Isn't it fitting that on labour day I started my new labour? Seriously, yesterday was a day to remember... my very first professional shoot as the assistant of this amazing young photographer,
Vivienne Balla.
Let me start with how I got here. Basically a few months ago when I was preparing for my photo school admission exam I started to research Hungarian photographers and found her website. Well it didn't take a long time for me to get to like her, she is very young, sweet, humble and extremely talented while already considered as the future of Hungarian fashion photography. I loved her work and I felt like I could really relate to her so I decided to stalk her... :D No I didn't actually stalk her, but I did go to an event solely because I knew she would be there and I was hoping she would help me out with some advice for my exam. Well I couldn't find her and when I was just about to leave SHE stopped ME!! Like a crazy person I started grinning and talking way too fast about how much I love her work, how great she is, how I'd love to learn from her... of course she had no clue who I was and what I wanted from her, she just stopped me to see if she could take a photo of me as she was responsible for taking street style pics of the event. (remember
this? :) So she was supernice and all, but I was 100000% sure I would never hear from her again until a few days ago a little note landed in my inbox asking me if I was still interested in working with her? YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!! And there I was just a few days later helping her shoot the girls for ELITE Model Management....
So basically ELITE does this model of the year competition once a year and the winner of the Hungarian round gets to participate in the world competition... 15 girls (All between the age of 15-18 and well below 100 pounds) scared like little Bambis hoping to become the next Gisele Bundchen lined up while hairdressers pull their hair, make up artists do their Bridget Bardot makeup, the room is full of people and eveyone's superbusy...
We shot in a tiny tiny hotel room which really showed me how you really have to see through the mess to create something beautiful... I mean we were standing in hills of clothes and bags (yes! yes!) 2 stylist, the model, the photographer and me.. not to mention the ocassional model, hairdresser... eg visitors... I really felt like someone through me in America's Next topmodel and I'm trying really hard not to be in the way of Nigel Barks while finding ways to help him.... anyway I'm getting off topic here... so there was no nice studio or professional backgrounds, we were shooting in a big mess with a Canon 40D and a real professional flash. That's all. We had pretty girls, fabulous clothes, professional hair and makeup... it does make all the difference you know... next time I'll certainly take some before and after pictures of the girls! Shocking... :)
So what did I actually do on my first day as an assistant you ask?
- I took behind the scene pictures
- I moved some cables
- I smiled at the models
- I went to grab lunch and coffee
- I handed out business cards
- I helped to pack the kit
- I helped with changing the SD cards
- I moved some stuff around
... but most of the time I was trying to stay out of the way.
I felt like Alice in Wonderland... I felt this feeling rising in me. Like... that's it... you know? Like I get it! This is it! I wanna be a photographer so badly!!!
I feel like someone has opened a closet that has been inside me for a long time but noone looked at it. You wanna know the stupidest thing? I have tears in my eyes while I'm typing this! TEARS!!! I swear I am crying!!! I was waiting for something to click in me for some time now... I felt like there was this something I want to do so badly but I didn't know what it was!!! Have you ever felt this way!? Now I know what I want. I want to assist Vivienne and learn as much from her as possible, I want to go to school, I want to live the life I want to live. I want to be a photographer! :)
