A great photographic assistant can literally make or break a shoot. The question is: What kind of assistant do you want to be?
Assisting is not for everyone, and it might not be the path that you want to embark on as you work towards becoming a professional photographer. However, for those that choose it, you’ll need a positive attitude, a broad knowledge of equipment, determination, and be comfortable with working long hours. That said, it is one of the most rewarding avenues one can take. Being on set and learning from someone who has mastered their craft can set you up for life and arm you with invaluable industry experience and knowledge.
As an assistant, it’s your job to foresee and prevent any and all problems that may arise on set. It’s important to understand the various roles everyone has on the day, as well as the chain of command. These fundamentals go a long way to ensuring that the day runs smoothly. Every photographer will have different expectations of their assistants and it can vary greatly from shoot to shoot. A great first step, especially when starting out with a photographer you haven’t worked with before, is to have a frank discussion and clarify just exactly what these expectations are.
Critical kit: a starting point
- Heavy-duty gloves
- A Leatherman &/or Stanley knife
- Light meter
- Gaffer’s tape in multiple colours
- Sharpies – permanent markers
7 top tips
- Always have a positive attitude.
- Arrive early. Traffic is never an excuse to arrive late, so allow plenty of time for travel and parking.
- When on set, there is always work to be done somewhere. Organise gear, empty the trash, anything. Just don’t sit down and play on your phone. You’re at work.
- Keep your phone in your pocket, unless you are making/taking a call on the photographer’s behalf.
- Do not take photos on the set or share any information about the shoot to social media, unless you have first cleared it with the photographer.
- It’s not appropriate to show the client, art buyer or art director your portfolio. Don’t do it. As an assistant, you’re there to assist the photographer, not promote your own career.
- Maintain a clean, organised set and roll cords properly. Once you unpack and set up the gear, you should continue to make sure it is properly and safely set up, handled, moved and organised throughout the day. This will save you time at the end, and also help prevent unnecessary accidents and damage.
About Jeremy Shaw
Jeremy Shaw has been working in the industry for over 10 years, starting his assisting career with architectural photographer, Richard Glover, who remains a close friend to this day. The experience taught him the value of attention to detail, and how it’s crucial in order to work efficiently.
Shortly after, he took the plunge into the busy world of commercial photography, landing on set with Simon Harsent for a Virgin Airlines job. Being the first advertising job he had ever worked on, Shaw recalls how nervous he was, thinking that he was going to break something and have to sell his car to pay for the damages. From there, he went on to assist other leading Sydney advertising photographers including Sean Izzard, Chris Ireland and Ingvar Kenne. The solid foundation of knowledge and experience from assisting these, and other top photographers, helps him on a daily basis to create his own images as a commercial photographer.
To learn all of his secrets to being a successful assistant, check out Jeremy Shaw’s Assistant Bootcamp, being run at SunStudios, Sydney, on 26 September.
