6 Months working as a "Professional Photographer"

Got to agree with all the other comments so far.
A captivating tale - even if the togging doesn't pan out in the long term, you've got a natural storytelling / writing ability :p

Eagerly awaiting the next episode...
 
I luckily had the pleasure of my birthday at sea during a transatlantic crossing, from southampton to New york.

With the hours going backwards (gaining an hour of sleep every night but one) - it was really the start of my social life onboard. I shared the birthday with another photog - a chap who was a thoroughly nice guy but genuinely hated the job and wanted to go home more than you can imagine, the team did a very readable "oh we aren't doing anything special" routine. The thing was - rather funnily - my birthday sharing colleague didn't see it at all, even at the end of the night, why my manager was running away from the lab through some watertight doors - clearly carrying something. We were both asked to get rid of the lab rubbish (empty chemical bottles, cardboard boxes) - I laughed because I could see it in everyones smile what was happening. My poor colleague thought this rubbish run was a kick in the teeth and proceeded to get very upset because after that, we had a team meeting. He was almost in tears and I tried to explain what was going on - but he didn't want to hear it.

SURPRISE!! Birthday cake, lots of drinks, presents - it really made my first month end well. It really showed what a difference it can make when the team appreciates one another. Fun was had, cake generally got everywhere. I started to regret spending my first months evenings in my room.

At the end of May, we had a well titled Booze cruise. It was a 4 day thing, really just a way for people to experience what it was like on here without paying the huge dosh. We went to Zeebrugges, Rotterdam and then Cherbourg, all in 4 days. No sea days - which is of course what I'm used to. This is what most other cruise ship photogs are doing all over the world - The QM2 being special because its built for sea days, rough sea days in the atlantic.

If you start to think about any business that provides a service, the more time we have, the more opportunity we have to make money. Days or weekends don't mean anything on ships - its just day one or day five. But imagine how much a company would make given one extra day a week - an 8 day week if you will. Or how much they would lose if the week was 6 days long - inc 2 weekend days. So longer cruises = more opportunity. Shorter cruises = we need to make sure what we shoot sells.

So, we had to get everything right. I had no idea if I was doing everything right or not. It was a crazy time, we had no time off in ports - I was starting to require sleep a lot - especially because the previous transatlantic had the mandatory hours forward (lose an hour of sleep a night). The universe kind of owed me sleep.

Anyway, to cut a long story short - we did everything right that cruise. We made a bundle. Essentially, when you think about a booze cruise and the very bizarre nature of posh photos on a ship - what do people really have money to spend on. The spa, yes but once. Souvenirs - yes but when people saw the photos - the quality is genuinely fine. Frames, albums, display folios flew out.

I also go the chance to shoot a rather creative studio called Lifestyle Photography - pure white background. Because there was always slower sessions, me and sam both got to have a go with that one. Cue jumping shots, silly ones. Bryan Petersons tricks of the trade come into play now - I always tried to change my perspective in terms of height - every shot. I was still nervous but I have always been able to get the shot when it comes to kids, ever since my first job photographing a friends daughter. I'm not particularly good with children but I find its down to patience, always being ready to frame for eye-lines etc. Make the parents comfortable as well and you'll get some good shots. Going that extra mile etc. We were shooting 125/f8 so really, it was relatively easy in terms of technical photography. In terms of booze cruisers, there were some families - and $25 dollars for a print is almost a bargain when you compare it to a a shoreside studio, especially with that white background stuff.

There was, I'm afraid some drama behind the scenes though. We had two Noritsu printers, each worth a quarter of a million dollars. One had broken down. The lab manager, who joined a week after me, was experienced but with this company, I found that different lab managers knew different things. We had a noritsu tech support guy flown out, he twisted one piece of metal and we were back to two printers.

