Off the Record

I took this photo of my collegue. She thinks I'm really pro.

I’ve been working on the island for a few weeks now and it turns out I’m meant to be a photographer, videographer and reporter. If you’ve ever travelled with me you’ll know that my camera rarely comes out. I’ve either lost it, broken it or I can’t be bothered to get it out of my bag. I’ve never owned a video camera, and my computer skills could certainly be better.

Now I find myself being referred to as ‘the island photographer’. People ask me questions about cameras, lenses and editing programs. I’ve been trying really hard to look professional even if my photos and videos aren’t that good. Here are some of my tips on how to look like a pro photographer/videographer:

• Get down on the ground to take a photo
• Shut one eye
• Take photo, look at camera, press buttons, take another photo, look at camera. Nod.
• Talk about lighting
• Take a whole lot of photos really quickly. Nod.
• After filming, say ‘that’s a wrap’ or ‘yeah, we got it’
• Use a tripod
• Taking films from different angles
• Talk about editing programs, compressing files, transferring, uploading, downloading and converting

A few days ago there was a massive all staff pep rally and pool party. The general manager asked me to film his speech among other things to make into a short film.

I felt particularly pro that day. I had my tripod and a few different cameras. I got a shot of all the staff walking into the room with a plan to do a time lapse (how’s that for lingo). When the speech started I ran over and changed angles, zoomed in and out, panned shots of the crowd, swivelled, adjusted the tripod; I had it all going on.

I’ve actually learnt a bit about video cameras over the past few weeks and there’s a nugget of information I’d like to share with you all. When you film something, it’s good to do panning shots and keep the camera steady, zoom in and out, get various angles etc; it’s even better if you push the recording button first. Yeah, that happened.

Technot

I spent the last week training for my new job in a marketing office in Sydney. The last time I worked in an office was when I was 18. I worked in a payroll office and I hated it. I spent most of my time making paper cranes and post-it mosaics.

This isn’t like that job, this it seems, might actually be a real job where I’m expected of do things. One of the problems is that I may not be fully qualified for it. A lot of the issue is technical; I have no editing or filming or photography experience. Such a shame.

They gave me a whole lot of equipment; video camera, underwater camera, macbook pro and loads of cords that I’m not sure what to do with. I was trying not to show them my inexperience with technology. My computer got delivered one afternoon, all the staff stood around looking at the box.

“Well, aren’t you going to open it?”I shifted awkwardly; I didn’t want to open it in front of them. Computers make me nervous.

I took it out of the box; it was shiny and silver with a big white apple. I touched it, pretending to caress it, but really I was frantically trying to figure out how to open it. I found an indent in the front side. I gently tried to pull it apart. Nothing happened. I tried again, with a little more force. Nothing.

“Go on Maya, don’t be shy”

I wasn’t being shy. I just didn’t know how to open the computer. It could happen to anyone right?

*I eventually opened the computer and am now using it to type on.