Senior Year | THESIS

It is weird to say I am an senior, a senior in college that is. It feels like just yesterday I was graduating high school, excited and filled with wonder about what my future with photography and Ringling would hold.

Now its time for me to create the most important photographs of my life. I've been told by teachers that I need to find my medium, what I am passionate about, what I LOVE to photograph. Since the start of my photographic career, I have always disliked the idea of having to hold on to one type of photography. I love to shoot creative fine-art installations, commercial, fashion, food, I like it all; therefore, determining my subject has been quite difficult. 

I can say that I have fallen most passionate about commercial and fashion, particularly fashion and beauty. Working at Troy Plota Photography/ Plota Productions has led me to really understand what the commercial world is and how it works. Since I will be emerging myself into this subject after graduation, I am considering this time to create something different while still holding on to my roots. 

Combining together the things I love most will create a perfect template for making photographs for thesis that will display not only my skills, but also who I am as a photographer.

My thesis will consist of still photographs and a visual/audio film that will be displayed as an installation. I want my audiance to not just look at the hptographs, but to expirirnce the them. 

 Ive always had  a love for dance,  every aspect of it. The form, commitment, connection, movement, community, soul, everything about dance. 

I want my thesis to display everything that dance is. I want the veiwer to become lost in the movement of a still image and to feel as if they are a part of installation.

This blog will be a virtual diary of my process for thesis 2014. Let the games begin, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

Day 14 - 16 | Belk Back To School | Internship w/ Troy Plota Photography

Day 14 - 6.3.13 | 8am - 5pm

Today was a really fun day at the studio. They crew had an amazing sense of connection and energy flowing. I assume it was because of the nice weekend off after a hard working trip!  We stayed in the studio all day doing product shots for Belk's Back to School catalog. I worked on organizing expemses and making the expense reports for the shoot. Ithought is was really cool how everything was divided up an dI feel like I haev a good sense of whati will need to know when I start my own business. I did the reports through Inuit.com! I will deffinatley create an account with this site when it I am in a place where I will need to grganize my expenses! It was the producer's birthday, so we were able to celebrate after a lnog day of work. I feel so lucky to have such an amazing, harx working, creative and talened team!  I really enjoy watching Troy shoot, it is a way that is very refeshing to see. I have been around a lot of photographers from ameture, to known Nation Wide. Troy shoots with a postiive mindset; therefore, the team will be positive around him, making the shoot successsful.

| #TeamPlota |

Day 15  8:30am-3:30pm

Todya was an on location shoot for continuing the Back to School Belk. We did some shots for  family and kids. I found it very interesting how the differnt modeling angecies will choose waht models will be parents and which will be kids. I say this because the 27 year old model the was acting at the mother had a 17 year old model posing as her daughter! It really makes me rethnk what I see in catalogs now! i did my normal tasks such as helping set up, gathering lunch for the afernoon shots,,etc.)

Day 16
8:30am-5pm

Today was a long day work wise. The team effort that goes on during a shoot is absolutley incredible. Troy is very in to the team being positive and having a good flow in the work space, and that is exactly what the team is and does.

We shot on two different locations, the first being Payne Park. We shot juniors for the Back to School and then later on shot kids and more juniors at Sarasota High School. The team wasnt kidding when the warned me about it being difficult to shoot kids. specialy when there is lots of them, and their moms, and their friends. There were a lot of people; therefore, a lot of shots. I grabbed the order to feed the crew from Roys, and the reason why this task (although may seem like typical intern work, is not) is a learning expiriemce, is because when I have my own professional environment I will know catering like the back of my hand. There are certain things troy is nit-picky on. No clear plastic silverware, no stirefoam, and not "cheap food". He wants everything to look nice and be nice, only high quality for the client. I also am able to expand on my people skills and telephone skills. Over the phone even moe so because I have to represent the company through my professionalism and voice. Catering is als networking, so when I go to pick up these nice foods all aroudn town, it creates more people that know about Plota Produtions. In and out of studio, keeping professional and positive is very important for the reputation of the company.

I work on some expense reports for the upcoming shoot and did some other small assistent related jobs. Although I love shootings and the excitment of production, I have become very interested in the business side of it all. This makes m really happy that I was able to take classes ni order to get a minor in business. In my Professional Practice class with MK

Day 9 - 13 | ARIA Wedings Las Vegas | Troy Plota Photography

I was beyond excited when I was invited to go on an out of state location shoot fo the popular hotel Aria Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to shoot for the weddings the offer! The images Troy shot for this client before ended up on the large bill board in the strip of Vegas. Needless to say, this shoot was a pretty big deal and I feel beyond lucky to have been a part of it.

