Internship Report
1) While interning at David I would say that I did 4 major projects so far. 3 of those were photography projects and the other was a fashion show.
My first assignment was to photograph a man named Paul Appleman. David magazine was doing a story on him and I needed to do some photos to go with the story. We went to his friend’s apartment and had the photo shoot. Torren, Brian and I were there with Paul while we did the shoot.
I brought strobes with me, but quickly found I would not need them. There was enough window light through out the whole place that would be enough for taking the photos.
I proceeded to look at the location and figure out some place to do the photographs. Torren also suggested some ideas for the photos as well. I think in the end we were able to get some nice shots of Paul for the magazine.
2) The Second project that I did was the Armorettes Easter shoot. This shoot was nerve racking for me because I knew it would be a cover shoot, as well as photos inside. Torren and I collaborated on the theme and location.
One the day of the shoot I was the photographer, Jeremy Barton assisted me on lighting and Torren was there to help with creative direction. We did the shoot on a local high school track. I used my camera and one 800 strobe and generator. There were 7 drag queens to shoot and incorporate into the pictures.
The day was very hot and it was around 4 o’clock. At first I could tell that the Armorettes were not very keen on the idea or the shoot. However, I keep pushing ahead and trying to do the best that I could. Once we started to do the pictures in the shade the group started to get into it and have a good time. I think that they started to embrace the idea of the shoot and they started to put in their own input and style.
During the shoot, Jeremy’s light fell twice and broke. Although that was an unfortunate event, the overall shoot was a great success. In the end the Armorettes were happy with their photos and had a great time overall.
3) My third project, and perhaps the biggest, was the Swimsuit in the City. This shoot took the most planning so far. We had to plan the idea and locations for the shoot. We also had to find many models to do the shoot. Then we had to get sponsors for the swimsuits (ones that would provide the swimsuits) to provide us with material to shoot with. Then we had to have a make-up artist and hair stylist to use.
Once we had everything lined up we planned the shoot 5 days before the deadline to submit it. We organized to shoot it on a Sunday. We started at 8am and went till 8pm. I was the shooter. Jeremy assisted me. Torren played a big part in assigning suits to the models and also helped with some of the set up of the models during the poses.
For this shoot I used all available light. We did not start shooting until around 10 am. Although my initial feeling was the light wasn’t appropriate to shoot in, I pushed that aside and did the best I could with what I was given and also with what Torren wanted. We did many different location and different costume changes through out the day. The shoot was a lot of fun, but very tiring.
This was my first big shoot and I think I took a lot away from the experience. I had to help learn how to balance my creative ideas with that of another “creative director”. I also had to figure out how to keep a positive report with the models, bathing suit distributor, and magazine employees. I found it to be a big mental balancing act.
After all of the shooting was done the editing and nitty gritty stuff began. Torren and I had to weed down the photos he liked and then I had to edit them. It was very difficult to shoot on Sunday and have everything magazine ready by Friday. The week was very difficult for me because I put in over 50 hours for the magazine alone. This did not include my school assignments and all other responsibilities.
Once the magazine came out it was a very rewarding experience. I had 17 images in the magazine for the swimsuit issue. I was very happy with the results, and also having so many images put out there. It was a once in a lifetime experience.
4) My next major project was to work on the swimsuit fashion show. After the photography part of the shoot I stepped back to work on some school stuff. I let Torren orchestrate the event and just tell me where I needed to be when.
On the day of the runway show I went to the club Opera around 2:30pm. When I got there I helped the intern, Adam, get the models in order and put the swimsuits in order for the show. We organized the order of the models and also the order of the swimsuits. After the order was taken care of I went to figure out the place I needed to be for photos. I was able to get the walk pattern for the models and figured out where I needed to be.
After the model order was set, I went out to photograph the models as they came out and modeled the suits. It was very interesting working with many models that did not have much experience. When they came out I had to try and signal them to move on once I had taken their picture. It was a very fast show overall.
Even though this show was very small it was still a good experience to see what a fashion show could be like. I noticed the back of the house person had to be very organized. I also notice how small the crowd was. It seems to me that marketing was also a key point to pay attention too. One may have a good product and good models, however if you don’t’ have enough publicity then the whole production could fail.
My overview of the fashion show was that it was a good concept, but just the wrong execution. Advertising and promotion of the show fell a bit short.
