It doesn’t matter if you’re an experienced professional photographer or even a new beginner, we all eventually need some help. There are many things or rather projects in photography that can sometimes simply not be completed alone. We all eventually need a helping hand, whether it be from a friend or even better, your own assistant. Having the right assistant as a photographer can be very important as you might just end up having to watch over someone rather than them giving you the help you need. In this article, we will be discussing very quickly some tips as to how you can find the perfect photography assistant. Let’s begin
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The first thing to look out for when choosing a photography assistant is to get someone that is as enthusiastic about your craft as you are or even more. Having an enthusiastic assistant will not only help you to actually be inspired by their enthusiasm but also excited to teach them new things as well.
You never really understand or notice how talented or skilled you are until you’re teaching someone who’s eager to learn from you. This can be a very humbling experience that also motivates you to be better and do better than you already are. Enthusiasm helps fuel success and success helps to fuel even more success so this is the first thing to look out for when considering an individual to be your assistant.
Nobody generally likes a rude person or to have someone even remotely impolite around so this is the second to look out for when considering someone to be your assistant. Always keep in mind that It is your photography brand or company that is being represented by someone else. Failure for the person to act appropriately around a client won’t only result in you as the lead photographer looking bad but your company or brand as well. With that said, it’s safe to say you should choose very carefully who it is you’d like to represent your brand on your behalf or be a representation of you.
As individuals, we will always have our difference in opinions or how it is we think or feel about something but this does not make us a bad person. You don’t want an assistant to tell you yes all the time but rather an assistant that can share their opinion as well and help you to see things from another perspective. There’s a saying that goes “Two minds are always better than one” and it applies perfectly here. Try to never make the mistake and assume that your assistant having a difference in opinion from you is defiant but rather respect their opinion as you would like yours to be respected as well.
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Having a certain chemistry or bond with your assistant is important to have moving forward. Therefore it is great to have someone to bounce ideas off of as well as share their ideas with you as well to help improve your craft and by extension improve your business as well.
This should easily go without saying that you should look out for an assistant that is as hardworking as you are. Contrary to popular belief, photography can be a very hectic and rather exhausting job because you’re on your feet for an extended period of time. Having someone whos hard working and look forward to getting the job done is definitely something to consider when looking at your options of prospective assistants. If you are very used to working under high-pressure situations without dropping the ball then your assistant should be capable of doing the same or even better so you both don’t fall off your game but rather get what you need to get done.
Last but not least having or finding an assistant that is knowledgeable of the craft at hand is also very important. This knowledge can be beneficial to you in many ways more than one. The first way is that it can save you time in not having to explain every little thing while doing a session or on a shoot. Having to babysit an assistant can be very time consuming and might just distract you from what it is you need to be doing. The second way in which having a knowledgable assistant can be helpful is having a mutual understanding of what it is we need to do to achieve a certain photograph or to bring our vision to reality. Having knowledge of the equipment and tools around you will help in you have less manual labor and rather just focus on pleasing the client. Knowledge is power and is proven to be useful sometimes even more than money.
I hope these short but quick tips were very helpful in you finding a photography assistant or even finding a new one. It’s always my pleasure sharing these tips and I look forward to seeing you again. Cheers!
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