My name is Blair Lashley. I am a
junior photography major and this past fall 2013 semester I was one of 7
interns at Roy Cox Photography.Roy Cox is a full time
self-employed photographer who owns and runs his own studio. He’s a commercial
fashion and beauty photographer, but makes most of his everyday living off of
portraits of people who need images for their own personal uses like business,
modeling, etc.
My responsibility as an intern was to help Roy with his clients. Once the client arrives at the office we help them with any luggage they have. Afterwards we direct them into the studio where they can get into hair and make-up if needed. While the client is prepping for the shoot we steam their clothing if they didn’t hire a stylist. Then we set up Roy’s camera by attaching the pocket wizard, which is a little remote like device that transmits a signal to the lights and tell them to flash when Roy hits the camera’s shutter button. Then we attach his lens put in the batteries and an 8GB memory card. Once everything is set up and ready to go we are allowed to practice shoot with Roy’s equipment until the client is ready. Once the client is ready, Roy comes in and begins shooting. I assist by adjusting lighting at Roy’s command or fixing the clients clothing or hair as need be. Once the shoot is finished we help the client get packed up and send them into the office to make their payment. Then the next client comes in and we do it all over again.
The project that I remember the
most and I will never forget is when we had to build a grave out of wood for a
photograph. A cast from an online web series called Anacostia came in to have
the cover image for their second season done. The reason they need this to be
standing around a grave was because someone died at the end of the last season
but they didn’t want to reveal who. So
we took these wooden crates built them up four feet off the ground in a U
shape, and had the cast stand on top of it looking down into the middle as if
they were standing around a real grave. We placed dirt around the edges as well
to make it seem more realistic. Then to top it all off we added a nice
tombstone. This shoot required Roy to lay on the grown in the U shape and shoot
upward. This is something I can definitely say I’m proud of, due to the fact
that this was a lot of work and it was extremely cold this day but we still got
the job done. Roy even said he was thankful for our attendance that day because
he couldn’t have done it alone.
This experience helped me to
clarify my career goals by showing me every aspect of what being a photographer
includes. For example, how to handling booking, how to handle money, how to deal
with people, and how to stay organized. Now I know that photography is the only
way for me.
