sherpa duties
90% of our photo jobs require at least two people. A photographer, and an assistant. Large events require an additional photog, and larger events still require an assistant for the second photographer. If we're traveling (which seems to be ALL we're doing this summer) we travel with an assistant, or hire someone we know onsite. What does an assistant do?! What does an assistant NOT do, actually. In general, their job is to support the photographer and help with the flow of the day. Both are ambiguous to a large degree. While experience in photography, photography equipment, and event planning is required, soft-skills are equally important, and the list is long. We thought we'd use our latest Wisconsin resort wedding as an example. Erin has a ton of experience in wedding and event hosting, got a crash course in equipment, and was a rockstar for this 3-day adventure. Her duties included and were not limited to:hauling gearcharging batteriesswitching lensesmoving carsloading a boatclimbing trees & laddersinstagram & twitter photoslacing up the bride's shoes and dressretouching her hair and makeup (and the photog's)scoping locations for scenestesting light for scenesholding light modifierscleaning and rearranging scenes (houses, barns, fields...)coordination with event hoststaking coffee orderstaking cocktail ordersmatching timeline to the daykeeping the photographer from falling off of thingskeeping the hypoglycemic photographer fed & hydratedencouraging guests to light sparklers outside vs. insideetc...Nice work Erin, and kudos to all our assists who not only make sure our own crew is running smoothly, but that our clients' special days are made smoother by all the behind-the-scenes work.You can follow Erin on Instagram and Twitter at @ErinLMerz and @ErinMerz respectively.*** update ***From the bride:
We LOVED having Brockit involved in our wedding and absolutely loved having you & Erin do our photos. The blog update really made me laugh and she did work very hard for our day. Loved the peering into Grandma's house photo. :)Thank you guys!!!!Susan & Luis
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