The day before this cruise finished, the other printer goes down. Now, we were taking a hell of a lot of photos. We have to print every single one. The lab managers job is to wait until every photo is printed, shut down the printers, leave the trays in water in preparation for the next day, make sure everything is in place for tomorrows photos - then lock up and sign out with the purser. This poor lab manager was still up at 8 in the morning some days. He was trying but, in retrospect - I saw it coming a mile off. The night before Southampton, on June 1st, about 2 in the morning, the lab manager tells the business manager he's walking off the ship tomorrow. He's getting no help from the company and more importantly, IMO, he was getting no help from the business manager - who knew more about the printers than most. The Business manager was a good guy but his approach to learning/teaching was - sink or swim. If its broke, fix it.

I'm not judging the guy, it worked with me. He even gave me the cunard assignments, so much so as I became the goto guy to shoot special occasions - a Juliard Jazz guitarist, a special performance of an orchestra INCLUDING, the head of cunard. I loved doing that by the way, its like any event - its all a bit unpredictable and vision of what makes a good shot is just as important as being able to get the best out of your equipment.

So anyway, the lab manager was walking off. The BM decided that a photog3 - a girl called Mel who Sam replaced in the team and was in a relationship with an officer onboard, would be a good quick replacement. So, 3am phone calls were made, she got on just before the ship left. The team, aside from the business manager, understood the previous lab managers situation. But, it hardly instilled confidence in the company - if they were so unwilling to help someone that it'd drive them to leave?

I found out the morning after, I thanked him for his help and it was a sad day but Mel, the incoming new lab manager was a particularly sarcastic and hard to read human being - somebody I now appreciate all the more for that. She was scheduled on there for 2 weeks, just until we could get a full trained replacement - but she was due to come back in a few weeks anyway.

After all the drama, we set off for New york after making target for that booze cruise, despite the drama. As for the transatlantic themselves, they were ok. 5/6 days at sea, not much time off, it was becoming routine although I was progressing in terms of company expectations.

And then - we reached New york, one very special new york, my first day off in port in New York.

We had a mandatory drill at 10, essentially it was a pain in the bum. U.S coastguard come on, pretend something is going on and we have to react. Its usually a fire. And its usually far away from my emergency section (I was a stairway guide in a crew area). Not today, the fire is at the bottom of my stairway. However, they decide to employ actors this time. I'm hungover, I'm not in the mood to lose my day off in New york. A "passenger" comes into my area, tries to walk down the stairs, i politely tell them there is no access to anyone. I politely ask them to leave. They ignore what I've said, saying that there is someone on deck 2 they need to get to. In a mixture of annoyance and understanding that this is probably an actor, I move towards them, at which point they start getting a bit upset. Me and my stairway guide pal physically get in their way, which seems enough for them, we once again re-iterate that there is a fire down there - they say that we've just allowed someone to burn to death because we didn't let them through. We, in a moment I'll be proud of, say "Sorry sir but there is no way you can know that and you going down there will probably just ensure that you burn to death - the emergency teams are doing everything required now please go back to your muster station" (or something similarly eloquent). Thank you rum and coke from the night before.

The ships company passed the drill, we finished at 10:45, we all rushed downstairs and met at the bus. Me and Sam both had the day off, it was going to be good. Not as good as expected because normally, New york means you get at least 9-3:30 off, the drill putting a spanner in the works.

We followed friends into Brooklyn, I cannot describe how exciting it was to enter New York like that. Like escapees or inmates, we were allowed to enter this famous place for a few hours before we had to be back. We got into central manhattan for about midday - we had maybe two hours before we needed to start thinking about heading back. It was still ace, it was my first New York, after all.


Brooklyn atlantic Avenue MTR station, not a great shot but I just looked through my Lightroom catalogue and it says I was there...

DSC_5830.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr​

Sam and her camera

DSC_5841.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr​

Amit, my Sales manager and a taxi

DSC_5844.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr


DSC_5848.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr​

The Mac Store Manhattan, somewhere I immediately knew i wanted to buy a macbook pro (using one now)

DSC_5858.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr​

Sam with truly awesome pizza

DSC_5860.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr​

Me with slightly more awesome pizza

DSC_5861.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr​

Tourist shots a go go

DSC_5868.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr


DSC_5870.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr​

One of the saddest photos i've taken - the moment we have to leave New york and get back onboard. A genuine heartbreak.

