The Wise Words of David Morris - My Internship Experience

"Photography helps people to see and feel what can't be explained" - Berenice Abbott

Recently, I was given the opportunity to shadow a professional photographer in his day-to-day life, David Morris. As well as being an all-around amazing person to be around, his story to becoming a photographer was one that stood out to me in comparison to other career mentors I could have chosen for my micro-internship.

When speaking to him about his hopes and dreams at my age, David quickly explained to me that he was on a very different career path in his early 20's and hadn't expected to have a successful photography business by 32. He finished high school and took a few gap years to travel, a passion of his. It was only until he was in his late 20's that he applied to an arts college, and he had done it as a joke. One could only imagine his surprise when he got accepted to the Ontario College of Art for his photography! After he had graduated, he passed around business cards and spread the word about his newfound business. Soon enough, he became well-known in the world of photography, and he has upheld his business with honour and integrity ever since.

I decided to shadow Mr. David Morris for 3 reasons.

1) On his website, he clearly stated that he honoured a "green policy" which helped to reduce his environmental footprint as a photographer.

2) His career path abruptly changed in his late 20's, showing his readers and clients that there isn't a deadline to changing your career.

3) The majority of his learning as a photographer came from travelling and interacting with real people from different cultures (Europe, Yemen, India).

There were a few questions I had prepared beforehand, one of them being the skills and requirements needed to excel in the art of photography. Specifically, I asked David about the natural talent needed to become a photographer. He told me that in the beginning, he thought that most photography skills could be taught by courses and knowledge, but his answer to that question changed once his daughter Jennie started to practice her photography skills. He told me that Jennie had a very good eye for photography, without any knowledge of lighting techniques and emphasizing angles. In that way, he learned that some people are naturally born with a knack for photography, but photography classes do help to harness those skills into more sophisticated art.

During my time shadowing David Morris, he took headshots of students for a dramatic production hosted at Havergal College, but he quickly explained to me that every day looked different. Some days he photographed weddings. Other days, he took candids of pets and children. No matter the situation, there was a diversity of photo styles to pick from.

As a photographer, lighting and colour is key to a good photo. For that reason, equipment was essential. The headshots he took for the majority of the day required 5 lighting stands, 6 lighting pods, a grey backdrop, and several extension chords that needed to be plugged in before the headshots. If that already wasn't enough, the lighting had to be adjusted to add definition and volume to each photo, so he asked me to sit on the stool while he used different lighting techniques. The following photos were not edited.

One button changed the lighting of these pictures drastically. Mr. Morris told me that if you are interested in photography, these changes can be learned through trial and error, but it would be more efficient to take courses to indicate equipment required and desired lighting effects.

I asked Mr. David Morris a few questions about what lines he draws between friends and business, specifically about whether or not to charge a friend if they are getting their picture taken in his studio by him. He told me that he had a motto. "If you're invited in, your cash stays in. If you ask me to go, out the cash goes." In other words, unless Mr. Morris invites his friends into his studio to take pictures, they will have to pay for the photos he takes.