Through the Camera Lens and Back Again

Studio production is a team sport.

My position of choice: Behind the camera.

*There are worse positions to be in*

During our practice shoots in a studio production class, I got to take a turn at every position during shooting. I even took a short trip in front of the camera to try my hand at hosting and being on a TV show. I may have dropped the ball a little on that play but after a few times I found that the idea didn't totally repulse me the way it did before hand. I also found directing to be a fun challenge, something I had never even considered doing before.

But the role I enjoyed the most was setting up and operating the cameras. Having some limited camera experience previous to the exercise, I was aware of what needed to be done to set the camera up to get a decent shot. Setting white balance, exposure, and focus are all familiar friends to me even if the camera itself was foreign.

Becoming familiar with a new camera is always a fun task for me. The more gadgets and buttons the better.

It took some time to find everything I needed on this particular camera. Luckily, in a studio project you're never alone and I had other who were more experienced than myself to help me along the way.

The most challenging and enjoyable part of the shoot was taking orders from the director. I was lucky to have a director who knew what they wanted and knew how to communicate it effectively, unlike myself when I was a director (sorry to my staff, those poor, poor fools). It was fun trying to set up shots quickly and to the directors standards.

From this exercise I took away the abilities to operate the studio cameras and to take direction in my photography, which as something I had never experienced before.

All in all, it was was a good game.