assisting - passion

When we meet a new, beginning photo assistant for the first time they generally fall into one of two categories: passionate about photography or not-so-passionate. If you convey that photography is what you are meant to be doing, who you are and what you are all about then you are more likely to earn an assisting opportunity with our studio. That passion has to be tempered with professionalism, though, a topic we spoke about in the previous entry. Boundless energy that isn’t tempered with professionalism can be hard to control, so be professional first and passionate second.

Be prepared to tell us how you first got interested in photography and where you would like it to take you. The passionate interviewee shares this information freely. Their not-so-passionate counterparts have given us responses like “I had to study something so I picked photography”, or “I thought photography would be easy”. Ouch. This is a good spot for a real-life reminder that becoming a professional in any career, including photography, involves hard work. If you are passionate about what you are doing then it never seems like work. I have to admit that some weekends I can’t wait for Monday morning in order to get back ‘at the job’ in the studio. I enjoy my profession that much.

This first meeting is a great opportunity to convince us that this is your chosen career and you are in it to stay. Show us that you’ve done your homework and are well-versed in the terminology of our profession. Also show us that you are willing to listen and learn. We were once in your shoes and are sympathetic to the fact that you are just starting out. We can give you lots of things, including knowledge, experience and new abilities. What we can’t provide for you is the passion…you have to bring that to the table yourself.

next: photographic ability