DSC_5901.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr​

So that was my first New york. The team was fine, Mel was learning to be a lab manager at the same time as doing it. The team was ok. The business manager was also beginning to lead a spinning class, something I wanted to do. We did it at 11:15pm every other evening, I did it because I got on well with the manager and I also wanted to get fit in these 6 months.

Apart from the same old work, same old studios, the drama of the previous lab manager leaving escaped quite quickly. The printer was fixed in New york, maybe the company sat up and took notice.
We were going back to southampton to start an 11 day Norwegian cruise. Hopes were high, I was going 71 degrees north, it was going to be fun.

Personally and socially, life was alright. Me and Sam often had a few quick drinks in the officers bar and we were always chatting, getting as close as you can be without ever being more than friends. She had her very own emotional moment at one point on this atlantic (similar to my one in my first New York). I walked past the shop and smiled at her - you know that smile someone gives you which is a painfully polite/holding back the tears smile. Oh I felt ever so sorry for her. She missed her family, her boyfriend and the job wasn't turning out quite how we expected. The highlight of New York followed by the horrible hours forward meant the lows were very low. The team, although it was better, was still not rock solid. i didn't feel like i'd made many friends, I'd pinned quite a lot of my hopes on sam being there, a familiar ace from training etc. She did the same I think.

So were were stuck in a weird situation, with odd people who either loved or hated the job, a team changing every few days apparently (with mel leaving in the next southampton). At least we had eachother to moan to.
 
This is quite a short bit now, its all a bit sad really.

I'll not drag this stage of my 6 months out any longer but in Southampton, we got our new Lab manager, an extraordinary fellow called Rico, from the Philippines. He was transferred from the Queen Victoria, in port on the same day as the QM2. Scared me at first, mainly because I've never known someone so camp, so ridiculously happy in all of my life.

Me, Sam and one other photog were in charge of photographing the embarkation shots. It went fine, we were, I suppose, the three newest on the team but I began to find that newest often meant that we worked better than the other members of the team. We were at the very least, enthusiastic and cheerful.

We finished up for the day, after shooting sail-away. Then I notice something isn't quite right. Sam had to have a sit down with the business manager for a start. I go down a bit later on to see if everything is alright. Everything was not alright. I could see Sam was either sad or happy or both. When I found out I was both. Sad for me, happy for her.

She was supposed to transfer to the Queen Victoria earlier. The emails didn't get through or something. So, instead, she would be flying from the next port, a Norwegian town called Stavanger.

She asked me whether she should go, we'd heard that other cruise ships were totally different to ours. As I said, we do the atlantic umpteen times a year, others only do it if the weather is good or they really have to. It was supposed to be a much easier life onboard those ships. Of course she should go.

We had one sea day before she was supposed to leave. We had one formal night followed by a party to see her off. I'm not going to lie to you, those 2 days were awful - I'd even go all american slang and say they truly sucked - and the days afterwards sucked even more.

I'll go into the whole of the Norwegian cruise next time but suffice to say, I didn't have a very good one. At the time, I had absolutely no idea how I was going to finish my contract on my own.
 
Dude. I can't wait.. type the next bit now..!!
 
Yet another enthralling read! :thumbsup:

I'm drawn to the angle of the ship in the last photo... It reminds me of Titanic lifting her bum out of the water just before sinking...! :eek:
 
next installment please
next installment please
next installment please

this is getting more gripping as it goes along!
 
:thumbsup:BRILLIANT!!
I was drawn into the thread because I wanted to nose at some 'proffessional pix'but very quickly forgot about the photos & got into your story..amazing read,keep it going please,cant wait for the next bit.
I did love the photo of the decking it's my fav:smashin:
 
Still really enjoying this story and your very engaging writing style :smashin:

Jim
 
This is still such a great read and I really appreciate the OP taking the time sharing this with us. Thank you.
 
This is fascinating reading. You should put these posts and the accompanying photos in a blog - I'm sure people from all over would be interested, especially those thinking of the job you are describing.

