Reflection on Experimentation

I’ve been photographing and filming professionally for close to 30 years and I still get excited going to work.  One of the unique elements of this business is the access and opportunity to witness and shoot cool, behind-the-scenes events.  We’ve been privileged to meet people and visit places others just dream of and for that, I am most grateful.

During the launch of U2’s Vertigo tour Sarah and I endured several days of private concerts while filming the band’s rehearsals in LA and San Diego.  We got to stay in hotels we normally could not afford and if we could, our rooms would have looked much different.  I say, “endured” because we also witnessed, first hand, the hump and grind that goes into putting on a world class rock show.  It’s quite enough for the “rock experience” to lose a bit of its sparkle.

I’ve time lapsed the assembly of every type of motorcycle Harley-Davison makes from Capitol to York and traveled to rallies on three continents.  More recently, Sarah and I filmed baby lions, tigers and bears (oh my!) at Six Flags Great Adventure & Wild Safari.  Oh yeah, and then there was that Victoria’s Secret “angel”.

In truth, not every production we’re involved is that glamorous, but regardless of the subject or budget we always choose to treat each project with the same level of enthusiasm.  Notice I said "choose" and not "try".  Experiment!  I love working with my cameras and every production gives me a chance to try something new, or at the least, a little different than the last project. 

In the fall, I was hired to shoot some candid photos at the launch of a new pharmaceutical product.  Now, after awhile that can kind of shoot can get a bit repetitious.  So, after I took the usual photo,  instead of using a flash I pushed the ISO way up to 3200 on my Nikon D3 and shot with a 300mm 2.8.  The images were amazing, but on this occasion the mixed light sources on the stage made the color a little wonky, so I changed the images to B&W in Lightroom and the client love the photos.

Not only did it make the images more fun to create, I also received kudos from the CEO for not disturbing the speakers with my flash.  Now, I get requests for new techniques all the time.

Experimentation is key to creating fresh images and getting acquiring new clients.

When I first started working in film and video production the gear was extremely expensive and owning my own broadcast camera was totally out of the question.  But, I really wanted to do this.  I began by creating films with whatever type of camera was available.  Super 8, 16mm, Hi8, U-Matic.  Whatever.   The end result was much less important than learning the process of lighting, camera moves and most importantly, creating interesting content.   When I finally did get to use professional gear, al that experimentation assured that my skills were already in place.  The camera becomes transparent and it’s like playing a guitar without having to look at the frets.

This is handy when you’re told. “OK, Adam, Larry and the Edge are here.  You've got five minutes!”.

All of this is to say that it’s not by chance that we've been in business for this length of time.  Experimentation helps us discover new and exciting ways to keep our client's imagery fresh.

If you’re bored with the gig, it’ll show up in your work and the most loyal client will be looking to replace you with an enthusiastic new shooter.

That's a promise.

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