I collaborated with photographer April Plett a while ago to photograph the talented impov comedy troupe Crumbs. It soon became obvious that this was going to be one of the easiest shoots I'd ever do for two reasons. The first is because there were two photographers there to bounce ideas, cover the talents that the other is lacking and, not least of all, distract the client while the shooter is thinking about equivalent exposures and composition.
The second is because photographing comedians is hilarious. The big fear of doing portraits is that your subject will be dry and bored and hard to pull interesting expressions from. Usually, as the photographer, you have to do the performing. With these guys it was just a matter of keeping your framing and exposure and letting the artist do his thing. It really made me respect the talent that performers can have and the ease that it brings to my job. As a beginning photographer, I am usually not picky about getting free models for the projects I shoot - don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for their help - but when you have someone in front of your lens that is born to be on stage, a master of characters that knows what kind of presence you need before you do, it becomes a joint effort.
I've learned that there is nothing like working with professionals.
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