Snow White

Snow White

 27^th February 2012

A few weeks back, I thought I’d be shooting Snow White in the Princess Gathering, turns out I was swapped for Aurora - fine by me. I love shooting Aurora. Speaking to a friend on Facebook, I said I had to go or else I’d be late for Snow White. A few crude, yet hilarious comments we made about Snow White and Dopey but I won’t go into that!

This week, as soon as I found out I was shooting Snow White, the jokes came back to me. I had a smiling from ear to ear, just at the thought of it all.  Poor Snow White, I couldn’t look at her in the face without smirking or giggling. She must have thought I was laughing at her or I was losing the plot.

This Princess Gathering was probably one of the most irritating session I’ve ever shot. The greeters were having troubles moving the guests over to the other side of the photographer, which keeps the line going.

Also, getting the guest's Sea Pass Card, or as it’s called here, Key To The World Card, for us photographers to swipe was so difficult, some really didn’t want to hand it over. One person even told the greeter “don’t bother, we’re all set for our own pictures”, held up the US equivalent of a Canon EOS 400D with a small flash gun attached, before given me a foul look and standing inches in front of me to take his own photos. Anyone who knows me, knows that I do not have the patience or cool to keep my trap shut!

Nicely, with a smile on my face, I asked if he could step to the left of me where he’d be able to get some pictures after I’ve taken TWO myself. He looked around and then carried on what he was doing. More sternly, I had to tell them man he was to stand at the side of me and not to worry that he’d get plenty of time to get a picture with his own camera. Standing in front of him, I quickly took three photos. Within 30 seconds he was taking his own photos but incredibly irritated by being told to step to one side.

Personally, I hate allowing guests to use their own cameras when I’m shooting and I don’t care whether I’m in my studio or photographing the characters. It rankles! I’m “Royal Caribbean Style".

Instead of shooting Black, as planned, I was going to be spending the first session shooting a private photo shoot. Nice! Straight away that’s $40 in my pocket for 1 hour’s work. The couple, both Americans, got married a couple of days ago in Disney World and are now on Disney Magic cruise as part of their honeymoon.

The bride is Disney mad – especially Mickey Mouse. She even wore a pair of white, sequined Minnie Mouse ears with a veil attached. My biggest problem, was that the lady is a blinker. On many occasions I had to stop, zoom in on the photo, just to make sure her eyes were open. They didn’t mind though. In fact, they liked that I paid attention so much as to check her eyes were open!

Another slight difficulty I had was my Quantum flash. Quantums and I aren’t the best of friends so I was dubious as to how the shooting would go. At the beginning, I had a few minor troubles with the flash. I’ve been using a different setting to what I did on the Mariner of the Seas. After a couple of test shots and fixing the flash power, I got the hang of it and things ran smoothly from then on. Phew!

Up on the outer decks, it was mighty windy and the bride’s hair and dress were blowing around like no one’s business. Having said that, she didn’t mind, she just wanted her pictures taken. To be fair, looking through the photos, the wind gave an extra something to many of the portraits. There’s one in particular, where the couple are walking hand in hand towards me, the wind behind them. The cream ribbons on the bride’s dress are swirling towards the camera, the couple are beaming. My poor description really doesn’t do the photo much justice and I doubt I’ll be able to get any of the photos uploaded on here.

An hour later I rushing to my break, before having to get to Black fifteen minutes early. Carolee was on LSP. There were two characters in the middle of the lobby. Both Black and LSP were empty while the queues for Sailor Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Donald and Daisy Duck and Chip and Dale were massive! Even the greeters couldn’t believe how much traffic there was. In the entire evening, I think I only shot between 30-40 images… in two and half hours.

Carolee definitely got the most entertainment in her studio. Two kids were sitting down on the backdrop (which has a white sheet on top so the kids can lay down etc.) One of the girls was holding onto her… bits, shall we say? Carolee gently told her to let go of herself. As the girl removed her hand, a puddle of pee came flooding out from beneath. The poor kid had desperately been trying to hold it in!

