They say that the best schemes of rats and men often go awry. As photographers, I’m sure many of you can relate to this sentiment as strongly as I do. I had an experience at a location shoot that reminded me of the importance of expecting the unexpected as a photographer, which I wanted to share with you.
I was recently contacted for a last-minute shoot at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, one of the top jazz venues in Manhattan. Dizzy’s presented a centennial tribute to legendary bassist Charles Mingus, and the performance featured the Mingus Big Band. A journalist for an online magazine was on hand to interview Boris Kozlov, the bass player, and contacted me to see if I could photograph the event. Being a jazz bass player myself, I was naturally delighted at the opportunity and immediately said yes. Although I don’t have any specific intentions, I suggested it would be nice if, in addition to recording the performance and the interview, I could take some pose portraits of Boris with the Mingus bass, if he is sympathetic to the idea.
Given less than 24 hours notice to prepare and realizing that there would be a limited time frame for portrait photography (we calculate between 30 and 45 minutes), I brought two Joe McNally Ezboxes and two Canon 600EX II-RT Speedlites, as I reasoned, that would be the best and most portable way to get the job done. I didn’t want to deal with cables and flashing setup times, plus I already knew that the stage would be crammed with instruments, stands, and amplifiers. The sound check ended around 5:30pm, which is when I got to my assistant. Our plan was to photograph Boris after the sound test and before the first shoot. That’s when things turn left. First, the audio test ran late, which consumed some of our time (this is common and I should have, but didn’t expect it). But the real challenge was when I realized that instead of one bassist, there were three, and I expected to take a group portrait and their basses. My original plan, which was about 45 minutes to capture a bass player, went right out the window. Instead, I now have very little time to photograph the three bassists, all crammed together on a small stage surrounded by wires, stands and stretching musicians.
At this point, I had a small panic attack internally, as my best plans fell apart before my eyes. I was forced to rethink everything I was going to do, and for a second my mind went completely blank! After a while, I settled my mind and thought through the situation thoroughly to make a new plan. I knew I had to work quickly, as the musicians were getting ready for a much-needed break before the first performance began.
I decided my best bet was to ditch the two-light setup I had planned, as there was no time or space, and go with a single flash and Ezbox instead. This will have to do for all three of them. Although I had brought light stands, there was no room or time to set them up, so I let my assistant keep the tuner in the best possible position so we could cover. all three players. I set the flash to ETTL, threw a 24mm lens at my camera, found the exposure around, and started shooting away as the bass trio played an impromptu tune together. After about five minutes, we finished the group shots, and I asked each of them if they would give me a few more minutes of time to pose for individual portraits, which they all agreed to do. agree to do so. The entire shoot lasted about ten minutes. I wanted to tell this story because I was reminded of the importance of being ready for anything as a photographer. I had expected a completely different situation, more time, and in my mind, I had planned for extraordinary results. Among other things, I initially thought it would be dark by the time we took the photo and imagined the vibrant New York skyline and rich spotlight as the backdrop for the portrait. And, although I have mixed feelings about the photos I take (mostly from a technical standpoint), I have learned (really re-learned) a valuable lesson in adaptability and calm under pressure and that when we are hired to work as photographers, we must do whatever it takes to get the job done and make our clients happy.
I also realized that being a photographer is like being a jazz musician. This may sound silly, so let me explain. In music, as in photography, no two rooms are alike. When I’m using my bass and amp for a gig, there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to getting good sound. Every room is very different, which means I need to change my amplifier settings, where to place the amplifier on stage, and even how I physically deliver the bass. These variables will affect whether the bass is good or bad. In other words, each space I work on has fundamentally different characteristics, which I have to deal with quickly and adapt.
The same is true for us photographers, even though we use light instead of sound as a medium. No two rooms are alike, no two faces are alike, so each location and subject has its own set of challenges that we must overcome in order to get the shot. And, like jazz musicians, we must be able to improvise our way under ever-changing conditions, sometimes with very little allotted time to get things done.
