I just had a change in plans and I am happy to say that we’ll be on Long Beach Island (NJ) for Labor Day weekend, one of our favorite places on earth! – I’ll be shooting a job on Saturday, if all goes well, and I’m going to make some time for a couple of personal projects that I’ve been working on..
The first began in April 2007.. shooting with my Hasselblad Super Wide on a dark night, with my wife thankfully along for the ride, I shot this photograph as a gift for my aunt and uncle who have been incredibly generous hosts to us.
LBI - ©2008 MDAVIDLEEDS - All Rights Reserved
The reaction to the print at my aunt and uncles house was, frankly, a bit overwhelming. I decided to make a project out of this LBI at night photo and create a series… maybe even have a gallery show, something I’ve never done. During our next trip, the weather was not so favorable with lots of thunderstorms and heat lightning.. clearly not the best recipe for standing on the beach with a tripod!! When there was a break in the clouds, and the storm was mostly to the south of us, I went out to make a couple of pictures.. and one of them, spawned project number two.. “Lit By Lightning”, or, “LBI LBL”..
Corona - LBI LBL - © 2008 MDAVIDLEEDS - All Rights Reserved
I’ve got the photos in mind that I’m planning to make over Labor Day weekend, hopefully, I’ll luck out and have a variety of great weather with a storm or two mixed in.. I’m really excited about the potential for two really nice series of photographs and the potential for each.. hope you’ll check back to see this as it comes together.
Ok, I’m back with another note regarding the campaign that I assisted on last week.
Tonight, I’m giving the WordPress iPhone app a trial run. (I think) I can post a picture from my phone, and it gave me an idea that sparked Part 2 of the story which I think you’ll agree has a sort of completed circle vibe to it. ( if that doesn’t make sense, hopefully it will by the time you read the story and if not, hopefully, I will come up with a more sensible analogy for you by then.)
During the four day shoot, I snapped a number of photos on my iphone – in all honesty, I wished I’d had a P & S in my hand, for more control (ie manual settings) however, the job was assisting not shooting, and I was travelling as light as possible.
Anyway, I was flipping through the pictures while on the train today, and one of them is the one below. (that must have been taken while the phone was en route to my pocket)
The orange colored device is called a Vagabond II Portable Power System. This job was my first experience with them. The Vagabond is essentially a battery (cell) with a built in Inverter which provides AC power – outlets – from which you can power a laptop or re-charge a battery, or, in this case, power the lights we were using.
But it sure can be fun.
I don’t assist very often, but every once in a while a project comes along that is too good to pass up.
Unfortunately, while there were no non-disclosure agreements involved, I’m not going to be “that guy” that spills the beans.. so I’m going to tell this tale a la The Usual Suspects.. piece by piece… starting with the end.
This was a shoot for the November issue of a major magazine, and, like I said, to be involved was too good to miss, and, the moral of the story is that while I can’t recall a more grueling four days in recent memory, I had a blast, I met a lot of great people, and I learned a lot. Sometimes stepping away from the camera, and getting a different perspective on things, can both educate and inspire.
I’ve been fortunate enough to work for, with, or beside many very talented and successful photographers, from my first mentor, Brian O’Mahoney (without whom I would probably not be a photographer), to my first internship with Bob Nash and my time as a first assistant to Pat O’Connor. I have experienced everything “from the Thrill of Victory to the Agony of Defeat” as the introduction to Wide World of Sports used to say. In the course of telling this story, I intend to share some tips on assisting – from preparation to paying attention – how an assistant can go a long way to help make (or break) an assignment. From start to finish, this will be an informative crash course in being a positive contributor to any photo shoot.
Anyway, I can’t give it away right now, but I promise, it’s going to be very, VERY cool.. and I’ll tell you many stories – the Good, the Bad and, yes, even the Ugly – and I will share some tips and tricks as I unfold this story.
I hope you’ll enjoy this series of posts – if there’s something you’d like to know, feel free to ask – I’ll answer any questions you may have.
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In the mean time, the Victor Bailey shoot, for his upcoming CD, finally happened – Victor’s my neighbor and he’s a very cool customer.. no surprise given his status in the jazz and session industry. We shot in and around his apartment – Kena Sage was along, keeping his wardrobe on point – and we got a lot done, in just a couple of hours, on Wednesday afternoon. I’ll be posting the final CD artwork when it’s done but in the mean time, here’s one of the photos that I liked…
Victor Bailey by M David Leeds © 2008
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