Once the pee was quickly cleared, Carolee had more people in the studio. The ship was rocking quite a lot, as usual when sailing this itinerary (Eastern Caribbean) and you guessed it, there was a "protein spill" as Disney like to call it. In other words, a child was sick all over the white LSP backdrop.

Straight after throwing her guts up she peered up at the camera with a huge smile plastered on her face, ready for her photo, while a rather large pile of sick lay 30cm below!

That was the second protein spill we, the photographers have had today. The first was in the queue for Princess Gathering. A little girl, first in line, threw up all over the floor and her princess dress. Her parents simply stripped her Princess dress off (thankfully, she had a vest and shorts on underneath) and sent her for a photo with the Princesses. Her face was a white as a sheet, but there was no way her parents were stepping out of the line! We were worried that one of the little kids would throw up on one of the princesses. That would be a nightmare!! Apparently there have been the odd occasion where a toddler has peed on a Princess!!

Snow White

(Julia's Photo)

Princess Tiana and Snow White

(Julia's Photo)

Skint

Skint

25^th February 2012

What a day!

This morning I was working in Shutters at 6am for morning sale. It wasn’t as busy as last week, but the queue still reached the opposite end of the photo gallery. Kate was on morning sale too but swapped embarkation with me as I needed to get some shopping. By doing both embarkation and morning sale, Kate got herself the night off in return.

Straight after morning sale, which ended at 9.30am, I was out on land and in the fresh air. My mission: get to WalMart, grab the shopping I desperately needed and jump into bed for a snooze, before working at three.

The only problem I had with going to WalMart, was that I was skint, broke, penniless. Day one of the cruise is always rotated here on Disney Magic. One week you’re on morning sale, the next embarkation where you won’t have time to get off the ship. So, needless to say, morning sale is shopping day. As I was desperate for necessities like detergent and mouth wash. I shamefully had to ask Kate to loan me some money. I had my credit card but I wanted the cash with me just in case, as the hotel in Orlando said my card had been declined.

The crew shuttle bus from Port Canaveral took you to two places, WalMart and the Mall for a round trip price of $8. Private taxis were ushering large numbers into their cars for $5 each for a single fare. We were docked with Norwegian Sun and Carnival Dream, so there was an abundance of crew milling around.

Slinking onto the bus and slumping into a chair I nearly fell asleep straight away. Boy, was I shattered after four and a half hours sleep last night. I just couldn’t drift off.

Wandering around WalMart, I managed to get pretty much everything I needed as well as making the biggest cock up you can imagine! I couldn’t for the life of me find the envelopes and had walked around the stationary section a couple of times – as you do.

Seeing a member of staff bent down, sorting out the shelves, I went over to ask where I could locate the envelopes. “Excuse me, Ma’am” just as the woman with thick, shoulder length, wavy hair looked up, I realized something looked out of place. My mouth dropped open. The woman had a beard… it was a bloke with long hair! My horrified face must have been a picture, as the guy laughed and said “don’t worry, it occurs all the time”. I wished the ground could have swallowed me - whole! Shuttering my way through my question, he pointed to the aisle where the envelopes could be found. I made a runner for it with a bright red face. Oh, the shame!

A little later on, again I was searching for detergent. Running out of time, I asked another member of staff for help. This time I made sure of the person’s sex before making an assumption. “Ma’am, what aisle is the detergent in”. The lady turned around, cross-eyed and bucked teeth. Staring at me, the lady pointed her hand and declared loudly “groceries”. “Ok, brilliant, thank you but which aisle?” “Groceries” her voice getting louder and more shrill. At first, I thought she hadn’t understood my English accent “Thank, erm, but do you know which aisle”. She looked at me as if I was a complete retard, before shouting, in a pitch so high that it would almost be impossible for the human ear to hear “GROCERIES!” Okay, I was obviously asking the village dipstick for directions!

