Reflection: Summer "Work"

It has been forever since I last updated, and you can put that blame on my most recent internship.
But before I get to that, let me summarize my 2010 Summer Work Adventures as condense as bullet points with descriptions will allow:

• Assisting for John Retallack at and for Osher, May 25 & 26

My >previous post< explains it briefly. These were two days that involved an on location studio set-up and the actual on location set. I managed to pick up many of John's awesome tricks that will most definitely help me when photographing.

• Assisting for Catherine Gibbons in Buffalo, June 3

In two heavy words: Spontaneity & Adventurous. I caught wind of the offer the day before the actual shoot and it was a sweaty race in two and a half hours to figure out how I'm going to get to the location and how will I get back. Thanks to awesome friends, solutions fell from the sky like heavy rain that happened that very night. 

Catherine shot for a magazine featuring one of the head executives of one of the main hospitals in Buffalo. I got to experience that actual rush of shooting with a limited range of time and in an extremely public place for that matter. I turned into a tougher cookie with some of the annoyed public that I had to direct away from the set and the plastic container filled with metal equipment I lugged. It was a pleasure to shoot with her. She was possibly one of the sweetest photographers I've worked for.

• Photographing for VIP Fan Photography affiliated with Xerox at the Rochester Jazz Festival, June 11-16

 Let's just say that I found out that patience is actually a virtue and that wine is best served free.

• Photographing for the Reporter, June 17

An outtake from that day can be found >here<. I can't really give you much detail about it just yet because I do, I feel as if the Editor, Art Director, and Mikey will have my head on a bloody golden platter.........just kidding....
Just know that it was a collaboration between me and Val, photo and (more of awesome) illustration (: It will be on the stands this coming school year.

• Intern for World Pictures Services/ Sven Lindbaek Studios, July 7- present

I'll have to be honest with this one. I felt a slight tinge of regret for applying until I realized what I learned today.
I somehow ended up being a mini retoucher. This is ironic to just about everything I've said about me and my relationship with post-production.
Frustration seemed to carry me throughout the first two work days until a light bulb went off on the third. I still don't like being in front of the computer for that amount of time and would rather be in production or be an assistant----but really, I wouldn't have had it any other way. Not only do I work for a wonderful photographer who has clients such as Elle and Avon (and get to see parts of the shoot), I'm also being trained by observing how the business works. When I want to take breaks from editing pictures for his upcoming show, I get to walk down the streets of the city for errands that remind me a lot of my past film production-errand runs. Can't really complain here.

{---the daily work also gives me more reason to pamper myself with a new phone case and a ring that clearly shouts I-am-legal-...-really:

...}

All in all, I feel as if this summer has been fairly fruitful. I'm making up for all the time I wasted last summer and packing myself up with more things for the next couple of weeks. The one thing I regret is not being able to shoot for myself, but I believe I have a couple of random gigs coming up.

"Stay tuned" (:

~~~