Really enjoying this thread ! :thumbsup:

This is an awsome read. Keep it coming

This is still such a great read and I really appreciate the OP taking the time sharing this with us. Thank you.

Without a doubt fascinating . lovely pics and very interesting read.. not at all what I was expecting:)
 
Great read.... :smashin:

Having just discovered this thread, and read it from start to finish in one sitting, i now find myself hitting the refresh button hoping for an update...

Gah .. it's like catching up with all those episodes of House and then have to wait like the rest of the world for the next episode to air :)
 
Well it seems my 6 months have turned into a bit of a soap opera. I'm not quite sure how i feel about that but I suppose it was a bit of an emotionally fraught first few months.

I guess i'll keep going then, apologies for the delay, people to visit - plus living on dry land actually takes some getting used to.

So, Sam was leaving. Gutted. We were on a Norwegian cruse, from Southampton we travelled to Stavanger - which is where sam was flying to Malaga or somewhere beautifully hot in order to join the Queen Victoria.

The first day was a sea day, everyone was getting used to the idea of her leaving. My manager, who was leaving after the next transatlantic, was also starting to show signs of apathy in terms of the job. Nice guy but it was undeniable.

That day itself went by far too fast. Sam and I worked together quite a bit, we planned to buy her a gift to make sure she remembered us (100 dollars, shared equally), she was clearly torn about whether she wanted to leave. She had this ship, which she now knew relatively well (admittedly, that was down to me), she'd made friends but this new ship was supposed to be a laugh.

I, being one of the two new people, was still shooting the Commodores cocktail party. I absolutely have no idea how I kept a straight face all night. I just wanted people to see how sad I was - but I remembered reading that there is a direct link to smiling and happiness and more importantly, that it works both ways. I beamed like an idiot - I think it worked.

I think thats one skill that should be mentioned in the adverts (although it is mentioned during the training, should've seen it coming) - being able to smile regardless of your feelings is really important. Angry guests, angry officers, angry co workers or supervisors - as soon as you walk into a guest area - you have to be as happy as larry.

So me and sam shot the party, worked together in the gallery and then we went to shoot ressie (the restaurant). Again, smiles out, cheesy and cheeky jokes are the order of the day. I got a lot better at this part of the job by the end, my persuasive ways I used then seem ridiculous now.

Everybody congratulated sam on finishing her last ressie on the mary, we closed the gallery at 10 and proceeded to get the gifts and get the drinks required to drown our sorrows.

Good night had by all, sad but what else do you do.

So, we reached Stavanger and I had to, realistically for the first real time, shoot the gangway.

So, as you may remember, its all about getting photos to go in a template, with the template having lots of decently composed stock shots of the area to really sell the image. The more photos we get on gangway, the more we sell. I was in charge of shooting the QM2 lifering, I was having no luck at all. I knew that sam was onboard packing, making sure she'd not forgotten anything. Rico, who could probably see through the act, made sure he did his best, as the manager of production, to show me the way.

We ended up having quite a lot of fun. In fact, during the last cruise when I also did gangway, I even used an incredibly offensive "hello sailors" routine, to the dismay of my room mate. Just imagine any offensive stereotype for homosexuals - combine them and you've had a glimpse of the levels of camp I was resorting to, just to make the guests laugh (result) and in turn, stop for their photograph.

So I used that one a bit, Rico was full of energy but had a dark streak, if some people were rude (and they were) - as they walked away, he'd say "GOOD". It left me in tears of laughter on more than one occasion, it was good to meet someone who knew had my troublesome sense of humour. The other guys were having less fun. One chap, the young man who was unhappy with the job to say the least, walked with people until they said yes. The other photog, who worked on a totally different cruise line and with totally different guests in the past, was also getting frustrated.

There is one rule that the company imposes on Gangway. No walking shots. Look at a paparrazis portfolio, skip past the upskirt shots and the actors punching the lens and you'll find a walking shot. Badly cropped, feet missing, missing focus, no eye contact. This is what the others were producing. Not every shot - but some were.