I made a hasty retreat and started looking around the grocery section. Previously I didn’t bother looking there. I thought the word “grocery” was “food”. I was proved wrong. My American-English to English-English translating failed.

At the counter I handed over my credit card. “Sorry Miss, you’re card has been decline. Do you have another?” I tried my other credit card. Declined. I feared this embarrassment. Both my credit cards were tried again and failed. Thank Christ I’d borrowed money from Kate, or else I’d be walking away completely empty handed!

Sitting at the bus stop with my three bags of shopping I was nearly over-come by a wave of frustration and anger. I had borrowed money from a team mate, had four dollars to my name, my credit cards, which were for an emergency were declined, I wasn’t due to get paid until St. Thomas in five days’ time (being able to get off the ship in that tendering port is doubtful).

Finally, I couldn’t touch the money in my bank account as my poxy debit card had expired. Why hadn’t I remembered the expiration date sooner? Not that it mattered; to renew my debit card, due to "security reasons" I must "visit my local branch" in England. Considering I spent my vacation in Punta del Este, Uruguay, it's a little far to travel! I suppose this is one way to save money.

Things really haven’t been going my way recently and just the thought was getting me down, no matter how much I tried to stay positive.

Back on board and in the cabin, I sat around talking to Cookie, my Thai cabin mate. In the Mall there’s a lot of discount shops she wanted to show me. The clothes are all designer brands and really cheap compared to your average store. Unfortunately I am too broke. When you’re skint or simply window-shopping you always, always, always find something you want. Maybe another time when I’ve finally been paid.

Cookie picked up some nice bits and pieces though and at really good prices! Her best buy were Shiseido products which cost her $50 each in the U.S. back in Thailand the items cost around $200. My best buy was a small box of PG Tips (English tea bags)… $3 for a box of tea bags and I was a happy little girl!

While speaking to Cookie, I told her what had happened at WalMart. She was intrigued to know why I didn’t want to go clothes shopping at the Mall. She was gobsmacked that I hadn’t been paid, or more to the point, that I wasn’t informed that I wouldn’t be paid until nearly a month into my contract.

Not happy with just leaving things the way things were, Cookie offered me $100! I refused point blank. Cookie insisted I took the money, even if I didn’t use it. Reluctantly, I took a small percentage of the money, promising I’d pay it back while handing back the rest. I couldn’t accept $100. Cookie wouldn’t have it and put the remaining $60 in my drawer, telling me to top up my Crew ID card for internet and crew shop purchases, while keeping the rest in case I need to buy anything. “I understand you need to call your Mom and Dad often. It’s okay, take it and give me back when you have. I don’t need, so it’s okay.” She kept telling me.

I’m incredibly grateful. Words can't describe just how grateful and lucky I am to have another great cabin mate, but I feel ashamed to have to borrow money off other people. Maybe I’m too proud, but I feel as though I should be able to stand on my own two feet, even if things are beyond my control.

After a thirty minute sleep, Aniko, Inna and I were having to shift four pallets of boxes to the lab, all printing paper and chemicals. It wasn’t long until my knees and wrists were paining. I’m so glad I didn’t put the jar of Glucosamine Sulfate back on the shelf! Forty five minutes later we were done, I couldn’t believe how quickly we shifted through it. Mark coming over to help after embarkation sped things up, too.

So for the rest of the night we were swaying to and fro in Shutters due to increasingly rough sea. Aniko and I were “surfing” the waves in the gallery, causing some laughs with the guests. It’s always funny to watch everyone walking straight, then all being forced one direction before heading back into the other. It’s just a sea of heads rushing in and out like waves.

I shot Palo, the ship’s top quality restaurant, before heading into the lab to print. Once there, Diva told me there was nothing to print. My job for the next one and a half hours was to put inserts into the Get The Picture! CD cases. Fun times. An hour later, Diva told Mark and I to finish up what we were doing and go. We were done for the night and the team meeting at 23.10 had been cancelled. Bonus!

