I’ve worked with plenty of shooters who really don’t use meters anymore. This is usually because they have been shooting the same types of subjects, over and over, under the same lighting conditions, with the same gear, and in the same space, for years and years. Okay, I get it. Tell me where to set the lights and what the power settings and light modifiers are and chances are we will get dang close to what they expect. If you are a new assistant, however, you will never really learn lighting this way. The chances are good that such a photographer started their photo career with film and using meters. Then, as they transitioned to digital, they became so completely tuned in to the differences and similarities between film and digital, and how it related to their lighting preferences, that they could light and relight their setups blind-folded. I can almost guarantee that a student, fresh out of school, will not be able to duplicate such a workflow. It takes years of practice–lighting, metering, adjusting, seeing the results on film/screen, readjusting, and so on.

Knowing light is absolutely crucial to communicate the client’s message in the image. I’m talking about the physical qualities and the emotional nuances of light. Careful, critical study of all types of light will greatly increase one’s ability to re-create a specific light, on-set, when called to do so. The use of a light meter will give you good starting points when designing a lighting layout. Knowing the intensity, direction, and color temperature of the light will create a more definitive picture in your mind about the light, even before you see the first image. The ability to create a specific type of light quickly and efficiently based on the client’s needs is paramount for a good photo assistant, lighting designer, and photographer. Another factor to consider here is lighting for video, as more and more photographers are turning to video capture with DSLR’s. Consider what has happened to Vincent LaForet’s career.

I understand that digital has made parts of our lives as photographers easier. But, I also subscribe to the fact that maintaining as much control over the shoot on-set, prior to post, is what makes a true professional. Controlling your light, of course, is a big part of that. Competency with a light meter and lighting a shot or set will free up the photographer to work more closely with the art director and client. Knowing how your light will look even before the first test image is shot not only makes the shoot go smoother, but it will make the editing process, on-set for the art director and in-post for the retoucher, much easier. I’ve yet been unable to accomplish any of this without using a light meter.

Whenever I’m on set as a first assistant, I will usually have a clear idea of what the lighting direction will be for each shot. I will pre-visualize what the lighting set-ups will be, where the lights will be hitting, what modifiers I’ll use, and what the power of each light will be in relation to one another. Metering each light individually will tell me almost precisely what it’s doing, at least in power and direction. When I use a light meter, I can at least take much of the guess-work out of the equation. If I’m mixing light sources or require a balanced color temperature on set, I’ll meter for that, too.

I’ve always been a continuity buff when watching TV and movies. It first started out when I would catch wardrobe malfunctions and camera angles. But then, as my awareness increased, I started detecting subtleties and shifts in lighting–colors, direction, and quality. That, in turn, started me thinking about how lighting, just like music and sound effects, can create emotions for a desired effect or reaction. Study Film Noir and other classic films by Hitchcock and Welles. Even in black & white you can feel anxiety with contrast, fear in deep shadows, movement with lighting direction, and so on. I love to study light in film. Watch the HBO series, Six Feet Under, especially the first two seasons… the lighting freaking rocks! Most people watch TV and film for the story or the character. But, when you really dissect the lighting, music, and camera movements you can really begin to understand how these elements really support the story and character.

The same is true for the talent, product, and environment in a still photograph. There are zillions of images in magazines, online, signage and billboards. Look at them critically and objectively. Ask what the emotions are that are being illustrated. How is this being achieved with light–color, direction, how many lights are being used, what are the sources, what is each one doing, and how is each one being modified? Think about how a different composition might change the mood, and how the light should change with such modifications. Consider what went through the photographer’s or art director’s mind as the layouts were discussed in pre-production. Study lighting diagrams in lighting books and really understand how much can be done with just a few simple tools. Check out Guess the Lighting.

The following is a passage from Wikipedia: The word “photograph” was coined in 1839 by Sir John Herschel and is based on the Greek (phos), meaning “light”, and (graphê), meaning “drawing, writing,” together meaning “drawing with light.”

Once we draw, or paint with light, you will need a light meter to see what you drew!

Actual light meter operations are outside the scope of this article, as I intended it. Perhaps I will do another article, or video, in the future for some how-to instruction with light meters. There are many resources online, however. One of the best I’ve found is Sekonic. I would say that the best light meter to know for still photography is the Sekonic L-358. Rent one and learn it! Also, know and understand how to use gels and diffusion to color correct and control light output. Two good resources are Lee Filters and Rosco.