I certainly kept to that rule - even if I only found out about the rule later on. Who would buy a photograph with those mentioned flaws - and for $24.95? So I tried to keep to my morals/ethics if you will.

But the reason why the other photographers were doing this is because we were pressured to get the shots. We arrived at 7:00, gangway out by 7:30, government had to OK the ship and we were first off. it should be a 2 and 1/2 hour job for 3 of us. 500 shots standard - its ok if different photogs shoot the same people because they might buy one. But still. if we didn't get close to that amount - they threatened we'd be out there until 12 or 2. I hated that aspect.

Anyway, we finished about 9:30, the issues with gangway popped up later in the cruise (we had consecutive gangways you see, so the manager can threaten us with staying out late if we were consecutively late).

We were off from then until about 3 or so, where we'd have to set up the studios, man the gallery and of course, shoot everything else required.

We'd go and shoot the admittedly beautiful town of stavenger, then we'd go back for her case - me being one of her closest buds on the ship would have the tortuous job of getting her to the taxi.

Anyway, on with the photos - the last I took for pleasure for a good long time. This cruise was never going to be happy one for me.

A quick abstract of the bow


DSC_7606.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr

Sam and Jed, the chap who was rarely happy onboard. Quite a lot younger than the other photogs but when he was happy, it tended to be contagious. He helped be quite a bit when I joined as well so I'll always be grateful to him for that.

DSC_7609.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr


DSC_7614.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr

Moi un Sam, whats embarrassing is that in the other photos my flys are wide open. I show it to friends all the time but I'll let you off

DSC_7620.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr

Finally a chance to shoot candid photos of people doing their own thing. All these were shot with the 85mm 1.8 by the way.
DSC_7622.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr

Sam had issues with her nose, me being the terrible human being I am, of course found a great opportunity to show it off by finding a norwegian troll.

DSC_7627.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr


DSC_7628.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr

My floating home

DSC_7633.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr


DSC_7636.jpg by cvaughanphoto, on Flickr



Right thats it for now. Sam left, that walk to the taxi was one of the most difficult moments I've ever had. A purely platonic symbiotic relationship is one scientific way to put it - but it was great while it lasted.

The norway cruise, as I said, was tough. But I resorted to meeting new people, going to the spa for free to relax and crying a bit here and there as well. I made mistakes because I was unhappy, leaving my studio backdrop rolled down one evening - my manager rang me, asked me why I'd done it, I just mumbled "nothing" Luckily, his girlfriend onboard, the training manager for cunard onboard at the time was able to fill him in. I think he knew but he was hoping I'd be more professional about the matter.

Highlights of the cruise? Well I got to go, on a bus, from a place called Honningsvag - to North cape. The northern most place in the world and in the arctic circle. We were sent to photograph guests with a giant globe. Good fun. It rained quite a bit, my D80 took a hammering, I spent more time drying the lens element than taking photographs.

I saw 24 hours of sunlight. I got drunk with my manager on the top deck at 4 in the morning, I made friends with some fantastic people, I continued spinning classes and was getting visibly thinner and fitter (the thinner bit might have been the food onboard). It wasn't all bad.

I also found out that I had a bit of a dream few weeks after our trip to Norway. I was not only going to be in New york when a friend of mine would be there, we'd be following onto Boston for the 4th of July, where the aforementioned friend Hannah was meeting up with recently emigrated friend Emma and I'd also be seeing my dad and brother the southampton after Norway AND I'd have New york after meeting friends in Boston off. Good times were ahead.

And they were - Photos in the next post.

I've just put the now-fully-charged battery into the D7000 sitting next to me, all i need is a bit of frosty weather in the morning to give it some use.
 
Very poignant episode - loved it :smashin:

Jim
 
there is something about that ladder shot i really like!
 
Is there any more to this story as I was really enjoying reading it?
 
Is there any more to this story as I was really enjoying reading it?

+1 - glad you reminded me as I meant to post a similar question earlier and forgot :smashin:

Jim
 

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