Chelsea Piers CBS Sports Photo Shoot/Closing Thoughts

Monday, August 15th, which coincidentally was my birthday, I took the train into the city and then proceeded to walk to Chelsea Piers where the photo shoot was being held. Piers 60 was where the CBS Sports Center was located. Once walking into the building, John the photographer and Paula, CBS’ Picture Producer were there setting up the photo shoot. The interns were in charge of helping John set up the lights and backdrop. A useful tip I learned to get wrinkles out of your backdrop: spray it with water!

The men John was photographing were sports anchors/analysts for College Sports: Randy Cross, Brian Jones, Aaron Taylor, Rich Rodriguez and Adam Zucker. All the men were so charismatic and easy to photograph. John instructed each of the talent (how they refer to who is being photographed) All the sports analysts were decked out in their best suits and were instructed to pose straight on, angled to the right, left, holding a football and sitting in a chair. I was in charge of holding the reflectors, and ‘blotting’ there faces. The other interns held up other reflectors and moved the props around.

Other people who worked at the CBS Sports Center at Pier 60 were busily at work. After all the talent was photographed, they had to get ready for their show which was airing live. There set was on the other side of the room tucked away. You could hear them airing the show live as they all discussed college football. So, my last photo shoot and last official day interning at CBS came to a close. I said goodbye to Paula, John and the other interns, Casey, Ashlee and Elana. It was a nice way to end my internship and made my birthday very memorable.

Summer is coming to a close and I’m excited to be going back to UArts. Being a CBS photo intern has taught me so much and has left me with such great memories and great life lessons that I will carry on into my college career and future intern experiences. Even if it was only for a summer this was my first internship and I can honestly say that I truly enjoyed myself and have gained so much. Now things can only get better from here.

Last day at CBS

So Thursday was my last day at the CBS office. Nancy had so kindly ordered bagels as we all sat around chatting. It was a nice little goodbye get together. It’s hard to think that I won’t be going back to the Black Rock building and commuting into this city three days a week. I can say that this experience was one that I will never forget. Not only have I learned so much about what it’s like to work in the corporate world of photography but I also made great connections and friendships along the way.

Over the course of the last six weeks I have learned to not only commute into the city, but have gotten to see what it’s like to catalog items in the archiving department and also visit Laumont (a printing company that works for CBS). I have been able to edit photos for CBS television shows and have had the opportunity to attend two photoshoots, The Good Wife and for CBS Sports (which I’ll discuss in my last blog post)

It’s hard to also think that the summer has come and gone so quickly. But now I have the education, skills and prior experience to go into my sophomore feeling more confident about future internships and other jobs I will apply for. With the help of the Emerging Leaders Program I have learned that networking is such an important tool and that by asking questions, being proactive, friendly and acting professional gets you far.

I would like to thank Paula Breck, Dave Lombard, Nancy Eichenbaum as well as the rest of the CBS photo staff for being so warm and welcoming during my stay at CBS. This internship makes me even more confident about the profession I want to go into and has me more excited about all the other opportunities that are in store for me in the future.

The last day and what I learned

My first day at CBS was June 6, 2011 and my last day was August 16, 2011. The couple months that I spent at the network in the Photography/Media Department was something that I will look upon as a guide for my future internships, jobs and life itself.

Emerging Leaders has given me the opportunity to work in an environment that will prepare me not only in the future but prepare me for the upcoming semesters. The things I will remember most are:

+ Being on time is l a t e, but being early is on t i m e.

+ S.m.i.l.e. =D

+ Listen. Listen. LISTEN.

+ Be proactive, step up to the plate .. take charge!!

+ Network!

+ Most importantly: Be YOURSELF & Genuine.

CBS was amazing. Throughout the minutes, hours, days, weeks I spent in that office.. whether it was unbearably cold or stocked with sweet tooth treats I see it as a place where a group of professionals look at one another with a high level of respect, sincerity and trust. Just as they did to each other they looked at me the same way, they trusted me to edit photos, accompany photographers on shoots, and have a good eye for picture selects. For the couple months I felt as if I were a part of the team. I thanked them each individually for the impact they have all had educationally and personally. They taught me the in's and out's of the business and I am completely grateful for everything. I hope in the near future to go back and visit, maybe even try out again for an internship. But nonetheless I am quite please with my first encounter of the real world, even if it was just for a little bit.

Another time ...

Another time when I was at CBS I was asked to go along for the Summer Concert Series that usually happens at the corner of 5th and Broadway right outside of Central Park. Heather, photographer and editor, invited me and the other intern (Casey) that was present at the time. At the shoot we were instructed to help her move her equipment around and hand her empty San Disk cards for her camera and to watch out for the other photographers. When

we walked over to the stage set up, there were camera crews from CBS up and running, sound techies plugged in and a crowd lined up ready to walk into the standing area. This summer concert was all for Darius Rucker, a previous member of Hootie and the Blowfish (country music), which by the way was pretty good.

Heather started to set up. She put her backpack down and pulled out her Nikon D3S... then she opened up her rolling suitcase and pulled out another ... and ANOTHER !

Three cameras total... with various lenses attached along with monopods. At this point I was completely impressed, and learned that its best to have different cameras with different settings so it would be easier to shoot especially when its a 20 minutes concert. Besides being quick with handing over the San Disk cards I was able to shoot with my camera. This gave me a chance to place myself

as one of the photographers that surrounded me. Even though I wasn't going to hand these photos into a network, magazine, newspaper... it sure felt good to be behind

the scenes.

It was about the second week into the CBS internship and I was asked if I would like to accompany Nancy Eichenbaum (head Photo Editor) and another Photo Ed

itor to the photo shoot for "A Gifted Man". It was the first shoot for this new series. The purpose of this shoot was for future promos that will advertise the show. The moment I got there I felt like a kid ina candy store, eyes wide open with my mouth just as wide. I was just completely impressed. The set up for the shoot was very extensive. There were about three different set ups in which the photographer would use to shoot the talent. It was a loft covered with white walls that seemed completely pristine it was like the doctors office a little bit but a doctors office I really enjoyed being in. I walked around, carefully, making sure i didn't trip over wires or bump into people. Nonetheless, I was definitely taking everything in, how the lighting was set up, how many people it takes to set up a shoot, and what camera equipment the photographer was using. If I remember correctlythe photographer used a couple strobes, soft boxes, and reflectors, simple stuff... but not really. For the camera itself ... well no big deal... and when I say that I that I mean it was a pretty big deal. This camera is a Phase One, with a digital back it can go for $40,000 + it may seem small .. but it packs a lotta punch.

An hour goes by and I'm still looking at everything like its my

first time staring at it seconds later.. in walks the talent. By talent I mean Patrick Wilson, a dashing gentleman, and Jennifer Ehle, a total sweetheart.

At the time I kind of got starstruck, but then I got myself together and realized where I was and how I should be,

c o m p l e t e l y

p r o f e s s i o n a l.

Patrick Wilson was first up to be shot. First he went into make up and wardrobe. Once he was done he got in front of the camera with instructions being thrown at him from the photographer, Andrew Eccles.

There were specialist that came up with the concepts.. like how they should pose and what type of facial expressions they should enforce that makes their characters emerge through the pictures. I believe with the right directions/suggestions given by the specialist to the photographer the pictures came out just right, they truly embodied their characters. This first photo shoot experience I learned how to interact with people at a professional level, be attentive to everyone and enjoy whats going on around you.