Would like to watch the proffesional at work.

[Lisard]

I am amature and would like to learn from a pro. I just would like to watch the pro working, attend some photo shooting. Where can I find such places? Is there a such thing? I really do not want to go to any school because I believe from the theoretical point of view I am very advanced. I just really would like to watch professionals at work. Wher and whom would I look? :roll:

[PhotosGuy]

I don't know where you live, but almost anywhere you look there's someone doing photography. Try the commercial section of the telephone book under Photographers. Find someone doing the type of photography you're interested in. Offer to help out, hold reflectors, sweep floors, etc.
If you live in Michigan, do you clean garages?
:wink:

[Belmondo]

I don't think it would be as helpful as you're thinking. Unless you could find a professional that was willing to 'think outloud,' you wont get any real insight into his/her thought processes while they work. You might learn a few helpul basic techniques like how to say 'Cheese!,' but the other more artisitic and technical aspects are probably things a professional does almost without thinking, and it would be very difficult to ferret out exactly what he/she is doing nor why.

A solid understanding of the theoretical aspects of photography might be helpful, but it doesn't mean you're anywhere near to being a professional yet, and just watching one work will be just about as helpful as watching a TV cooking show with the sound muted.

[G3]

I don't think it would be as helpful as you're thinking. Unless you could find a professional that was willing to 'think outloud,' you wont get any real insight into his/her thought processes while they work. You might learn a few helpul basic techniques like how to say 'Cheese!,' but the other more artisitic and technical aspects are probably things a professional does almost without thinking, and it would be very difficult to ferret out exactly what he/she is doing nor why.

A solid understanding of the theoretical aspects of photography might be helpful, but it doesn't mean you're anywhere near to being a professional yet, and just watching one work will be just about as helpful as watching a TV cooking show with the sound muted.

Tagging along as an assistant can be very helpful for learning the ins and outs of things like portrait photography and wedding photography. You will help in setting up lighting, making sure the photographer has the body/lens that he needs ready for a particular shot, posing subjects, etc. You won't likely get paid a lot, but the tradeoff is that you get to ask questions and you get the experience and see the flow of the job. After a while, when you start to understand it, the photograpgher may allow you to take some of the shots. That may eventually lead to allowing you to do some of the jobs. It's sort of an apprenticeship. You don't have to work for just one photographer, either. You can work as an assistant for 2 or 3 photographers and that way you see different styles, techniques, etc.

Just go and visit different photgraphers (call first) and ask them. Many wll be willing to let you tag along and help, and some may pay you a little for your time. It's always better to work with an assistant that wants to learn the trade.

[ssim]

I had the opportunity to "tag along" as an assistant with a studio owner a number of years ago. It is a great learning experience but one has to be prepared to play "gopher" most of the time.

[PhotosGuy]

Tagging along as an assistant can be very helpful for learning the ins and outs of things...

One of the first studio jobs I had was as an assistant at Boulevard Photographic, the people who pretty much invented modern car photography using indirect light on huge flats. Pay was $2/hr. I think I learned more there in just one months time than I have during the rest of my life. Everything was shot on 8 X 10 color film. B&W film was used as a "Polaroid" to check for reflections & exposure, which usually was measured in minutes. People now use graduated filters to tone down a bright sky. Back then it was big sheets of colored & ND cine gells taped to a sheet of glass held on a custom bracket in front of the lens. The optically perfect glass was from glass 'film' plates from which the emulsion was removed. I was amazed to see that, before the final exposures were taken, they would rub their finger over their nose, & then use the oil on their finger to smudge the glass to add a dreamlike feel to the images. They put the romance into car photography.

By comparison, these guys from California who had landed a contract from American Motors, rented one of 'our' studios. They had this huge cine tripod & on it they mounted a Nikon. Then they dug around 'till they found our biggest light. I think it was a 50K. They hung it high in the studio like a big sun & it was the only light they used! Never saw them again!

During the first year, I shot my first job for Chrysler. So, "Tag along". You'll probably learn something. And, if you don't, then you've also learned something!

:wink:

[Lisard]

Thanks so much everyone!!! I was thinking about contacting local photographers but wasn't sure it is an appropriate thing to do. I will be glad to assist without any pay just to learn. I live in Miami (aaaah, the capital of fashion photography) but I guess I am a bit shy and don't know how to approach photographers. :oops:

Maybe somebody is here from Florida and need free assistant? :roll:

[G3]

Photographers are just people. The way to approach them is just approach them. Tell them what you want to do and they will either take you up on it or tell you that they don't need anyone. In that case, just move on to the next photographer. I'm doing a shoot tomorrow for some outdoor portraits and it will the the first "tag-along" for a new assistant. She wants to learn and I'm happy to teach her and have her assistance. I can't pay her much, but hopefully she'll gain enough knowledge and experience to offset that. By the end of tomorrow's shoot, she'll have learned more than she realizes.