- Photo Essay Starter Pack -In this blog post, I am posting a few of the images Iplan to possibly use for my photo essay. These include immages I was culling, my workspace, and part of my final project. Self-AdvocacyWhile at internship, there hasn't been many instances where I felt the need to speak up for myself. The question I ask more than anything is, "What's the login for this site?" There was one instance where I probably should have though. It was the moment I was told to hit the wrong button for culling images. I didn't see anything happening when I was hitting the button I was told but I continued to go along like that. My mentor had to take off for a few hours and I didn't want to keep her held up so I kept going. I thought it was fine in my defense though. Later on when I was flagging more images for the cull a different day, I did double cech with her that I was using the right button. That's really the only time I've had to speak up. All of my other tasks have been very easy independent tasks or something I could figure out myself. A lot of what I have to do is more tedious than challenging to the point of needing to speak up. As for situations I don't feel comfortable with, there hasn't been any. Where I intern, there's only my mentor and I. However, this past week, my mentor's summer intern started back up. She only comes in Tuesdays and Thursdays for a few hours. But there aren't many moments where we have to speak up unless we have a quick question. I spent my first day during career day familiarizing myself with the sites I'd mainly need so I never had any questions about those. The only time I ever speak up is to talk about the schedule when something has come up or is coming up. I haven't had to really advocate for myself here probably considering I have a great mentor. I do believe being able to advocate for yourself is important so you don't get pushed around. It's not just good to have for that reason but if you can show that self-advocacy, you will probably gain the respect of others in the workspace. It's also a characteristic anyone should have outside their workspace as well. Memorable InternI'll be honest, I feel as though I'm an intern my mentor will always remember. On the sheet we got with advice on how to be a memorable inter, I feel like anyone can really do those things. I think what makes me feel as though I'll be remembered is the fact that my mentor and I hit it off the day we met. Alyss and I are very similar people when it comes to our personalities. Throughout internship, the two of us have been getting a lot closer. We have been building up an amazing relationship that I'm truly thankful for. Because of that relationship, I don't see me fading from her memory any time soon.
For my internship, I am currently in charge of two projects. I talked about them in one of my earlier blog posts. My main project has been to design and possibly direct a styled shoot. The shoot will be on May 31st. It's coming up soon but I'm already almost all set. I chose to go for a warm rustic vibe. I'm hoping to see if the dress I was looking at for the "bride" is in stock with the company I'll be working with for that. I decides on a dark to medium gray suit with a slim rusty burgundy color tie. A couple that will be modeling for the shoot has accepted and so has a hair and makeup stylist. The makeup for the bride will be very natural and rosy with a loose half up/half down hairstyle. When contacting the different businesses to see if they'd like to participate in the shoot, I was asked to create a Pinterest board to give some basic ideas.
Speaking of Pinterest, I'm also working on a side project with that. I have been taking notes on a course that teaches you to drive traffic to your website through Pinterest. My goal is essentially to formulate a game plan of how to begin driving that traffic to the websites to grab the attention of potential clients. I recently finished taking notes and I am now beginning to work on that game plan. Once I have created a plan, I will begin to execute it. I have linked the Pinterest board I was working on for the styled shoot below. I feel as though I have been developing a lot of key skills I'll need for this internship and for when I hit the real world after high school. I've always struggled with time management. I feel as though since I'm doing something new almost everyday or need to complete work to move to another important task, I've felt more in control of how productive I am. I think it helps to know I have to depend on myself a lot in order to get these tasks done. I've been setting little mental goals for getting work done. For example, I want to finish culling images by lunch or something like that. Speaking of culling, that's another important skill. Getting to go through all those images has begun helping me to assess what is considered top quality for images. It has also been interesting to see a bit of the editing process. Some photos take time but others are over and done with in less than two minutes.
Getting to and from internship hasn't been nearly as hard as I thought it might be. Thankfully my dad is able to drive me each day at any time. I'm also happy that I don't have to come in super early every morning. The earliest I have to come in is at 8:45 on Monday mornings. I also don't have to worry about a strict dress code, which is nice. I don't mind getting to work in my pajamas. Despite the amount of work I've been doing, I have also been having a lot of fun. My mentor is such a fun and energetic person. We both connect really well and have had some really interesting conversations. Not a day goes by here without her making me laugh. The day I feel was the most fun though was when she asked me if she could use me as a model so she could experiment with different lighting. She wanted to go for an urban look. I came in wearing a normal outfit for me and we went out to do a ten minute shoot. We got some pretty cool shots in a Carlsbad shopping center. It was so much fun. There were times where I had to do random/awkward thing that made me laugh like crazy. Those turned out to be some of the best shots though. We also stopped at a coffee shop before heading back to get some more work done. This by far has to be the best fitting internship for me. I feel so comfortable here. Even with the work load, I still find myself enjoying it. Who I Interviewed: Name: Alyss Charles Job Title: Wedding Photographer/"Boss Lady" Main Duties & Responsibilities:There's a lot that goes into running your own business. Especially if you only have a few people running it. Alyss is in charge of the majority of responsibilities. She is responsible for administration/client management, budget, social media advertisement, networking, photo management, and brand development. Just the titles alone sounds like a crazy amount of work and there's even more that's included with each title. For example, photo management entails culling through literally thousands of images multiple times, editing each photo, creating a downloadable file for the clients, posting them to the website/social media, and more. Why This Career?Alyss chose this career path for a few reasons. She felt inspired to create something outside of her home. She wanted to go out and photograph different people and locations. She loves working with people and making people's day. That's why she chose to be a wedding photographer. There's a type of fulfillment she gets from making her client's day feel more special. There was also the satisfaction Alyss wanted from starting her own business. She wanted her own company and style. She didn't want to spend her time working for another company or to inherit one. Important Skills To Have:Time management, self initiative, and grit seem to be the three most important skills to this job. Since there's no one telling you what to do, you have to plan out when to tackle a set of tasks. Some other key skills my mentor believes are important for this career are creativity, good people skills, a sense of what is required of this job, and a good sense of how to run a business legally. Good people skills should be an obvious one considering you'd be working with clients and reaching out to different companies all the time. With creativity, it's important to not only have that visually creative side but to be creative in creating or finding different opportunities. Obtaining These Skills:Alyss feels as though she has always been creative but she also did go to school for art. She also acquired a lot of her skills through mentoring and researching on her own what she needed to learn. It helped to talk to well seasoned people in the photography business and attend workshops as well. In the beginning, it also took Alyss a lot of trial and error. You have to make mistakes in order to learn. Advice:I got a lot of great advice from Alyss. She mentioned the reason why people tend to fail is because they're too scared to take risks and are afraid of messing up. Trial and error is one of the biggest factors in the learning process. She also mentioned to never be afraid of asking questions. The more questions you ask, the better. It's important to stick with it and put in tons of free hours. The more time you invest into it, the more likely it is to become a career and not just a hobby.
