The Apprentice

It's official. I have an apprentice.

CC conducting photons

A few months ago I got a phone call from a Rheinhard Schatz in Germany. He'd seen my stuff online, wanted to visit New Zealand and do a little photography, and asked if I would mentor him. That's a big responsibility, but I've done some teaching before and love a challenge, so I said sure, I'd be happy to meet him and give him some tips. I didn't really expect to see him a few weeks later, wanting to be taught for as long as his visa lasted.

So there we are, sipping coffee and I'm looking at some of the shots he has on the card in his 7D. He's asking me real enthusiastic newb stuff like which metering method to use, and what I think of the10-22mm for a walkaround, and I'm looking at his shots, looking for something good and really, really struggling.

There were few obvious subjects in most of his shots, terrible light, awful composition, camera shake.  I had plenty of criticisms to make, but they were all going to be constructive.  You know why?  It all reminded me of my own stuff and not that long ago. Ray had some work to do, but if I could do it on my own, I was pretty sure he could with a little guidance.

I told Ray his stuff was about as bad as it got and that I knew from personal experience that the only way was up.  Shot by shot, I told him what I'd want to do to make each one better. I don't like to lay down rules, this is a creative medium; rules are helpful but can be a shackle.  Instead I like to think of them as options, and I was telling Ray what the options were in each of his frames and which ones I would take.  God bless him he took it all on the chin.  More importantly he was keen to get to work.  We've been on a couple of walkabouts, he's assisted me on some shoots, and I've given him a few exercises to do.

Well yesterday he showed me his results and they really impressed me... bold, graphic compositions, leading lines, silhouettes, nice use of colour... some real intent had gone into the pictures. There are still a few technical things to attend, but Ray has come a long, long way in a very short space of time. I'm so pleased with his progress, I'm going to see if he'll let me show some of it soon but meanwhile, meet my apprentice... already working hard, reminding me of the deadline I set to get a lighting setup sorted.  Kiwi tenacity, German efficiency, we're going to make a good team.

Ray... of Light