When I got to the bridge, I saw him about halfway across. He didn’t see me until I was a few feet away; he was glued to his camera. I’d never been up that early before, but I’d heard legends of the crew teams getting up before dawn to have some quiet practice time on the Charles River. The legends were true.
He saw me, said hello, and started barking orders about loading cameras and lenses and films. I just stood there. I had no clue what he was talking about. I could feel the blood rushing into my ears. What on earth was I doing here?? He stopped, turned around, and asked me what was wrong. After swallowing my pride, I explained to him that I’d never used that kind of camera before, or that kind of film, or those kinds of lenses. He nodded, and handed me his camera, and simply started showing me how it worked.
As the sun came up over the bridge that morning, I helped as best I could. I loaded film for him and changed lenses, albeit slowly. He gave me a roll of his film and told me to shoot right next to him with my camera. I was hooked. I definitely wanted to spend more time with this teacher. After about an hour-and-a-half, he started packing up. He handed me $100 and said he’d call in a few days. He did.
I worked for him for four years, shooting, editing, traveling, and writing…honing my photography skills and craft every minute.
Today I work for National Geographic.
Thanks for the introduction, Michelle.
Photo by Lori Epstein