When I first came here a couple weeks back fir career day, I wasn't given too much to do. It was a very laid back and easy going day. I knew it wasn't always going to be like that. I knew I would have my work cut out for me once internship started. However, I was not expecting so much right off the bat. Day one wasn't hard at all but my task was very tedious. I was assigned the task of doing a first cull. What that means is, I had going through all the photos from my mentor's most recent shoot and picking out potential keepers. While this as easy, I had to sort through nearly 5,000 wedding photos. When I was finally finished after a few long hours, we went to see what I had selected and it turns out I was told to use the wrong button... None if the photos I had picked hd been selected. The button I was told to use ended up being for the wrong program. That means I had to start at the very beginning and go back through. Every. Single. Photo. I didn't even get to finish by the time I had to leave.
Day two was a continuation of day one. However, I was also assigned my main project for internship. My project is going to be planning a full styled wedding shoot. I'm planning the theme, the colors, the style of dress and tux the models will be wearing, reaching out to a floral company, reaching out to a hair/makeup artist, and more. I'm very excited but nervous at the same time. I'm also currently working on building a game plan for drawing more traffic to my mentor's sites through Pintrest. There's quite a lot going on already but it's pretty fun! A lot of what I'm already learning to do with definitely help me in the planning of starting my own photography business. I feel so lucky and thankful for being able to get this internship. I can't wait to see what else this internship holds for me. The day before career day, I stopped by my mentor's house to discuss what I'll be doing for my first day. We went over a few of the projects I'll be focusing on over my four weeks with her. There's going to be a lot of days when I'm going to working alone at her house. I'm going to be spending a lot of time setting up a Pintrest page to bring in more clients to the company. I'm also going to be working on designing a photo shoot, editing photos for clients, and shooting alongside my mentor. The dress code is very casual here. My mentor said I could even come into work in pajamas since it's just us at the house. The only time I won't be wearing pajamas is if we're meeting with clients. A typical day for me during internship is going to consist a lot of computer time and taking notes. I spent the majority of my first day familiarizing myself with the different sites I'll be working on. I also began the Pintrest page project. I'm so excited for my internship. I feel that I found the perfect mentor for me. The environment is very relaxed yet busy. There's n doubt in my mind that there's never going to be a dull moment. I'm very thankful to have an understanding mentor. She has a very flexible schedule and we will be using that to our advantage in order to fit in my 30 hours a week. I can't wait to dive into the work I was given for internship. It won't be easy but it should be fun!
How did I measure the success of the work I did while I was an intern? What did I learn from this?I guess the way I measured my success of the work I did was by the amount of time I spent working and the quality of the final product. There were times where it was best to be as quick as possible during some work such as culling images. No one wants to spend the whole day culling. I was usually proud of myself if I coulld get through the process within a couple hours. However, when it came to organizing the styled shoot, I didn't want to fly through it and not take my time on it. How was my work as an intern meaningful to my education?I was lucky enough to find an internship in the field I was most interested in and passionate about. Because of this, I was able to learn aboout the different skills I'd need to be a photographer. It also gave me a big insite on what the work load is actually like. I didn't just get to see the fun of being behind the camera. I was shown what goes on beyond that and the work that goes into running a photography business. Not only has it given me a glimps into a future Iwanted for myself, it's also given me real world experience. What qualities or characteristics did I see in the people around me that I want to develop in myself?My mentor is such a positive person and influence. Her positivity is so contagious too. I want to be that kind of person. I want my positivity to spread to others without even trying. I want to learn to look at the bright side in every situation. My mentor is such a caring person as well. She has a very welcoming vibe. I know for me, that's not always the case. Sometimes I just don't seem very welcoming and I look like I'd actually bite. It's just my face though I promise. But in all seriousness, having that quality is so important especially when having a job where people skills are a necessity. What new appreciations did I develop while working as an intern?Personallly, I'm very thankful for even having the opportunity of a four week internship. I'm very appreciative of all the new experience and knowledge I've gained. My favorite experience has been seeing how my hard work paid off in the styled shoot when it all came together. It was a beautiful shoot and I had loads of fun with it. Unfortunetly, my camera was being a bit difficult to work with but I still got some good photos. I also feel as though I've become a much more productive person.
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Carley WoodyHere is where I will be updating you on my Internship at Honey Photographs in the upcoming weeks. |