I knew that the economy and the job market hasn’t been it’s best lately, but I had no idea to what extent until my photographer assistant ad was posted on Craigslist. The first day I posted the opening for a volunteer photographer assistant for the Love ï Life ï Passion project, I had 275 hits on my site that linked back from the ad. Over a three day weekend, 600 hits from the ad. It got me thinking… is the job market that bad or are there that many people wanting to break into the photography field, or both. Keep in mind, this is a volunteer position for a project in which no one is making any money, a collaborative effort to create a really great book.

Photography, a tremendously competitive field, not only full of really solid professionals, but even more amateurs who have invested in an entry-level DSLR. The market is flooded with people who just can’t wait to take your picture, a joe on every corner who will take your pic for a cheeseburger. It’s just flatout hard for people entering the field to rise above the masses to get some legitimate work and get the ball rolling. The photography supply and demand curve is really messed up these days.

Anywho, the response I got from the ad was quite amazing. Everything from zero experience to 4-year degrees in the art wanting to be a part of the project. After a couple rounds of mass emails, a couple meetings, I decided on Lemala (pictured on the left). She has the perfect balance of foundation knowledge, passion, and hunger for further learning the field. I wanted to bring someone onto the team who’d not only be a great help with everything that’s involved with the project, but someone who would really benefit from the whole experience and learn a lot. She’s taken some photography classes and is ready to learn more advanced methods, like off-camera lighting. Lemala is an extremely nice, pleasant woman, and I’m glad she joined the team.

I had her visit my place and see where I shoot white seamless portraits, had her jump in front of the lights for a sec and grabbed a few pics. She’ll be taking some behind the scenes pics and video, so we’ll have better insight for you readers once this project starts to ramp up.