Finale: The End of My Amazing Journey

So The last day we did the shoot. I met everyone I emailed for the shoot. The shoot met a lot of technical issues, such as capture one not working, the hasselblad not functioning correctly, and other technical issues.  I got to assist Aaron in his shoot along with another assistant, Nate. Nate and I talked a lot about the business and how he got to where he was. He taught me so many things about how to get your name out and how to succeed. He was really a cool guy. The make up artist was an awesome girl to hang out with as well as the model (pictured above). They all told me so much about how they came to New York and how easy it is to succeed there. They really encouraged me to move up there and work. Working with Aaron on the shoot was absolutely awesome. I had such a good time with everyone while still learning so much about lighting, concept realization and people skills.

So after me and Nate tore the set down, Aaron had another task for me. A fun one. I was to organize some of his prints for him in a bread cabinet he bought to store them. After I was done he let me keep any of them and even ask him anything about the prints. I learned how he lit it, approached it, shot it, or anything else I wanted to know. A great way to depart from an amazing adventure, by getting a step by step tutorial on how he shot some of his best work. So, we said our goodbyes and Aaron told me how much of a pleasure it was to meet me and work with me. He told me he would love to work with me again, and on that note, perhaps we shall.

I love New York. I will miss it so much. I am so thankful for the opportunities I was presented and given. My last night was just spent celebrating an amazing trip and internship and meeting the most incredible people I've ever known.

Quote of the Day: Aaron: This is truly the night of the living dead for photo shoots. I expect this building to collapse at any minute"

Hours 16 Total: 72

Day 8-9: The Shoot and the Preparation

So Brian Klutch  began hi s2-day shoot with Avon and even allowed me to watch and take notes. I learned so many amazing tactics for shooting commercial. Seriously, I learned so many new ways to light, set up, make this happen, make that pop out. It was unreal. I truly loved it. Overall there was the Avon rep, a set designer, and her assistant. I learned so much about how to talk to your client and meet their needs. Aaron was doing all the post production for the project so I got to learn about an incredible team workflow.I also watched Aaron work on the post production and also communicating with the rep to get the look he wanted.

The next day the second half of the shoot took place. Again, I watched and learned but also I worked with john on the site updating and adding content. Pretty awesome day really. I also prepared the studio for the shoot the next day and also sent out an email to Aaron's make-up artist, assistant, rep for the magazine, and modeling agency reminding everyone of the shoot.

Hours: 16 Total: 56

Day 6-7: Back To The Grindstone

Monday was great. We had a go see for the models that we would use for the shoot on Friday. I basicall had the models take care of all the paperwork such as what agency they were from and their sizes. One of the models (pictured above) was incredibly sweet (despite the picture haha). Aaron shot a headshot of each model and took a comp card. It was a pretty productive day. I finished the flash intro for Wind-up. Check it out here. I also uploaded a bunch of images for Aaron for the website. I also met with John Walter, an AMAZING graphics artist. He worked as the VP of graphics for mirimax films. His work is also at Wind-up. He let me shadow him and watch how he made the graphics and taught me some amazing design  skills. Overall an incredibly bad ass day. I learned so much from this day. I also heard that Brian was shooting for Avon on wednesday. Aaron told me I could watch and take notes...which was pretty awesome.

As for Tuesday we just worked on a few projects Got a new job for ESPN that I got to help out with. Aaron let me watch him work and explained every detail of his work. Basically teaching me new Photoshop techniques and lessons on how to be successful

Quote of the Day:  Aaron: Erik, 15 models are coming in. You need to work for at least one number dude. I mean...how cool do you want your story to be back home?

Hours:16 Total: 40.

Day 4 - 5: A Weekend in NY

So Saturday was pretty much a fun day. I went to central park in the morning and met up with Christina Lee. We got some awesome pictures with the tin man in time square.Great day in Time Square and later we went to a comedy club called Dangerfeild's. Also, plenty of shopping lol. Spent the night in an awesome four star hotel with a view! It was incredible.