What are some of your experiences working with photographers, with and without meters? What are some of the situations you find yourself in where you aren’t using a meter, and why? Please talk about some of your experience in the comments.

There is both an art and a business to traveling and photography. The photographer must know what the client expects from them. As a photo assistant, you must know what the photographer expects from you. If there is a producer, they will handle many of the minute details. But the photographer and assistant will need to be on the same page with concern to ad layouts, gear to bring or rent when arriving, job roles of everyone on the production, and catering to the client. Sometimes, the assistant will double as a mini-producer and handle, or assist, with such things as car rentals, hotel reservations, getting lunch, pulling permits, scouting, and scheduling. Making it all work takes resourcefulness, creativity, hard work, and many times, a lot of overtime.

A couple weeks ago I was on a shoot in Alabama. I was working with a photographer I had never worked with before. He’d heard me speak on a panel about photo assisting at my local ASMP chapter last winter. He decided to bring me on because of my experience, and this shoot was a bit beyond what he was accustomed to. We met a couple weeks prior to the shoot to go over the layouts, lighting, and just to get to know one another a bit more. The photographer told me he would drive down to the location with all his gear in-tow, so I wouldn’t need to worry about rental gear. He also hired a producer to handle many of the logistics. He made my flight and hotel reservations, so, all I had to do, basically, was fly in the day before for the pre-pro/pre-light, and then light and manage the sets and changes during the shoot the next day. We had some weather to deal with, as well as some software glitches, and some concerns about a couple added shots. After 13 hours things can get frustrating and stressful–but, all in all, everything went off well and the client was happy. If the client is happy and satisfied, then your job should be considered successful.

Working with another photographer, I usually have a small role in production, scouting and whatever else is needed, in addition to assisting. I’d rent an RV as a production vehicle, drive it to the location, scout a day or two before the shoot, and email jpegs of locations back to the photographer and client. Sometimes I would meet with talent and fill them in on the particulars in preparation. I’ve even gone shopping for wardrobe and props. Then, when the photographer and client arrives, we would travel to our locations, set up lighting if called for, get our shots, and do some on-the-fly editing with the client in our RV. A much more guerrilla approach, but sometimes very necessary given the subject matter, conditions, or client’s needs. Like I said, every shoot is different.

A few years ago, I drove from Palm Springs with a photographer and an account rep, to a golf resort in Flagstaff, AZ, where we spent four days running around the fairways, clubhouse, and real-estate properties shooting for the golf resort’s overall media assets. I think it was early October and the season had just ended. The grass was browning and the trees had mostly shed all their leaves. Not an ideal way to shoot a golf resort, especially when you want to sell new memberships! We were all kinda scratching our heads as to why the client wanted to shoot after the season, especially at a mountain resort. We had our hot-lights and strobes, packed them and the rest of our gear into golf carts, and went balls-to-the-wall to get all the shots the client wanted before the first snow hit. One the third day, the temperature plummeted and we got hit with a hail-storm that left piles of little, icy golf balls all over the greens and fairways. The food and accommodations rocked. The interior stuff we shot kicked ass. The exterior grounds… not so much. On our way home, driving down the mountain, we drove through four inches of snow. Back home in Palm Springs, it was 95 degrees. When I arrived back at the studio to pick up my truck at the studio, I found a mama preying-mantis had taken the liberty of depositing here eggs into my tire-tread.

When traveling on a photo shoot, make sure you consider a few guidelines to make life easier on yourself, and everyone involved:

• Make sure you know, up front, exactly what the photographer expects from you in your role as an assistant on the road. Many times you will need to go above and beyond the call of duty, but, just make sure you aren’t getting yourself into something that you can’t handle.
• Make sure you pack your personal items accordingly. Take only what you need, but make sure you don’t leave anything important behind. Hats, gloves, footwear, rain gear, umbrella, casual-dress clothes for dinner with client, etc. When in doubt, ask the photographer.
• If you normally pack any grip gear, or other helpful items as part of your assisting arsenal, make a list available to the photographer or producer, so they can determine if it is needed, or not. Gaff tape, batteries, trash bags, flashlight, bug-spray, sunscreen, first-aid kit, A-clamps, gels, etc. The thinking behind this is, What can I bring to the shoot that might be needed, but the photographer may not be packing himself. And, does the photographer necessarily expect you to bring any certain grip gear?
• Save your receipts for your invoice. You will need to provide hard copies to back-up your expenses.
• When driving rental vehicles in unfamiliar territory, make sure directions to locations, hotels, and airports are clear and free of any major road construction. Check the state and county road crew sites (usually under state DOT’s websites) before you leave, for possible delays and detours. Sometimes it just takes a lane closure during rush hour to make it possible to miss your flight. (Once, I had to drive 1,100 miles after missing a flight to make my next gig!).
• Make sure you are familiar with all TSA regulations when flying.
• If you have layovers and any checked baggage, prepare for the inevitable missing bag when you get to your destination. Make sure anything critical is carried on the flight with you, if possible. Again, know the regulations for carry-on, checked baggage, and personal effects.
• If you’re traveling with gear and happen to be in busy locations, keep your eyes on your bags. I’ve heard too many horror stories about camera bags and computers getting swiped in all the chaos of a busy street. Make sure everyone in your party is alert and wary.

Traveling is fun. But, if you’re traveling and assisting on a photo shoot, you will definitely need to be prepared for just about anything and everything. Drawing on experience, being extremely resourceful, and the ability to be optimistic in all situations are things that will get you through most unpredictable circumstances on a location shoot.

What are some of the crazy unexpected situations you’ve encountered on a location shoot? What did you do to overcome the problem? What could you have done to better prepare?

Happy travels!

Bauer -> Behind The Scenes from Jonathan Chapman Photography on Vimeo.

Here’s a great little behind the scenes video shot of Jonathan Chapman and his crew doing a very interesting shoot for Olson and the Bauer Hockey Athletic Camp 2010. I’m not posting this just because I am a huge hockey fan (well, maybe a little), but I just wanted to show that there is still some great imaginative work being done out there. I love it when everyone puts their heads together and pulls-off something fun like this!

You can see Jonathan’s blog at Jonathan Chapman Photography/Intrigue.

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with many differnet animal talent–including cows, pigs, horses, goats, and other farm-related animals. I’ve also been on location with wolves, monkeys, an orangutan, and even a large, brown black bear named Balou. Working with animals like a bear or wolf can be exciting, but it can also be very stressful… for people and the animal. Pet photography is one thing. Getting a bear or an orangutan to cooperate and do what the art director needs on command is another. Animals have personalities too, and sometimes they can wake up on the wrong side of the bed, just like you and me! I have a great deal of respect for the animal trainers, handlers, and photographers I’ve worked with over the years.

The biggest thing you need to be mindful of is how your presence and actions may affect the animal. Animals can be very sensitive, especially if they are in an unfamiliar place and around a lot of unfamiliar people and equipment. Many dogs are well adjusted to being on-set after a few auditions and proper training, but Bessie the dairy cow may not be too thrilled with a bunch of people running around and flashing strobes everywhere. Animal stress is your number one concern here. If you are working in direct contact with any animal, you need to be the animals friend (if possible) and help keep them at ease. Too many sudden, frantic movements and shouting will stress out any animal, and probably the art director, too. Always heed what the animal trainer tells you, and ask them questions if you are unsure about anything.

Most animals can tell if you are a threat to them or not. Luckily, I get along very well with most animals. Be confident and friendly toward them. This disposition is always favorable when you’re on-set or on location with any animal. If you’re not a pet owner or don’t consider yourself an animal person, just try to be as pleasant as possible when you’re near them. Don’t be afraid, because all animals can smell that fear, and it puts them on alert with you. Of course, cats can be cranky and sometimes don’t like strangers at all. In these situations, just do your job and let the animal handlers do they’re job, and everything will be cool.

Don’t go out of your way, while working, to pet the animal or be overly affectionate to it. Don’t call out its name or try to get its attention, unless instructed to. If everyone on-set is doing this, the animal gets excited and confused, and the animal trainer can lose control of the animal.

Make a connection with the animal when you arrive on-set, while the animal handler is present. Usually, this will happen at some point prior to getting things under way, anyway, so that everyone has a chance to meet the animal. This way, too, the animal handler becomes aware if the animal is upset toward anyone in particular, for any reason. This is when you need to be on your best behavior and follow instructions from the handler so you know what’s going on. Granted, this may not be so critical with a border collie, but you better be paying attention if you’re working with a wolf or some other animal that can gnaw at your thigh and pull your leg from your hip-socket! No sense getting mauled like Roy Horn.