Back in the cabin, settled in my pyjamas, I’m completely shattered but taking some time to relax and separate work from rest time. I’m having some down time in other words.

Tomorrow is formal night, so I’m going to need all the energy I can muster, especially as we are one man down. That’s right! Clarita left today and Image haven’t sent anyone as a replacement. Dave doesn’t have any idea as to when someone will be coming. Until then, we’re just going to have to step up a gear and pull a little extra weight. Hopefully it won't be too long until Image send someone else.

Floods

Floods

23^rd February 2012

Today has probably been the worst day I’ve had on board Disney Magic. Waking up at 9, I had to leave my cabin quickly due to the weekly cabin inspection. Sitting around on Deck 5 forward, I gave the parents a call. I didn’t have long as I forgot to charge my laptop battery.

Speaking to Mom, she didn’t sound like her usual self; her hair’s getting thin and joints are aching from the chemotherapy. Not being there is getting harder as I feel as though I should be there to help out. There’s not a lot that I can do, but something is better than nothing.  In many ways I feel guilty for leaving them to it.

I needed something to do so I went to work 30 minutes early to set up my camera and pentab. Heading over to Preludes with my things, I bumped into Kate who asked me to let her know if the lights hadn’t been set up. She’d asked Mark to set it up but by the looks of it, he hadn’t. Arriving at Preludes, it hadn’t been set up and I had no idea of the lighting set up. Going back to Kate, we quickly rushed through the lighting set up before she had to charge back to the Atrium for the Princess Gathering.

This is the first time I haven’t shot the Princesses. Today I was shooting Princess Minnie Mouse. The expo and light metre were dropped off to me but no one could give me a hand as everyone had to shoot. It’s a good job I learnt to test the lighting at college or else I’d have been screwed! A friendly guest came to Preludes to queue up for Minnie. She was good enough to help me hold up the expo “reflector” (the expo disc has gone walkabouts) while I tested the white balance. For those two minutes of help, I was incredibly grateful. It was a good job I’d arrived at Preludes early or else we’d have been in big trouble.

People soon started arriving when Princess Minnie Mouse made an appearance. Unfortunately there weren’t as much as I expected but then again, Minnie wasn’t where the masses were queuing up. They were all waiting for Tiana, Aurora, Belle, Snow White and Cinderella. By the end of the session which only lasted 20 minutes instead of 30, I had 119 images.

Still feeling down in the dumps and wanting to speak to the Mama, I headed into Shutters. Rama left pretty much as soon as I got there. Shutter was really busy compared to normal, with a few people were getting in a huff about the queue. I was darting all over the place, helping guests, showing them how to use the kiosk and writing out re-print forms. The guests weren’t annoyed with me, but frustrated they’d only been one person scheduled to work in the gallery. Understandable. I only managed to sell two folios. On the other hand I sold a few of Choice (20 credit) Packages and two GTPs. I sorted out a tier Get The Picture package for nearly $800. Rama will be charging for the packages later on today.

One little girl came into the studio with her Nan. I’d taken her photograph last night on LSP.  Both of them were lovely. She showed me a photograph I took last night. Both were lying on the floor, face in their hands as if they were watching T.V. The lady thanked me for taking such a great photo, commented on how marvellous my portraits were and another thank you for having patience. They were easy going in the studio so I don’t know where the patience side of things comes into it but, what the hell?! The comments were a huge boost. Mental pat on the back. The little girl even asked me if I could sign her autograph book as I was her favourite photographer. “To Nathalie, Hope you had a Magical cruise. Best wishes, Lou (Photo Department)” – it reminded me of Mariner of the Seas and the comment Zoran once made when someone asked me to sign their gangway photograph “this is the writer of the group so expect a lot to read” or something along those lines.

During set up I started to feel worse and more upset then before. I wanted to speak to Mom again and make sure she was okay. A few things were said during set up and that was that. Back in my cabin I burst in to tears.

