Photo Assisting

So today I found out about this great resource for photography assistants. Most photographers have assisted at some point in their career. Today actually, I made a bunch of calls to photographers checking in to see if they needed any help.

Assisting is, in my mind, the fastest way to learn how to handle professional jobs. It's great for picking up on lighting and photography techniques, even business and sales methods. Most of it cannot be found in textbooks either.

So without further ado, visit PhotoAssistant.net
On it, you'll find great advice on finding work as an assistant. You can post questions on all kinds of topics in some very active forums. You can even watch cool video tutorials on things like loading 4x5 film. You can also post your resume on there and get some work from it.

Yesterday, I went to Tijuana, Mexico to give a photo class to some kids who are active participants in their community. This was organized by Corazon, a non-profit that has been around for 30 years. It was an amazing experience. We all had a great time. I was teaching adolescents. A psychologist friend of mine I brought along gave the little kids an art class. Good times! This was one the photos I took as part of the class.

I taught the kids some basic photography, then we gave them disposable black and white cameras to take home. I am going to pick one or two photos from each camera and they are going to be framed. Corazon is having its 30 year anniversary party next month. The photos will be hung on the walls at the party for everyone to see, and perhaps bid on at an auction fundraiser.