1967, Bel Air, CA., Buick Opel shoot for catalog and ads. We were shooting an elephant along with a car and models (picture below).
"It was like living HELL"!
When I was 15, I got my first job working in the neighborhood portrait studio for free because I wanted to learn about the business. I apprenticed for 13 years with some of the finest photographers for years in the studio & on location against the heat of studio lights & scorching sun, blustering wind, dealing with arrogant egos, always being the one to take the blame, Zen like patience, attentiveness to detail, sore aching bones, excruciating tension, performing against the clock, sleepless days, snakes in the desert, waiting for the right light, blowing sand, tedious body strain, long days on short rest, weeks at a time & much more. Panic all the time! Always solving a problem! There were joyful & breath- taking moments seeing spectacular vistas to meeting animated characters along the way. I was on tons of so called work vacations that most normal people won't take in a lifetime. All to be a Photographer one day & do it all over again.
When I was 15, I got my first job working in the neighborhood portrait studio for free because I wanted to learn about the business. I apprenticed for 13 years with some of the finest photographers for years in the studio & on location against the heat of studio lights & scorching sun, blustering wind, dealing with arrogant egos, always being the one to take the blame, Zen like patience, attentiveness to detail, sore aching bones, excruciating tension, performing against the clock, sleepless days, snakes in the desert, waiting for the right light, blowing sand, tedious body strain, long days on short rest, weeks at a time & much more. Panic all the time! Always solving a problem! There were joyful & breath- taking moments seeing spectacular vistas to meeting animated characters along the way. I was on tons of so called work vacations that most normal people won't take in a lifetime. All to be a Photographer one day & do it all over again.