Desperately trying to contain the tears I went over to Kate’s for a cigarette. As soon as she asked if I was okay the flood gates opened. About 15 minutes later Kate called Diva and told her what had happened. A little while later the schedule had been changed and I was told I had the night off. Diva told me it wasn’t right for me to be "working in this state of mind". Also, I was told that I can’t be hysterically crying in the guests area and if a guest was to make a comment, I’d snap. Image and Disney can’t have that, so I was sent to my cabin. I was told to call my parents and calm down.

Running back to the cabin I grabbed the phone and called the parents in floods of tears. I want to go back to Uruguay and help them out, but can’t. I’m stuck on a ship in the middle of the Caribbean Sea feeling useless. If Mom’s having a good day, I’m happy. When she’s not, I automatically get worried, panicky and upset.

Again, it’s two worlds colliding. I knew this would happen. After a long call home I calmed down a bit but I’m still feeling pretty useless and wanting to go home. Being so far away, although I’m used to it, at this point in time seems unnatural and almost selfish. For once, I wish I lived in the same country and had a standard 9 to 5 job.

Eyes On Screens

Eyes on Screens

22^nd February2012

Once again we’re in Cozumel, Mexico. I love this place, there’s so much to do and things happening at every turn. Today, after lab set up with Carolee, Kate and Aniko, we all met up on the gangway for a team activity/lunch.

Every month Image gives us $20 each, for a team activity. Most of the time the activity tends to be a meal but sometimes, if you get in there quick enough with a suggestion, you have an activity like jet skiing or renting cars and driving around the area you’re in. The team activity came as a surprise to some.

Roughly a ten minute walk from where the ship was docked was a quaint Mexican restaurant. I think Dave and Rama had been there before and the place seemed relatively popular with other crew members. For the life of me, I can’t remember the full name of the restaurant, Abuela something. Quite annoying as I made a point of trying to find the name of the place. My grey cells are obviously going to mush!

As usual I had people asking me if I was Spanish. I love it! I’m the only one who can speak Spanish in the group, a bit of an advantage for me, really. Obviously I was talking to the waiters in Spanish which causes plenty of questions, are you from Spain? Where did you learn Spanish? Where are you from? Telling people I was born in England and therefore English, feels about as abnormal as witnessing an Eskimo, wrapped up in fur, strolling around Barbados! England is still, for me, just the place I was born and where my passport was issued. Other than that, it’s Spain, Spain, Spain! Home.

The food in the restaurant was as cheap as chips and gorgeous! Kate discovered what (shrimp) quesadillas are. It felt great to sink your teeth into a proper meal rather than the school dinner slosh they slap up in the mess. The quesadillas were about $5 and it was more than enough. Needless to say, both of us walked out with food babies! Most of the others were sipping massive cocktails which looked like frothy milk.

To my surprise, Dave, Clarita, Diva and Rama went to check out the fish. I didn’t quite know what they meant when they said that. The waiter took them to a large cool box near our table. The cool box contained fresh fish, stored on ice and you simply chose which you wanted and it was cooked for you. It took a few people back. I remember a few places in Spain where you just chose the fish you wanted and they prepared it. A few people were a little grossed out by the whole fish appearing on their plates. Diva’s even ate the teeth! A little later Diva and Dave, both had Kate, Aniko and I squirming in our seats; both ate the fish’s eyes! I thought Spanish sucking the juices/brains out of a prawn’s head was bad enough, but eating the eyes takes the biscuit!

Carolee had been to the dentist in Mexico. When she met up with us in the restaurant she told me the dentist was good and the prices were cheap/reasonable compared to where we are from. If my wisdom tooth is still playing up, I think I’ll have to consider paying the dentist a visit to get it pulled out. Daniel (Peru) from Bar went recently to have his wisdom tooth pulled and said it was fine, the dentist did a good job and gave him something to clear the infection.

Towards the end of the meal, I was going to get a team photograph but two of the team members had left early without me even realizing. Not much talking went on during the team activity. Almost as soon as we arrived people got their laptops out and their eyes were glued to the screens. Looking around I thought to myself, “sod it! If you can’t beat them, join them” and got my laptop out. What an unsocial bunch we were. Someone that I spoke to afterwards said it was normal. Not what I expected!