Day 1 (5.27.13) Travel/ Prepare/ Relax

 5am - 11pm

On the road to Tampa by 5, the team met at the airport with more equipment  clothes, and props that I have ever seen taken on a plane before. Two flights and 6 hours later we had finally arrived in Las Vegas. We immediately began to work by unloading equipment and getting checked into the hotel. It was so nice that we each go tour own hotel room as well as a suite in which we kept all the clothing, had the client meeting, and prepped models for the shoot. The hotel was giant and beautiful, as well as the rooms. It was one of the most luxurious hotel rooms I had ever stayed in in my life. After we had everything settled we met up with the rest of the team that had been flying in from other locations and rented a cabana by the pool to relax and cheers to a creating a successful shoot as a team! He explained to the team how he wanted us to be in sync with each other  have excellent communication, and only express positivity durin the shoot in order for the team to make a good impression on the client as well as other people. 

The hotel was very artistically built, which made it ten times better to stay in. Troy took us through the Cosmopolitan for dinner and showed us some of the beautiful artwork that was in the building. It was very inspiring to be around not only a fresh and creative team but to be with them in such a place with so many different types of art.

Day 2 (5.28.13) Prep & Props

8am-11pm

I have been learning all the different jobs and tasks around the studio to explore and learn more about what goes on in the running of a studio and production of a high client shoot. For this tip, I was assigned stylist assistent and worked under a very talented stylist, Eric Stern. He is not only an expert in a fashion, but has a natural eye for what will look good before it is on the model. He is a true natural and it was so amazing to be able to watch him at work and learn what I could about a subject that I was somewhat unfamiliar with. 

We met for breakfast and grouped together to go get more props and clothing for the shoot. We went to a beautiful wedding dress shop and rented gorgeous dresses to shoot. The other team members went around the whole town in order to find props for the next days shoot. Eric and I spent the day shopping for clothes that would be worn by the models. I learned about filling Before we met with the clients, we had a team meeting. I thought this ws really great how Troy spent a lot of time preparing us and making sure we were all on the same page. the meeting consisted of chosing the appropriate attire for each of the shots and general dicussion about the shoot.

We ended the day with a wonderful dinner at the Bellagio and walked the different galleries along the strip. I was able to see the work of Peter Lik and other artists of different mediums. It was all such incredible work and was nice to get out and see new art that I hadnt seen before!

Day 3 (5.29.13) Shooting Day!

7am-6:30pm

Although I have had intenships before, in none of them have I ever exprienced such intensity. We woke up early to fuel up and start the day. We had 6 shots for the entire day which meant after uprooting, setting up, makeup, wardrobe and doing the actual shooting, we had a to accomplish before the models left at 5:30. 

I spent most of the morning preparing the wardbrobe for the shots and helping with the set. Each shot was done in detail and done well! The work that was put into one shot was incredible. It was like moving a whole caravan! Each of the shots were so beautfiful, at one point I was the "dress fluffer" and had to pysically get under the dress to help bring it volume.  (please not she was wearing pants under the dress and I was very willing to do it!) It just goes to show the messures that we take to create a great image! (insert images) 

I am pretty sure I got about 3 miles in that day from walking/running back and fourth between sets throughout the hotel! When the shoot was finally complete, we all celebrated! We cleaned up from the shoot and all went to bed with sore feet!

Day 4 - 5 (5.30 & 31.13)

8:30 am - 9:45 am (next day)

the mornng was spent makin sure we had everything packed up and ready to go. Since we were doing the red eye flight, we had the whole day to spend relaxing and shopping. We spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool and then went to Ceaser's Palace to do some shopping! It was my first time ever doing a red eye flgiht, and as someone who doesn't enjoy sleeping on plane, I was very tired the next day! It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be because I was traveling with such a great team! It was a long trip and it was nice to finally be back home, Vegas has such high energy!

This experience was not only amazing for furthering my knowledge in photography , but it truly brought me closer to the team. Troy has done a wonderful job of selecting and creating  team that is not only hard working and talented, but positive. This makes working with everyone so enjoyable and easy to work with. There is a lot of hard work that goes into the shoots, so having a connection and a strong team makes the work flow amazing. 

