During the summer, while I wasn't working in retail or babysitting my brother; I would do some freelance work as a camera assistant. During these days of freelance work, I saw the various strengths and weaknesses of a photographer working in his own business. There were days where I would be watching the photographer answer dozens of emails and calls of quotations, he would check up on the newest prints and edit the latest ones on adobe photoshop and lightroom. On one of these days, I saw how a client wanted a discount for his business event but the photographer wasn’t able to because of his set prices which take costs like travel into account; although the client was persistent, the photographer kept a professional manner and explained the reasons behind the pricing. As I watched him work on editing photos and checking prints ready to be sent off; we then agreed on the meetup of the shoot of one of the upcoming events.
It was a smaller, local event as It would have been difficult for me to join the photographer in bigger events as he would be constantly moving about to take pictures like he did in this one. He firstly had to talk to the event organiser about the agenda of the event and the specific times when it was essential to shoot the people. The camera used was a Canon EOS 5D Mark III which was his secondary camera, only used in small events like these as it was more compact and easier to set up than his higher range cameras. He made me responsible for the equipment bag which included his range of lens; his tripod was brought but not used as the event had started and guests started coming in. This was an annual business event where awards were given out to chosen employees of a hospitality firm. The event lasted several hours and the photographer was constantly taking pictures of the people during the event to give him a range to show the clients. He shoots in raw, giving him all the freedom to change how the image looks which is a really hard thing to do.
As he is a sole trader, he does most of the work however during bigger events he hires temporary photographers to cover the event. He said’ the photography industry is a very tough industry nowadays with the advancement of phone cameras, I’m not making as much as I used to make twenty years ago’. This taught me that any industry is hard to get in as a sole trader and you need to constantly improve yourself to survive; he does this by continuously buying new cameras and lenses and having strong relationships to get repeat customs which I must do if I want to be part of the same or similar industry. Through this experience, I have learnt more about cameras and lenses, the demand for professional photography and printing and how competitive price can be.
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