What are you, some kind of know-it-all?

The thing is, to be a good photo assistant (the kind who stays busy working gigs), you really have to work hard at being a know-it-all type of person… part photographer, part wardrobe stylist, part set designer, part janitor, part travel agent, part secretary, and sometimes part baby-sitter. A couple years ago I was scouting in Northern Minnesota, meeting with an animal-handler and determining the best place to shoot a bear with tourists in a park setting for a client creating some ads for an insurance trade magazine. Coordinating every aspect of a shoot from the hip, and on location can be a bit demanding… driving an RV, making reservations, scouting, getting permits, casting, watching the weather… and all this the day before the shoot! The next day during the shoot, you gotta keep it all together and keep the photographer happy, as well as everyone else on the set. Understand, this is an extreme example, but it’s just an illustration of what you might expect when a photographer who hires you and really needs you to step up to the plate.

By getting involved in some professional organizations like ASMP and APA you can start understanding better how you will fit in to the crazy life as a photo assistant, and someday a photographer. Be sure to check out this article at ASMP that gives some awesome photographer feedback on how different photographers have different expectations of the photo assistants they hire.