It was great talking to Becks and Dad again after such a long time. Beck’s has got a new addition to the family, a cute puppy named Chester. He’s brown with husky coloured blue eyes. Adorable.

Checking my OceanPay account I was horrified to see that I hadn’t been paid since joining the ship on 4^th February. Asking the BM why I hadn’t been paid, he informed me the money should be sent to my account in St. Thomas which is eight days away. Great! I’m pissed that I wasn’t told about this beforehand. I thought the money was paid into your account at the end of every cruise, once a week for us. When we reach St. Thomas I’ll have been on board for nearly a month. My fingers are crossed that my money is backdated and all payments are up to date. Somehow I doubt it though.

Another thing, I really do hope Image let me have some of my wages before discounting the money towards my flight. It’s strange and somewhat frustrating to not receive a statement from Image with how much I’ve earned and more importantly, how much my flights from Montevideo to Miami was. It’s hard to imagine that I’m now in my third week and have no idea as to how much I owe Image!!

Before getting back on board Kate, Aniko and I asked a guest to get our photograph for us. In return we took hers and her husband’s photo with the Disney Magic in the background. None of them realized we were photographers on the Disney Magic until Kate told them, making a joke about us being the right people to take their photo.

Apparently guests on Disney Cruise ships can take their own alcohol on board and consume it. I didn’t think that was possible. Usually it’s confiscated until the night before disembarkation. Crew however, cannot take liquor on board without it being confiscated. We are allowed a maximum of 24 beers a week and it has to be signed in and stamped by gangway security.

Walking back we stopped to enquire about the prices of scooter and car rentals, as well prices for different activities such as snorkelling, scuba diving, reef tours etc. As we are crew we get a big discount. We got the contact details and if we want to schedule an outing, no matter what it is, we just need to call 24 hours ahead, name the activity, let the guys know what time we were docking and when we’d be ready. They’d have everything prepared for our arrival. Sounds bloody great to me!

I’m going to try and round some people up and see what they want to do. I’m happy to drive the group around the island of Cozumel for the day, if everyone agrees to chip in for the car rental. Personally, I’d love to see the Mayan Ruins. The small map of the island we were given, points out a huge amount of things we can do, there are  several reefs, ruins, strip with numerous turtle sightings and my personal favourite, an even larger sea strip labelled “swim at your own risk”. What’s the risk? Sharks? Fire coral reefs? I’m thoroughly intrigued!

Leaving Kate, Aniko and I ran over to the supermarket to get some bits and bobs. I was desperate for tooth paste! As it was Pirate Night we got some water and juice to keep behind the backdrops. My voice was non-existent this morning so I was trying to drink as much fluid as I could.

Aniko and Kate are trying to learn Spanish. I taught Kate some words for the photo gallery like “mañana por la mañana” (tomorrow in the morning). Aniko, to learn some new words, bought herself Disney’s The Little Mermaid in Spanish. Checking through the pages, the words were simple, it is aimed at kids and perfect for someone wanting to learn the language. Obviously, I’d help out as much as I could.

Thirty minutes later everyone was up in the Atrium, setting up the studios for Pirate Night.

While setting up I was approached about my blog. I was asked if it was true that I wrote a blog, which of course, it is. I was told to exclude this person completely from the blog, not to mention her name or anything about her. When I told her my blog is harmless and about working as a cruise ship photographer, this was the reply I got: “I don’t know why anyone would want to write about the subject”. Why not? Saves having to write several emails to people, I love writing and last but not least, with over 3,000 blog views and counting, who wouldn’t keep updating?

Sorry, but my blog is going to continue the way it always has done. My aim isn’t to upset or offend people, but keep an online “diary” as to what it’s like working on board cruise ships. That will include the good, the bad and the ugly. If I exclude it, it’s a false account of ship life. At the time this kind of put me in a bad mood, the way that someone could be so judgemental. I wonder where she heard about the blog? More to the point, what exactly had she heard about the blog?