Sunday was just as great. Traveling all over Manhattan and meeting so many great people. I met a group of world travelers from Australia. Great pen pals to keep in touch with. Overall the weekend was great, but lets not digress from the real story here.

Quote of the Day: Yeah...I'm the Tin Man...the real one...the one that works for tips

Hours: 0 Total: 24

Day 3: Setting Gears in Motion

In the morning I walked into Aaron's office and was asked if I knew anything about Adobe Flash. So, Since I did, I was asked to actually work on Aaron's new website for Wind-up, an new agency he was starting. He wanted to animate his logo for a the intro to his site. I began work on it. While we worked we just talked about photography and trends and how to be able to adapt to the changes in the industry.

lunch was a pretty great time. I ate with Aaron, Brian and Jeremy and Brian had told me a story of when he used to work as a film processor. Brian had a huge name in fashion come in and drop of 60 rolls of film to be processed. Brian actually cross-processed all of his film and got fired. Supposedly the company had to pay 10,000 to the photographer. Pretty hilarious story actually.

Afterwards I was notified of a shoot Aaron was doing next friday and we had to have a casting call on monday for it. Instantly psyched for it. The shoot was for the cover of a major magazine. Aaron showed me some more great photoshop techniques and we called it a day. Aaron also told me some spots to check out over the weekend.

Quote of the Day: Brian: "so...before you look at your film, I just wanna tell you I have found you a new look thats gonna make you rich."

Hours: 8 Total: 24

Day 2: My First Day At Work...Real Work...

I met Aaron at the studio and got right to work. Aaron's first task was to organize some of his props from a shoot he recently did. The shoot was for a new novel that was coming out and he did the key art for it (cover, dust cover etc). Afterwards I was also asked to organize all of Aaron's software into a cd binder. I saw every version of Photoshop from Photoshop 3.0 to CS5. It was pretty cool seeing how technology had progressed from when he began to what he uses now.

After a good job thanks to my organizational skills, I got to watch Aaron do the post processing on the book cover he just shot. He taught me so much about how he shot it to make it work well with the background he had made from stock photos. I learned A LOT of new Photoshop techniques and skills. He also taught me a lot about how to make proofs for clients, and how to correctly gauge CMYK color gammets. An awesome day no doubt. By the time I left I had filled up 3 sheets of notes.

Quote of the Day: Aaron: Can you save the box to my photoshop 3.0? It holds sentimental value.

                              Erik: Wow, I cant believe this. Its like a museum of photoshop.  My first was CS2.
          
                             Aaron: ...yeah...I feel old...

Hours: 8 Total: 16

Day 1: Goodbye Atlanta Hello New York

After I touched down in NY I took a cab to the place I was staying. Before I left (seriously, like 2 days before I left) I found a place to stay with a young girl named Melissa on 3rd Ave and 21st st. I exited the cab and greeted her and made my way to my incredibly small room...or living are. Equipped with 1 queen size bed and maybe a foot of space from the bed to the wall. My door was a large blanket hiding me from the rest of the apartment. Honestly it couldn't have looked any nicer. I went to bed eager for the next day.

I awoke on a rainy Manhattan morning and started to explore the city before I met Aaron at his studio on 37th st. I took the subway to 42nd st. time square. Immediately I fell in love with it. I posted a video of my first time there above. I'll always remember it.

I met Aaron that morning and I was quickly thrown in the mix. I walked into his studio to see one of his studio mates shooting some commercial work. with his client. Basically Aaron just showed me around and introduced me to his studiomates Brian Klutch and Jeremy Frechette. who are some amazing photographers. I ate lunch with Aaron and he gave me some great advice on the industry and how to make it. He realy pushed the fact that it doesn't matter how talented a person is, but how reliable they are to get the work done. Afterwards he gave me an awesome critique on my work. he showed me so many new ideas and ways to improve the flow of my portfolio. It was really a great way to get introduced to everyone. I spent the rest of the day just meeting and greeting and exploring the studio.

Quote of the day: "So, Erik, how f@%$&! tall are you?"

Hours: 8 Total: 8