Never in my life did I imagine how much work went into a photoshoot, nor did I realize how insanely hard I was going to work. Too bad it wasn't full time because, that would be one heck of a work out plan. The days started off very early and went until 7:30 at night. In this post are a few images to show the style of shoot, we weren't allowed to take pics.. Don't want any pesky idea stealers to have access to the designs any sooner than necessary.
Day One: Danny Acres Internship
Today was incredible! The day before the official photo shoot. We met Danny at the Riva Designs, his client has a warehouse in the back of their office and if I had to approximate the size, I would guess a football field. Today’s objective was to get everything prepared for shooting all the prom dresses for their upcoming catalogue. They have two looks: Sweet and Sassy and then Sweet and Sexy; Riva Designs and Dreams. We walked into a warehouse that was wall to wall prom dresses.
Two huge walls, paper floor, Plexiglas over the paper, huge Styrofoam shapes. Extra coat of paint, sanding the edges of the forms, scraping the Plexiglas to make sure the paint and marks didn’t show in the shot and then cleaning with Windex. The 4x10 Plexiglas sheets were layed 3 across and two in the back. The floor and “walls” were not level so I shimmed it with paint stirs that I had seen earlier.
The 1st day was set up: which included:
1) Painted large styrofoam props
2) Find a set of stairs to use as a prop
3) Buy batteries
4) Make coffee- He hated my strong coffee… Note to self!!
5) Act as a stylist for the models, pinning, fluffing, powder faces etc.
6) If you see him messing with his tripod- Help him
7) Grey card test
8) Make sure his lens stayed on 90mm to ensure good exposure etc.
9) Moving lights
10) Rearranging the set-to shoot different angles
11) Cleaning all the Plexiglas for the set: 6 4x10 sheets of Plexiglas for the floor.
12) Call PPR
13) Breaking down the set
14) Making lists for the photo rental company to let them know what equipment Danny used
Things to pay attention to:
Buying batteries, Danny wanted stairs so I went o GTC to get the stairs we used for Holiday Portraits, Painted the form.Test Shots for the client so he and Danny could select their picks. Danny worked very closely with his client to make sure he liked the lighting, pick the model’s, emailing images to client to make sure the color they print is the color they see.
Computer’s tethered together: the 1st one uses capture one software to make sure everything looks ok, but the second computer wasn’t able to show high resolution images due to the differences in the computers. Mac Mini vs. standard Mac.
List difficulties and how you solved them.
1) He hates strong coffee… No biggie- just add water J Plus, he likes one ice cube so it doesn’t burn his mouth.
2) Calling PPR and discussing the difference between the Hasselblad H1 and the Canon 5D Mark II ie: pixel dimensions and check the sync speed so he could shoot full power with his ProPhoto Pack. Or if he needed to rent a Hasselblad for his next shoot or use his 5D. I felt uncomfortable at 1st, but then he asked me to assist in Mississippi so I must not missed any information.
3) Not having everything I needed at my finger tips- Next time I assist him I am going to wear a tool belt for double sided tape, lotion, clips, powder, brushes etc. All the stuff you don’t think you will need until you feel like a doofus fumbling around for it!!
Describe any interesting experiences on the job and new knowledge, skill, or techniques learned.
*Laying glass over Plexiglass to reflect the background onto the floor!! Too Cool.
*Setting strobes/soft boxes on the floor to pick up detail in the dresses! Way Cool. *Using a strobe on the boom with a magnum.
* How Danny Interacted with the client and the models.
Danny wished he had another tripod head so he could flip back and forth between two different tripods and we use the same kind. I let him borrow mine for two days. He told his client… See, I (he) is saving him money already! That was a great feeling!
*Using Styrofoam shapes for the models to “work” and also the “fake” walls they had built. It made me think about taping white paper to a wall instead of draping it on the backdrop stands.