For the rest of the night, I wasn't really in tune to work. Personal things were on my mind and I was finding it hard to focus. I was concerntrating as much as I possibly could, determined to push the personal issues to one side. They can be sorted later. My heart just wasn’t in it though and the results, showed. In the lab Carolee pointed out my cropping was crap and asked what was the matter. Usually my cropping is excellent 97% of the time. Tonight it was more like 3% of my cropping was correct. I felt bad for Carolee and Diva having to correct and print it.

(L-R) Me, Aniko and Kate

Up to Date with Hernan

Up To Date with Hernan

20^th February 2012

Yesterday while getting ready for formal night, I was trying to check my mail. Hernan popped up on Skype and we were able to have a short conversation and see how each other were getting on. Hernan seems to be working hard but having a great time on Disney Dream, plus the money is so much better than it is here. On the Dream, Hernan is getting approximatel $450 a week while I’m scraping to get $300.

Bjanka is now on Disney Dream and was good enough to pass on a message to Hernan for me. Hernan also told me that he’d heard from Fede, who we had Image training with last year in Miami. Fede will be joining Disney Dream in April.

I am so jealous, Hernan, Fede and Bjanka in one team and earning $450 a week as Photog 2. Photog 3 will obviously be more, around $500-550 a week. I’m seriously considering putting in for a transfer from Magic to Dream. It’d be ideal. Money and good friends. First though, I need to get promoted to P3 here. If not, I’ll have to start from the beginning again and the process will take longer. As soon as I’ve been promoted, that transfer is going in. Fingers crossed everything starts going my way soon. Just the thought of seeing my Image hermanastro again makes me smile!!

Posing with the Princesses

Posing with the Princesses

21^st February 2012

We’re in Grand Cayman today and unfortunately for us photographers, our schedule doesn’t allow us to get off the ship. Surprise! Most of the team haven’t visited the island – it’s a bit of a bum note!

Waking up at 09.30, I didn’t have work until lab set up at 10.30. Taking my time, I got ready and went to the Mess for breakfast.

Half way through eating, Maryna came in to get me. Everyone excluding myself and Carolee had training at 10.00. Wrong. Maryna informed me that Dave had made a mistake on the schedule. Carolee and I were needed in the training session. I wasn’t too impressed to say the least. Straight away my working day just went from 10.5 hours to 11. No doubt my working hours will extend somewhere else, too.

After the meeting, we set up the lab before having two hours off. As soon as I could, I was in the gym for about 45 minutes before it came surprisingly busy. Coming back to the cabin, I got ready for studio set up and sat around chilling for 30 minutes.

Again I was shooting Princess Gathering. To be fair, I thoroughly enjoy shooting Princess Gathering. It’s a lot of fun. Sometimes I think I enjoy Princess Gathering more than the kids do! Worrying!

Rather than setting up LSP after Princess Gathering, we did it at the same time. After the gathering, all we had to do was break down one light and attach it to the LSP autopole. It’d take five minutes. Bonus as by the looks of things, I’d get an extra hour break.

We soon ran into a few problems with Clarita. Kate tried helping her out by setting up her studio sign (sample shots, studio times and a no entry sign for when closed) so that Clarita didn’t have to do it later. Little did Kate know, she’d set up the sign for the wrong studio. Clarita was shooting LSP and not Black so the sign had to be redone. It’s a simple mistake. Clarita had a go at Kate and even went as far as to accuse for her “stealing” her “Studio Closed: Do Not Enter” sign. 

Next I asked Clarita to chuck me the expo case as I had to run up to Deck 4 to help Aniko out in her studio. She didn’t hear me… or so I thought. I called again “I heard you. You’ll have to wait. I’m in the middle of something”. Closing a pentab case takes two seconds! I walked down the stairs to Deck 3 and just as I was nearly there, Clarita threw the cover and informed me “You have legs!”

