Did I mention at any point that I have a photography assistant? He’s creative, a problem solver, a giver of feedback and he genuinely likes my work (or so he tells me). 

I like to think of him as an intern - you know, someone that dedicates approximately 6 months of his/her time to unpaid work. I imagine an intern to have initiative and drive and enthusiasm in his unpaidness. Following the internment, he may graduate to a fully-fledged assistant. You know where I’m going here, don’t you? 

So, by now you know that I'm talking about Gary. He's the perfect assistant. Fundamentally, he understands that it is his job to make my job easier. How good is that? He creates set ups - usually from makeshift cardboard pieces and foamcore cutoffs, helps to style my subject and determines from which angle the light is falling on the subject. He sees me standing on my tiptoes trying to get a higher angle and grabs a step-ladder to help me get that angle. He anticipates what I need before I even know what that is. He makes me coffee when I need it most - because a day without coffee is like...just kidding, I have no idea. 

He unashamedly tells me when the image is totally off the mark and just does not work. Once he accused me of being immature. I showed him. I had my hands over my ears and told him I wasn't listening. Immature - not me! Sometimes he’s off the mark too, but mostly we agree on when I get THE SHOT!

And, he’s creative - super creative. He gives me knock-out ideas on how to style a subject, be it food or jewellery or flowers. I recently did a photo shoot for Grace Sydney Candles. The brief was to capture the fragrances of the range of candles offered. The hero shot was the lime and coconut fragrance. It was Gary’s idea to lay the vessel on it’s side with wax and limes and flakes of coconut spilling out onto the table. Brilliant! 

Here are a few images where Gary had significant creative input - by that I mean that it was his original idea and I just did the styling and took the shot. What do you think?