I pride myself that I have never been late to a shoot, meeting or work. This is a trait that I learned from my father at a very early age, that is, showing respect to the other persons time. We know as photographers that time is of the essence and showing up early is part of the game. It allows time to get acquainted with our surroundings, set up lighting, camera and do a few test shots to check exposure. This week I shot for Philippine Tatler.
Waiting for all concerned and catching up on emails
Call time: 4 pm
I was at the hotel at 3pm. I waited...
Lighting test, shot by my assistant Jaime Rapi, Jr.
And waited...
Seventh inning stretch and still waiting for anyone to show up to the shoot.
Then got bored from waiting
Argh!!!
Then I realized...
I was TWO days early to my shoot!
This was a first in my career as a photographer. Talk about a pre-light test! Needless to say, the renovations on our new house has taken its toll on me. I cannot believe I was able to convince the hotel staff that I had a shoot on this day. They all looked a bit perplexed, so much so, they had to call the Communications Department to confirm there was a actual shoot scheduled for that day. Problem was they never got back to me maybe because I was so convincing. I never laughed so hard.