working with a pro?

[tybo78]

Aside from going to school and workshops, how would one get hands on training in the photography world? Assisting (even unpaid) a pro in a studio or on a location sounds like a great way to pic the brain of a working photographer but what do you suppose a pro is looking for in an assistant?
-How much experience should one have?
-What should he/she expect from the photographer and what should the pro expect from his/her assistant?
-Have any of the pros here on DPS ever assisted a pro before they started working and what was your experience?
I guess I'm not only referring to the capture but PP as well.
Any thoughts?

[oldwolf]

When we work with assistants we want to know that they want to learn so I guess they need to show an eagerness to learn.

A basic understanding of exposure is nice but not necessary since they can learn that on the job.

They need to be patient too and not fidgety when we tell them to hold the reflector or light.

We've helped pros before and it was always interesting to see how they thought out the shot. Don't be afraid to ask questions because if they didn't want you to learn then they wouldn't take you on as an assistant.

We've never actually had anyone watch our PP yet. We wouldn't have anything against it though.

[Jim Poor]

I'm actually in the process of looking for some help right now so I've been considering this very question.

I'm looking for two different things that may or may not be handled by the same person.

The first is a scheduler (I have one, but will probably need two).

The second is someone to help out at events.

Among other things, this person needs:
1. To be able to run my workstation for uploading, processing and converting to included culling out bad photos while I'm out shooting the next batch.

2. To be able to show photos and assist clients without being pushy

3. To be able to take the camera when I need a break. That means using my base settings and knowing how and how much to compensate for darker / lighter subjects. Pretty simple.

[Jim Bryant]

I've got my wife........we run the business together. It helps to keep the money in the family. She's been around so long that she finds prospective clients, makes first calls, arranges client meetings, then helps out with the shoot. Sometimes when I get behind the camera and involved, she pays more attention to the little details than I. I download, edit and she becomes the image master and uploads online. When orders come in she goes back into the files, grabs the RAW image, does minor adjustments, sizes it and then I step in to work in layers, color saturation, color balance, and curves and then sharpen. She coverts them to jpegs and uploads the finished image to the website.

[jdepould]

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

I'm actually in the process of looking for some help right now so I've been considering this very question.

I'm looking for two different things that may or may not be handled by the same person.

The first is a scheduler (I have one, but will probably need two).

The second is someone to help out at events.

Among other things, this person needs:
1. To be able to run my workstation for uploading, processing and converting to included culling out bad photos while I'm out shooting the next batch.

2. To be able to show photos and assist clients without being pushy

3. To be able to take the camera when I need a break. That means using my base settings and knowing how and how much to compensate for darker / lighter subjects. Pretty simple.

I have an M.S. in photography. Hire me.

[PhotoPatzer]

I've been thinking of doing this lately, but I really don't want to be paid.

I would show up on time, with endless energy. I would be totally willing to do the grunt work. I just want to learn!

have any of you pros ever just let someone come along on a shoot to help out and learn? No money, likely no picture taking (or very little)? Is this something you would be open to if someone ever asked you?

I'm just curious... Thanks!

[oldwolf]

Originally Posted by PhotoPatzer

I've been thinking of doing this lately, but I really don't want to be paid.

I would show up on time, with endless energy. I would be totally willing to do the grunt work. I just want to learn!

have any of you pros ever just let someone come along on a shoot to help out and learn? No money, likely no picture taking (or very little)? Is this something you would be open to if someone ever asked you?

I'm just curious... Thanks!

We do it all the time but we require them to bring their camera so they take pictures as well. That way they learn better instead of just having us babble at them the whole time hehe.