Ah the world of television. Glamorous, stylish, fun! Uh.. no.. not particularly. Fun yes. the fun is always there. thats the fun part. Glamorous.. not terribly. It Depends on where you are making the commercial or show I guess. Stylish.. hahahaha.. not a chance. In the world of photography there are a lot of jobs that we get to do that are very interesting. One of my favourites is photographing alongside a television production. While it sounds incredibly fancy. It really is a lot of waiting around while the film crew sets, resets, and resets again for another take. All the while you drift over to the snack table for your 9th or 10th cup of coffee. Wander around the set (or in the case of this particular job, the foggy mountainside) trying to stay warm. Or attempt to befriend others on the crew while simultaneously keeping out of their way so as not to annoy them.

But Fred! you say.. that sounds terrible. Why would this be something you enjoy so much?

Ah dear reader, there in lies the secret.. film crew and production people are exceptionally funny people. and very nice, except for some of the directors that tend to get a bit of an ego on them at times. I guess that comes with the role. Almost every single person on a film set, whether a big production or a small one. Is fun.

On top of all that the actors involved are usually very nice people as well. And, as a photographer, actors can EMOTE! Models are interesting because they are photogenic and generally beautiful looking people. But only one in a million can make any real emotions on camera. It’s hard to blame them really. It’s not their job to do so. ACTORS  on the other hand. give you a range of emotions to play with. And typcially on demand. Far more interesting subjects to photograph for that reason alone.

As you can see in the first series of photos from this job with Elpedison and  The CreaTV Company. A group I am privleged to work with several times over the past 19 years of my career.

The main actor was an Italian guy whose name sadly escapes me. Which is unfortunate because he was easily one of the best talents I have ever worked with on a set. Even when rushed to get my shots he was ready to help make sure they looked great!

The other big plus of working on a film set is the lighting. Film crews leave nothing to chance. If the client’s presented with a foggy spooky jungle covered mountain landscape. Then that’s what needs delivering come hell or high water. So the light, the smoke machines, the angles are all set in place for success.

The only hard part is, as a photographer, you are sort of the lowest creative rung on a very long ladder of people.

Not that I wasn’t important or essential to the shoot. It is simply the fact that there were dozens of other decisions made above me. As a result, the photos came at times as almost an afterthought. Sort of wedged between takes and scene changes.

In a way this is the best part of photographing like this.  The decisions made are final and done. No time for second or third angles. No time to relight the scene. No time to second guess the lens choices. There is simply no time. Until, that is all you have. Time. To second guess if you got the right shot. Time to drink more coffee. Time to wonder if all your batteries are charged. Time to ask the crew if they know where the next shot will be so you can plan. You know. TIME.

Additionally this was my first time not using an Adobe product to edit a job. Having grown tired of them I have started using Darktable as my main editor. Just for those who are curious. 🙂

All in, I had a great shoot with some very creative people whose company I always enjoy. If you are curious to see the final video the photos were made for you can have a look at it here.