I was furious at her snapping at everyone. I was even more annoyed by the fact that I’d just spent five minutes helping her sort out a problem with her radio slave, only to find out she wasn’t attaching it to the camera properly. She’s a Photog 2 for crying out loud!

After helping out, I walked over to where Cinderella would be posing to test the lights and gave the expo to Carolee. She mentioned Clarita snapping at people so I told her what’d happened. Her reply was “she’s acting pissy at everyone because she’s leaving. Good riddance.”

Soon enough the princesses arrived. I was first in line and shooting Sleeping Beauty, Princess Aurora. Working with the princesses is so easy going as they know what they have to do and how to get the best results. All I have to do is make a noise to get the kids looking at the camera and press the shutter release button.

Princess Gathering which is usually pure madness was incredibly quiet. I was shocked, we all were, even the princesses. When things went quite I told Aurora’s greeter Jennifer to move in for a photo with the Princess. Aurora called me over, “I want a photo with my Princess Gathering photographer”. I bounded over to Sleeping Beauty like a child!

Soon Clarita came over wanting me to take a photo with her and Aurora. For someone who was talking to people like crap, she certainly knew how to change her tune when it suited her. Next I went on to get one with Princess Tiana. Later on I had all three princesses and greeters standing in a line, posing for a photo together. I’ll have to get it printed and get a copy to them. The only princesses I hadn’t had my photo with are Snow White and Cinderella. That time will come.

The princesses finished up early, allowing us to get LSP done and dusted. As we finished up early we’d got ourselves an hour break. This was added onto my hour dinner break.

Meeting Kate in the Mess, we quickly had lunch before she ran to shoot more characters. I came back to the cabin to type up my blog entries and here I am.

It’s 18.26 now, so I have to change into my evening uniform soon and get off to Shutters before coming back to change into my black shirt and heading into the lab for printing. I’m going to take a spare memory card with me and get some photos off the server to upload to Facebook and send to the Mama.

So far the day’s going well. Fingers crossed it continues.

**UPDATE**

It’s nearly 1am here and we are on our way to Cozumel, Mexico. The great news is that the clocks go back tonight - for 24 hours.

In the gallery I managed to sell a couple of packages and five folios which pleased me no end. So far, I’ve made a whopping $5 in commission – big round of applause for me! Of course there is a slight hint of sarcasm in that comment.

Later on, at the end of the night I was working in the lab printing the character shots from Kate and Mark. Mark’s cropping is terrible. He’s not zooming in and out so it’s making his cropping too tight and in many cases cutting peoples toes/feet/hands/fingers off. Oh, and the bobble on Goofy’s hat. I had leave printing to observe him shooting for a while, to make sure he was/wasn’t zooming in and out. He wasn’t.

When I asked about zooming in and out, Mark told me “what’s the point?” before pointing to his pentab screen, “look, it’s a perfect crop for this group shot”. When I nicely told him it wasn’t, the cropping was too tight, he replied, telling me I was wrong! I was shocked. It was better me telling him about his cropping than management. Mark wouldn’t have any of it. I was wrong, he was right. Now, unfortunately Diva is going to have to have a word with him if his cropping doesn’t improve.

Kate’s cropping on the other hand, was spot on 95% of the time. The other 5% were just minor adjustments. Like I said before, when you have someone who knows what they are doing, it makes life in the lab so much easier.

After work I sat around in the lab chatting to Diva and Carolee while getting photos off the server to add to Facebook and send home for the parents.

 Rama bought his friend’s guitar down and started having a sing-song with Carolee. Rama is actually a very good singer, but the faces he pulls when singing, had Carolee on the floor, crying with laughter. That only got Diva and myself laughing. Rama carried on as if nothing was happening which made everyone crack up more. They were singing everything from Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You, Adele’s Someone Like You and Amy Winehouse’s version of Valerie. It was such a great laugh, a brilliant way to end the night.

Posing with Princess Aurora

My Princess