Context: Lifetouch is a nationwide school photography company that goes around doing school year book photos.
From my boss and co-workers this is what I learned about the company.
They move into an area buying up all the local photography studios. They then hire those studios' photographers…. For half pay. Take the pay cut or get another job.
This makes them a LOT of money but puts them into a precarious situation.
Because! They had competition moving into the area. New photo studios were popping up and, if Lifetouch couldn't keep up with all their contracts, schools would move to the competition. And if schools moved to the competition Lifetouch's photographers would jump ship to double their pay.
Their entire business model is dependent on having area monopolies and the second they lose that it starts a cascading effect where they lose more and more contracts and more and more photographers. It's almost like monopolies fuck over workers. Who knew!?
Here I enter the situation as desperation hire. I had no experience with children or cameras. Something my career focused co-workers were openly bitter about. The name of this game is speed and their fastest photographer was super pregnant. Like, days from popping. She was TWICE as fast as their next fastest photographer.
I was promised two weeks of off site training.
I got one day of on site training during which I mostly just sat there watching my trainer photograph students. It's a more complicated job than you think. You have to get the kids to sit in a very specific manner to get the best photo and getting kids to do that is like wrangling cats. Also the equipment controls were designed by an idiot. Nothing worked the way you'd assume that it would.
My supervisor showed up at the end of the shoot and asked my trainer how many kids I'd photographed. She said “None! I don't have time to train him!”
I photographed 3 children before the end of the shoot. The next day I was thrown behind a camera with a supervisor breathing down my neck to go faster. I had NO IDEA what I was doing.
After the shift I called my supervisor and informed him I needed more than one day of training. At which point he told me to turn in my name tag.