In the Intern's Eyes

Last week was a very busy busy week, but I couldn't be happier! After last week I wanted to write a blog post about how my experience is going thus far. I have been learning so much from this internship with Sarah Marcella Creative, therefore why not share?!

First off, I would like to say that the best opportunity you can give to an intern is to provide hands on experience and I have nonstop been given that opportunity here. I have been fortunate enough to be able to travel with Sarah to photo shoot after photo shoot all around Alexandria, VA.

So far I have been exposed to fitness, fashion and product photography. With fashion/product photography there are different styles in which the photos can be captured for example; with a model as opposed to using a mannequin. Last week was filled with photo shoots, and luckily I was able to attend every single one.

We had a shoot with Ascend Cycle on Tuesday, a shoot with TSALT on Wednesday and a shoot with The Hive on Thursday.

Ascend Cycle’s photoshoot was a B-L-A-S-T! The shoot was a mixture of both indoors and outdoors for a fitness cycling company here in Del Ray. We had all of the instructors with us for the photoshoot and boy are they a fun group! We had music blaring and lot of laughter throughout the entire process. While I am more of a natural light photographer, my assignment for the day was to focus on laying out product for Ascend Cycle and capture photos with the natural light alone. This was my first time posing workout items all together for advertising purpose and I truly enjoyed the outcome! During the photoshoot I was able to observe Sarah shooting with two different flashes to accomplish a sort of ‘lens flare’ within the photographs that were indoors. Using flash is something I have not been taught and Sarah has been gracious enough to talk me through the process. We both hope I can learn the method of using flash in photography during my time here. (Below are examples of photos I captured from the Ascend cycle shoot)

On Wednesday I learned about ‘High Key’ photography while using a mannequin for modeling the outfits and Thursday’s shoot was working with an actual model. Learning about High Key photography was very intriguing for me, since I have never seen the process be done. The use of High Key photography is mostly used when companies want a super crisp, white background. This typically is needed for when photos are being uploaded online for shoppers to view clothing items. On Thursday when we worked with an actual model I learned the importance of using your surroundings to your advantage. The photos taken for this company appears to within a studio, when in fact the backdrop was hand painted by Chelsea (employee of Sarah Marcella Creative) and is hanging up in a hallway! To achieve the ideal photos Sarah uses natural light from a window positioned behind her, an overhead light in the stairway and the use of a flash on the camera! During this photoshoot, I also got the chance to photograph solo on the shoes the company had. This task was a lot about problem solving when it came to thinking about the poses for the feet. I had to think about the shoes themselves and what the best way would be to show them off. (Below are some iphone photos of the behind the scenes, as well as the photos I captured of the shoes)

For every question I have concerning the tactic and technique of the particular photoshoots an answer has always been provided, in which I then scribble down notes inside my journal.

From having such a busy week last week I am excited to see what all is in store for this week!