Day 6 | Belk | Tro yPlota Photography

 5.23.12 - 7:45am - 5pm

Today was a a great day in terms of shooting. We were in studio shooting missy's for Back to School Belk. I started organizing the recepts for the studio and learned about how to prepare them for tax returns. It's the small things like this that I learn that will be so helpful when I own my own studio. 

I worked with the assistent stylist today and learned about organizing the products/ clothes from the client for each shot. 

Day 7 | Belk| Troy Plota Photography

5.24.13 - 7:45 am - 3:45pm

Today was a longday for everyone. Because my mom was in town I was able to leave earlier, but the rest of the team worked until 6pm or later.

We were on location at Payne Park for the first half and moed location to Sarasota High School for te second. Each on location set up was amazing. We had a huge RV rented that held the clothes and makeup artists, as well as siting room for dining and computer work. The tent outside housed the equipment and wiring for lights,

What I found most interesting about the shooting was how each shot was such a  long process. There was prepping and styling for each shot, and each shot took about 12 minutes, so the 26 shots that we did really added up. It really shows me how much putting time into the photograph before it is taken is so important. I had put work into each shot, prepping, styling and reseraching before, but this is a whole new level of it and I find it incredibly inspiring.

I did some usual errands such as picking up catering fo the models and crew as well as place an order for the next day. Taking care of the models and crew is such an important part of a shoutl
i have especially found with my team that a fueled team is a happy can and we work much better and are in sync with each other.

Day 8 | Troy Plota Photography

5.25.13 - 8:30 am- 9:45 am

Today was a short day due to family being in town. The energy was high in the studio studio, maybe it was because we left or Vegas soon, or the fact that we were photographing kids for Belk all day.

I picked up breakfast and spent some time at the studio observing how Troy works with his clients as well as the different ways he set up the lighting for each shot. there is a beautiful natural light that falls into the studio that we very much take advantage of.

Day 5 | Plota Productions | Internship

Day 5 (5.23.13) 9 am-1pm
Day 6 (9am-3:30pm)

Today we shot more for Belk, the how has been a long and intense work load which gave me a great idea of what it was like to work under pressure with a big name client.

 It is interesting how if it was just Troy and another photographer, doing a project like this would be close to impossible. It really does require team work to produce good art/images. It is amazing how there  are so many steps in the process of shooting for these companies. It's not just a pretty face in cute clothes, but truly a science.

What I love about this shoot is that I get to see behind the scenes to the catalog shots. I was always curious about the images in magazines and billboards, and now I am right there with them.

My task today were very important as to learning the way the company works. I boked the rental car for Las Vegas ( yes simple, but i had never done it before!) I then learned an important part of the production segment of the company, which is understand and creating the layout forms for the photo-shoots. These packets re given to the production manager, stylist, and digital tech. These sheets show all the shots for the shoots  as well as how the shots are created.

We leave for Vegas on Monday and I am beyond excited! We are staying at the Aria as well as doing to the photography for it. The hotel is so beautiful and I feel beyond lucky to be able to go. Pictures and updates will be made! :D

Day 4 | Plota Productions | Internship

Day 2 (5.21.13) 7:45am-1:30pm

Today has been the best, and busiest day yet. I picked up breakfast at 7:45 am for the 8 am shoot for Belk day 2. We shot the two girls in the morning and male models in the afternoon. I ran multiple errands picking up different items to get through the day since it was an on location shoot at Payne Park.

I went to do paper work and gather packages coming in from Belk at the studio as well as booked the tickets for the Aria photo-shoot next week Mon-Thurs in Las Vegas ( which I wil be attending as well!- very excited!)

I picked up lunch while they went to get some studio shots done with the girls. The male models arrived (very friendly) around 12 pm to prepare for the rest of the Belk shoot!

It was a very busy day but I feel that it all pays off due to the fact that I will be getting to travel next week to as Vegas to shoot for the amazing hotel.

Day 2-3 | Plota Productions| Internship

Day 2 (5.10.13 ) from 11 am - 4:30 pm

Today was a quick and easy day. The team vacation was taking place until the 18th, so everyone was winding down.

My tasks for the day included organizing the models from the previous castings call into age/gender groups. There were over 400 models! It was a very relaxed. Took work home and learned how to use drop box to transfer files!

Day 3 (5.20.13) from 1pm - 5 pm

This week is a busy week shooting
I was given some of the production manager taks to do during the day. I learned how to organize the receipts so they can be filed for returns. I also contacted two catering locations in Sarasota for the next days breakfast and lunch for 16 people. They were shooting the in-studio shots for Belk.