09/01/2026
sometimes the quiver bag has prime lenses in it. sometimes it has whiskey. usually both
we work mobile. there might be a base station in the back of the car, tucked into a venue, or sitting on a seaplane, but once we leave the pelican cases, everything we might need comes with us. batteries, lenses, cameras, snacks, yes - whiskey... all the things
I’m often shooting hybrid, so while I’m primarily shooting stills, we are also capturing 6K footage for highlight films. I always have two bodies and two primes on me. Natasha has everything else, ready to move the second I saw something I wanted in motion. she’s also usually got my phone, grabbing behind-the-scenes photos and video along the way. which means a hybrid wedding is technically being shot on four or five cameras at any given point... which sounds ridiculous when I say that out loud, but here we are
the thing about an assistant is that they aren’t just carrying gear. they’re paying attention. watching me while I’m watching everything else. they know what’s charged, what lens is mounted, what camera needs to be activated, and somehow know when I’m about to want the 135 instead of the 85 before I’ve said a word. sometimes there’s hand motions. sometimes second-guessing - but they’re always annoyingly right
that kind of intuition is hard to teach. it comes from working together, paying attention, and giving a s**t about the same things. an assistant gives me the freedom to stay inside the moment instead of thinking about the machinery required to capture it. that matters to me, and ultimately it matters to our clients. to you
because the moment doesn’t care that you need to change lenses. it doesn’t wait for a battery or a setting or a “hang on a second.” neither do we
also, apparently part of working this closely together is occasionally documenting that we both have pretty nice asses. this is important behind-the-scenes journalism
