Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the past. You know, I want to dedicate this blog to my coach from college. I know I already did it, but he helped me get through all this. His coaching and stuff.
You know I was reading the previous blog about Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It reminded me of a time in Australia. The time my first wife surprised me on my birthday. She called a car service. We went down to our local dock. She blindfolded me. I thought, OK, either she's going to kill me or put me on a boat or both! Anyway, she led me to a sea plane and as we were taking off, she took off the blindfold. We flew north of Sydney and landed in a bay at the edge of a state park. We pulled up to a restaurant you can only get to by a sea plane or a boat. It was pretty cool. We pulled up to the restaurant and had a great meal. We flew back with some other people. What a great night.
The other thing I want to talk about is exploitation. You know, when I was a young photographer, people kind of took advantage of me. For example, an editor might give you a story, but you'd have to pay for all the film and processing. Or an editor might give you a brake but you would have to dress up as a woman (just kidding). The point is, you would always have to watch your back. You know, as long as you're aware of what's going on and as long as you're getting something out of it as well, I think it is OK. Another example is when I worked as a photo assistant I would do some crazy stuff for photographers. For example, one guy I worked for in London, he made me go buy his "stuff." He gave me some pretty good advice. After you get my "stuff" if someone stops you, drop the bag and run. I never had to drop the bag and run, but I thought it was pretty good advice. Another time a woman photographer in New York wanted me to strip down to my underwear and do a test. I politely declined, and I was also wearing some pretty ugly grandpa underwear. It was all a bit awkward. Another company I worked for would hire young photo assistants to photograph events. If they liked the image they would use it but never gave you credit, but they would put their name on it. They totally ripped you off, but I got good experience from it. So, you see what I mean? Watch your back.
The other thing I was thinking about was, automobiles. I remember when I was a photo assistant. I was on a job in the mountains of colorado. Anyway, we got in kind of late and rented three cars. We raced each other up the mountain. It was pretty far. When I woke up in the morning, I felt like throwing up. When I was drinking my coffee, I looked at the road we had been racing on. It was a swtchback road up a very steep mountain. The road basically was on the edge of the mountain. If you went off the road, forget it. You'd be toast. We never knew how bad it was until the morning light.
I'm gonna leave it there cause I gotta have some stories to tell next week. This is B. Nice, signing off from the past. Hope you have a good week. Love, B. Nice
Here a link to the blog about the present.