photography university and apprenticeship/internship under one of America's foremost commercial photographer, Nick Vedros.
They can teach you all the basics and technicalities... But nobody can teach or give you the "vision". That is something you got to learn yourself.
a quality that i cant find in most interns nowadays.
be humble. bu teachable. be nice.
and they cannot programme this inside their brains.
its not the equipment. its the man behind the equipment.
reason. they like to tell me. if you give me this.. i can give you that result.
How wrong they all are... :thumbsd: Even if you give me the best and most expensive equipment, I wouldn't know what to do the heck with it. :bsmilie:
Sion
Senior Member
I know what to do with it. First thing is to put it on "Buy and Sell" and wait for the highest offer. :bsmilie:
wat does an assistant photographer normally do??
First thing in the moring - buy coffee & breakfast (for photographer), after that, sweep floor & other nonsense.
When got shoot, carry every piece of equipment to where they're needed, without dropping/damaging a single thing.
Setup light/reflectors as per instructed, take light reading, readjust light/reflectors, repeate if necessary.
For film - load film for 1,2,3 (etc) camera, hand camera to photographer.
Change Lens, reload film, hand camera to photographer.
Bring/buy drinks/food to photographer cos he thirsty/hungry at this point of time.
Pack up everything & go back to office.
Massage photographer cos he tired from shooting all day long, & don't forget to buy food/drinks for late tea/dinner.
Have his first drink/food for the entire day, drop dead from exhaustion (for 4 hrs)
Repeat everything above
Have I covered everything yet?
very good, almost accurate!
Thank god for digital, last time assistant still have to develop and do contact print until 3am. next day shoot start at 9am.
1. Talent
2. Passion
3. Chance(s)/Luck/God's grace/whatever you call it.
4. People skills
For me the best mentor i will ever have is constant observing, learning & analysis.
To be blunt, you really only need the Internet, books & magazines to develop yourselves.
After that, the MOST important thing is social/business networking skills.
2. Passion
3. Chance(s)/Luck/God's grace/whatever you call it.
4. People skills
For me the best mentor i will ever have is constant observing, learning & analysis.
To be blunt, you really only need the Internet, books & magazines to develop yourselves.
After that, the MOST important thing is social/business networking skills.
assistant photographer ≠ photographer assistant
assistant photographer is a photographer know everything and his can shoot on his own but his is still not a main.
photographer assistant is a "coolie" of a photographer, do all the sh1t things and not given a chance to press the shutter release.
Do assts here in sg have a "ranking" like in states?
i.e. 3rd assistant doing all the sh*t jobs... 2nd assistant helping a little more setting up lights, reflectors, etc, 1st asst doing digital touch-up, managing clients on behalf of the photog, etc.
i.e. 3rd assistant doing all the sh*t jobs... 2nd assistant helping a little more setting up lights, reflectors, etc, 1st asst doing digital touch-up, managing clients on behalf of the photog, etc.
1st assistant is usually the photographer's most trusted assistant or full-time assistant. That person is usually the one who knows exactly where everything is an how everything works. During a shoot the assistant is usually the one right next to handling the film, lenses, cameras, computer.
2nd assistant usually will take direction or instructions from the photographer and 1st assistant and during a shoot to standy and take care of any problems that might come up during a shoot. The 2nd assistant is there also to back-up the 1st assistant and should have the same if not more experience, and sometimes is a freelance assistant.
3rd assistant is usually the most inexperienced of the 3 assistants. Basically backing up the 1st and 2nd assistant and of course to assist the photographer when the other 2 are unavailable.
The job scope of the assistant is not fixed. It all depends on the job, the situation and alo the photographer. As an assistant you do everything, or you have to know how to do everything. On a job one minute you are setting up a light the next you have to set up a scrim, next you have to deal with the talent,...... you have to multi-task... or know how to prioritise what needs to be taken care of.
To answer your question, yes, you aren't labelled as such but you kind of know where you stand in the scheme of things. I worked for a guy who flew in from New York and his assistant was an idiot, didn't really know his a$$ from a hole in the wall. Being 1st assistant does not mean you know everything, I have learned things from freelance assistants and some of them are really good.
That's just my $0.02
Same difference. To me they are all the same. No matter where you place the word photographer you are still and assistant. It is all semantics.
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