November 11, 2010 – 5:52 pm
If I didn’t have my camera to remind me constantly, I am here to do this, I would eventually have slipped away, I think. I would have forgotten my reason to exist. – Annie Liebovitz
Three days after I graduated from NESOP, I had my first “big” job as a photographer. Five months later, I’m making a living completely with photography and photo assisting. A few months ago I made the decision to start working at a restaurant to have “steady” income. After a couple shifts I had to quit to pursue an opportunity to assist on a shoot for a big sneaker company. That particular job got me a few months’ rent!
It hasn’t always been that easy, though, even in the five short months I’ve been out of school. My student loan payments are going to kick in full-force next month, and I’ve really only saved enough to get me through the end of the year.
It’s tempting to throw in the towel and go get a “real job” so I don’t have to worry as much. The problem with that is, photography is my real job! I’m good at a lot of things, but I don’t love them and I can’t bring myself to do some mindless job when I am perfectly capable of making a living doing what I love!
I updated the resumé section on my assisting website today, and I actually got a call for a job that a friend referred to me, which might carry me through to January. I’m learning that even in the scary winter months ahead, if I trust that I’m meant to be a photographer the details will work themselves out.
October 21, 2010 – 10:46 pm
Every teacher I had in my days at New England School of Photography (NESOP) told me that to make it as a freelance photographer, the key to success is to be the best assistant possible. Since graduation, I’ve found that to be completely true! In the months since I finished NESOP, I have assisted much more than I have shot, and I actually like it that way. I’m learning a lot about how to deal with clients, how to make a big production go smoothly and even learning things about cameras, lighting and software I never got around to learning while I was in school. The best part is that I’m making 100% of my income from photography and assisting, so I can truly call myself a Professional Photographer!
I’d love to share a what I’ve been learning as a photo assistant, so please add a comment with any questions you have about being a professional photographer’s assistant. Any question is fair game, and I’ll answer them in an upcoming blog post as well as an informal seminar in Allston at the beginning of December.
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Tagged assistant, boston, boston photo assistant, bostonphotoassistant.com, crew, eno, jerome, jerome eno, photo, photo assistant, photographer assistant, photographer's assistant, photography
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October 10, 2010 – 1:31 am
Since moving to an apartment with just my girlfriend and one other friend, I’ve finally been able to cook more! We’ve been talking about a “no restaurant month” for ages, but having a big kitchen that we only share with one person has really made making meals at home easier and more enjoyable! We have a nice meal planned later this month that I intend to write about, but maybe we’ll make No Restaurant November and I’ll have a lot more home-cooked meals to share here.
For my first home-cooked blog post, I present Vegan Stuffed Peppers! I remember these growing up with tomato sauce-drenched white rice and ground beef, which I loved, and green bell peppers, which – well, they’ve grown on me, but I still prefer the red, orange and yellow peppers, in that order. I wanted to make something that brought out the same feeling of warmth and fullness that I remembered from stuffed peppers as a kid while making something very healthy and low in fat. I do eat meat, so the fact that it came out vegan was just a coincidence. It’s nice to know I have delicious something up my sleeve for future potlucks with veggie friends though!
Recipe*: Vegan Stuffed Peppers
1c (uncooked) Basmati Rice
1 can Chickpeas
1/2 Bunch Broccoli, cut up
3 Small Carrots, diced
1/4 Large Red Onion, diced
2tbsp Fresh Ginger, diced
4 Bell Peppers, tops cut off and seeds/ribs discarded
Trader Joe’s Soyaki Sauce
Sriracha Sauce
*Please take this as a guide and make what you wanna make! This amazing meal would have never happened if I followed a recipe and went to the grocery store to buy specific things instead of using what I thought would be good in the meal!
- Cook rice according to package directions, stopping about 5-10 minutes before it’s fully done so it can cook longer in the oven.
- Preheat oven to 350F and start enough water boiling to put the bell peppers in.
- Sauté chickpeas, broccoli, carrots, onion and ginger in a wok, putting the tougher vegetables in first to soften them more.
- Stir cooked rice in with vegetables in the wok.
- Add Trader Joe’s Soyaki sauce and Sriracha sauce to taste, then let simmer a bit so the flavors soak in.
- While rice and vegetables are simmering, boil the peppers for 3 minutes, just to soften them. If you need to, boil them one or a few at a time.
- Put the empty boiled peppers in a lightly greased casserole dish and fill with rice/vegetable mix
- Bake covered for 20 minutes then uncovered for 15 minutes
- Serve with spring mix greens and a gingery salad dressing, with plenty of Sriracha on the side!
I hope you’ll enjoy this meal as much as we did, and I can’t wait to come up with something new to share with you!
October 9, 2010 – 9:09 pm
What a great day to start as a T.A. at NESOP! After class yesterday I met up with my good friend Bridget and went across the street for the soft opening/practice dinner at the new Island Creek Oyster Bar.
The first thing I noticed when walking in was the giant back wall decoration — a wire-mesh-enclosed wall of oyster shells. Along a side wall is a large mural photograph by NESOP black & white instructor Stephen Sheffield. The muted grey and brown color scheme made me think of a cool autumn afternoon on the shore, definitely an appropriate feeling for an oyster bar.
Our meal started with a glass of vinho verde, which had a delightful sparkle and put me in the mood for some great food. Next was a plate of three types of oysters. My favorite was the bar’s namesake Island Creek Oyster, which was salty and flavorful and went really well with their house cocktail sauce. We asked to know a bit more about oysters and our server informed us that the tasty bivalves are still alive when you eat them, but their hearts only beat four times a minute by the time they reach your plate. Crazy!
The next part of the meal was by far my favorite. The geniuses in the kitchen came up with the best batter ever for fried scallops. I might be a bit biased here because I love scallops. Growing up, though, I thought I hated them because I’d only ever had greasy fried scallops from Greek pizza/sub/fried food places around my hometown. Those fried scallops were nothing like what I had for an appetizer. The delicate, almost-not-there batter served the scallops, instead of the scallops being a medium for breading and fried-ness. The scallops held together really nicely when dipped into the homemade tartar sauce, and I couldn’t get enough. Luckily, the basket seemed to have over a dozen scallops and by the time I finished I was ready to move on to the next course.
Being a soft open, we didn’t get to choose our meals but the surprise was fine with me! We shared two dishes: haddock with a creamy, almost citrusy sauce and cauliflower, and pork with carrots and potatoes. The Fall vegetables were a perfect way to bring these dishes into an Autumn menu. We finished off the meal with apple-cinnamon donuts with a caramel drizzle. I’m a sucker for gourmet donuts, so I left very happy. Quite full and very happy.
I can’t wait until Island Creek Oyster Bar opens for real – I can definitely see myself frequenting their raw bar on Friday afternoons after class.
