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 p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Any photographers in San Antonio TX looking for an assistant/intern? | |
As a student, I can attest to the verity of this post. Just because somebody locally offers photographic services does NOT mean that the person is a photographer. I interned with a local landscape photographer for about three years and the most valuable lessons I learned were how to run a gallery and how to sell art.
This forum is an excellent resource, and there's no reason that the mentors here can't serve as your educators. Get out and shoot, exploit the wonderful resource that is the internet and seek out honest feedback. Don't surround yourself with people who will always tell you your work is great – that's the most dangerous habit a creative can fall into.
dmacmillan wrote:
I agree. Out of curiosity, I Googled San Antonio portrait photographers. Here's some thoughts about what I found and how I think it relates to you.
First of all, the overwhelming majority of photographers who were listed are MWACS. Most, if not all, have been in business less than 10 years and not surprisingly have a child about a year older than the number of years they have been in business.
Their work ranged from adequate to very good. I don't think I saw a studio image in all the photos I saw. There was remarkable consistency - photos taken in the golden hour, usually with the sun creating a rim light and flat but flattering light on the face. There may have been some reflectors used, but either there was little or no off camera flash or they did an exceptional job of balance. Posing seemed to be mostly OK but unimaginative. This gives away few, if any have had any formal training.
Post processing was similar from one photographer to the other, to the point it looked like many used the same plugins. Almost all had a light, airy look, which seems to be in vogue all over the US.
What does this mean for you and your desire to work for them as an assistant and be mentored by them? I'm not sure how many use and assistant or make enough on a shoot to afford to pay one. You may learn to hold a reflector and what time of day to shoot, but I don't know if they can teach you much more than that. You'll have to search hard for one who uses OCF, which takes a little more technique. They may or may not be willing to teach you post processing, but PP is such a personal endeavor I don't see how that would benefit them.
My suggestion is to learn the way I'm sure almost of them did. There's a boatload of free tutorials on every aspect of portrait photography, from lighting, posing to post processing. There are also some fee based training, but honestly so much is available for free or a modest charge I don't see the need to sign up for an expensive online course. You could also take a workshop if any are offered within travel distance and are reasonable. Shop wisely, though, some are just trying get you there to sell you expensive plugins or hardware. See this.
Finally, nothing teaches you better than two things: looking at a lot of work, from the classic portrait photographers over the decades to classic portrait paintings, and shooting A LOT. Get out and shoot as many portraits as you can. Best of luck!...Show more →
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