I get emails and calls fairly frequently from folks that want to assist, learn, etc on my shoots; but rarely do I get one that makes me go hell yeah. Don’t get me wrong, I’m flattered that people want to learn from my shoots, but adding one more variable to tight budgets and stressed clients is something I usually like to avoid. Enter Pat. Several weeks ago that wrote to me, “I want to learn… I will to work for free… I don’t care if I’m just humping lights and batteries around all summer, just watching shooting, editing, and marketing go down would be huge for me”. Did he say free, entire summer, hump lights, work on marketing… ‘hell yeah’.

Ok, Ok, I’m making complicated things too simple. To be honest an intern should be someone that is reliable, eager (but not too much so), is aware of the things they excel at and struggle with, doesn’t make the client nervous, and the biggest crux — knows how to make what you teach, his/her own. By that I mean I don’t want to be competing with another me 6 months down the road. That narrows the field down pretty thin, so I’m stoked to have Pat on board for the next few months.

He’s going to be contributing to the blog on a regular basis. I hope he brings an ‘everyman’ attitude to his pieces, and is able to convey how ideas go from mental to physical form.

HEAVY BAGS: Pat Bagley’s Blog as an Assistant at Kemple Media

Blog 1: Pre-season (click to read more)

Blam! The desk phone rings: It’s a big-name client, say, The North Face. They ask you to shoot their spring line in Chile/Czech Republic/Pakistan. What do you do? I know what I’ll do: take a message and then give it to Tim. [HA! If he only knew! tk]

On June 1 I start a summer job as an assistant for photographer Tim Kemple. If you’ve met me, you might be surprised, asking: “Holy shit, Pat, why the hell did Tim hire you?” It’s a good question. Here’s my situation: I’m a 22-year-old biology major [I was a Microbiology Major, gasp tk] at Colby College in Maine. My formal photography training is limited to high school classes. And the ‘real world’ experience I have isn’t even photography-related: I’ve written for several magazines and completed an editorial internship at Rock and Ice magazine last year, I contribute short articles to them regularly.

BUT!

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from writing, it’s that all good stories have a conflict. So, with that in mind, expect some great stories from this blog —  A brain full of visual ideas trying turn those into a physical form, from a no-bullshit pro like Tim, will undoubtedly make for some rich experiences. It will be challenging, but I also have a challenge for all of you:

-If you’re already a photo ace, I challenge you to bookmark this blog, and keep up. Later this week I will post some B&Ws from high school and some shots I took while climbing in Potrero Chico, Mexico last January. I’d love to hear your criticism!

-If you’re a noob, I challenge you to keep up with me. I will be posting lessons I learn from trial-by-error and from Tim’s expert-advice so stay current! You might learn something.

Stay tuned! tk

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