On the lighter side, yet still very important, if you have any pet allergies, take a non-drowsy antihistamine before you arrive on-set. Don’t forget, because you allergy sufferers know how miserable you will be if you don’t take something. Even if you aren’t sure how you might react to a certain animals dander, it’s better to be safe than sorry. I am very sensitive to many dogs and cats, but I can manage it with an over-the-counter allergy medicine. If I forget to take it, life sucks for me that day. It’s kind of hard to download images off a CF card, or wrangle strobe heads and power packs when you’re sneezing all day. If you can’t avoid it, at least bring your own box of tissues. I get the super-soft kind, without the lotion. That lotion stuff comes off on your hands and consequently onto camera gear and laptops. Yuck!

No matter what sort of shoot you’re working on with animals on-set, there is definitely a different etiquette, or sense of awareness you’ll need to have. If you are working on your first-ever animal shoot, just keep your eyes and ears open, and listen to the direction of the animal handlers. After a few shoots you will be more comfortable and know better how to conduct yourself around many different animals. Some of my favorite shoots have been working with animals. It’s crazy awesome to walk on-set and shake hands with an orangutan or feed a 500-pound bear gummi bears from your mouth!

I’ve seen this happening more and more, with and without a layout, which can make for a long day. But, in this instance, it wasn’t too bad. It goes without saying, however, that many times when dealing with the client directly, without an agency art buyer/director, you definitely need to be prepared to shoot maximum coverage. This can actually be a good thing, though, and can really help the photographer look good to the client, and aid in building a solid relationship with them. If a photographer works well the client to get different looks of the captured image, maybe it will help the advertising and marketing people be better prepared in the future. But, during production, it makes the assistant and the photographer very valuable to that client.

Many of the shots we took were environmental, in order to tell the story. We were shooting a few of the client’s new industrial paint sprayers, both portable and fixed models. The client wanted establishing shots to give a sense of product placement. This meant that we were taking many wide-angle exposures, showing much of the spray room and other locations that these paint sprayers would be used within a factory setting.

Now, this article isn’t entitled Light Painting with A Photo Assistant because we were shooting paint sprayers. I’m talking about painting with light. You know, shooting a long exposure and painting the scene with light to expose your product, or subject. Maybe you can remember experimenting with light painting, back in school, where you would go out at night, expose a scene for the ambient light and then write words with a flashlight onto the film. The best example of painting with light, of course, is shooting fireworks. But, why the heck would we want to paint with light if we were shooting strobes on location?

Jill Greer, the photographer I was assisting, likes to travel as light as possible. This was a good thing since we were moving around in a large factory, and I am grateful to her for her style, as it tends to save me from having to lug around lots of unnecessary gear. Also, Jill loves her Lumedynes. So do I. We had only three Lumedynes and a couple Speedo heads, with a studio pack, in our location lighting arsenal. Some of the large areas we had to cover were beyond the scope of our lighting. Also, Jill’s style is to use shutter-drag. This worked real well on this job because we could set our strobes in the shadow areas, then dial them back a tiny bit, expose, pop the strobes, drag shutter, and use a flashlight to paint more light directly onto our hero product. This can really help the product to pop, creating a sort of a high dynamic range image, without using post-HDR processing. Another thing we did was to use gels to change the temperature of our flashlight, depending on the ambient light, for different effects.

This is why it’s important to have a flashlight with you. You never know when using a light painting technique will give you the perfect look that the client wants. We used an industrial Mag-Lite flashlight for the paint sprayers. But, it’s okay to have a smaller pen light too. Experiment with different flashlights and see what you like best. The Mag-Lite brand is great because you can focus them. I have worked with another photographer, in Los Angeles, who did light painting almost exclusively, especially for product photography. He had quite an elaborate system designed–using an 8×10 view camera, scaffolding, and a few shoe-boxes full of different flashlights. I assisted him this one time, shooting cell phones, but we shot them digitally with a Canon 1DsMII and a tilt-shift lens. We would have loved to done it with film, but processing and turn-around time was an issue since we were shooting about 50 different phones. Of course, the client needed it done yesterday! At any rate, we still got some sweet images, and the client was ecstatic.

Here’s a couple great resources on light painting to learn more:

http://lightpainting.org/
http://digital-photography-school.com/25-spectacular-light-painting-images