As previously discussed on here I kinda suck at this whole blogging thing. Part of it is because I only want to write when I think I might have something interesting to say. Maybe that's a good technique, maybe it's not. Maybe none of my stuff is very interesting. Anyway, this last month and a half, my lack of writing I am going to blame on a new job that I had. Yes, had. I handed in my keys today. It was the craziest job I have ever done. I think crazy is the right word. I was shooting still photography at dance competitions for a company I will call B.S. Photo. I replied to a Craigslist ad along with a bunch of suckers that read something like this, " Make $450-750 for a weekend of shooting dance competitions around the US." I thought I could do this on the weekends and still do my other photography work or something during the week. Most people think of a weekend as maybe Friday evening through Sunday and if we are talking about working hours, maybe 8-10-ish hours a day.
What it really was, (you might need a calendar nearby for this). Leave at 6 pm Wednesday, drive nonstop (we had 4 people in the van taking turns) to Anaheim, CA from Oklahoma (19 hours), set up and start shooting Friday until midnight, set up and start shooting Saturday at 7:15am until just short of midnight, repeat the same schedule for Sunday, then on Monday, same start time but this time instead of ending at midnight, we get done at 8PM, tear down, load the van and get in, hit In-n-Out Burgers (my first time), and leave Anaheim at 11pm and drive all the way back to OK (19 hrs. again). When we get back to OK Tuesday night at 3:30 am (Wednesday). We get a text from our boss that we have a shoot to do tomorrow, technically today and they will let us know when. Keep in mind, Wednesday was supposed to be my day off. I finally get a text at noon from the boss that I needed to be on location at "1:15 No later!" The location was 45 min's away. Grrrrr.
It keeps going. Our next "weekend" begins on Thursday again. We leave for Phoenix at 11 am. 15 hours back the way we just came from. We get to Phoenix at 3:30 am and our very special boss had booked our rooms for the following night, not the night we actually arrived. Luckily, the hotel next door had 2 rooms and I had the company credit card. 2 rooms at $260 each. Done! Check out the next morning and go set up for the shoot. We had a couple of hours of down time so we checked in to the hotel we were supposed to be in and then hit Joe's Farm Grill for the only real sit down food we would get. Started shooting Friday afternoon at 3 got done at 11:45. Next morning, 7:30 until 11:45 again. Sunday, 7:30 am until 8 pm and once again tear down and load the van. We pulled out of the parking lot at 10pm and hit In-n-Out Burgers again, then on the road for our 15 hour return trip home.
For keeping this shorter, I left out all the BS in the middle, like our system crashed multiple times both weekends and other stuff. For those of you keeping track, that was roughly 185 hours of work (not counting sleep times) in 12 days. Maybe I'll get that $750 from the Craigslist ad!
What it really was, (you might need a calendar nearby for this). Leave at 6 pm Wednesday, drive nonstop (we had 4 people in the van taking turns) to Anaheim, CA from Oklahoma (19 hours), set up and start shooting Friday until midnight, set up and start shooting Saturday at 7:15am until just short of midnight, repeat the same schedule for Sunday, then on Monday, same start time but this time instead of ending at midnight, we get done at 8PM, tear down, load the van and get in, hit In-n-Out Burgers (my first time), and leave Anaheim at 11pm and drive all the way back to OK (19 hrs. again). When we get back to OK Tuesday night at 3:30 am (Wednesday). We get a text from our boss that we have a shoot to do tomorrow, technically today and they will let us know when. Keep in mind, Wednesday was supposed to be my day off. I finally get a text at noon from the boss that I needed to be on location at "1:15 No later!" The location was 45 min's away. Grrrrr.
It keeps going. Our next "weekend" begins on Thursday again. We leave for Phoenix at 11 am. 15 hours back the way we just came from. We get to Phoenix at 3:30 am and our very special boss had booked our rooms for the following night, not the night we actually arrived. Luckily, the hotel next door had 2 rooms and I had the company credit card. 2 rooms at $260 each. Done! Check out the next morning and go set up for the shoot. We had a couple of hours of down time so we checked in to the hotel we were supposed to be in and then hit Joe's Farm Grill for the only real sit down food we would get. Started shooting Friday afternoon at 3 got done at 11:45. Next morning, 7:30 until 11:45 again. Sunday, 7:30 am until 8 pm and once again tear down and load the van. We pulled out of the parking lot at 10pm and hit In-n-Out Burgers again, then on the road for our 15 hour return trip home.
For keeping this shorter, I left out all the BS in the middle, like our system crashed multiple times both weekends and other stuff. For those of you keeping track, that was roughly 185 hours of work (not counting sleep times) in 12 days. Maybe I'll get that $750 from the Craigslist ad!