Yael and I spent two weeks in Vienna with a schedule full of plans and photoshoots.
One morning I had two early sessions back to back, the first with my amazing longtime client Ariane and her lovely Labrador Emma, and right after that a session I was really excited (and a little nervous) about, photographing my friend and amazing photographer Ria Putzker with her own amazing dog Maki.
 

Photographing another photographer, especially someone at this level, always feels a little bit like an exam.

After very little sleep, my alarm went off around 4AM. I got ready, took the first metro, then the first bus, and arrived at the location around 5:30 in the morning.
 

Ariane arrived, we talked for a couple of minutes, and then I said: “Ok, let’s start shooting.”

I took my backpack off, opened it to take out my camera and...
 

Wait.

Where is my camera?
 

You know when you open the fridge looking for something good to eat, there’s nothing there, so you close it and open it again like somehow the universe will magically create something?
 

So I closed my bag and opened it again.

Still no camera.
 

For a second I started thinking maybe someone stole it from my bag, but that made no sense... it’s heavy, I would notice, right?
 

So I called Yael.

Every beep felt like forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​She finally answered half asleep, and I asked: “Tell me... do you maybe see my camera somewhere?”

And she answered in the calmest, most tired voice: “Yeah, it’s here on the shelf...” and immediately went back to sleep.
 

So I had to explain to Ariane that I was officially an idiot, and luckily she is one of the nicest people ever... she drove me all the way back to the hotel, I grabbed the camera, we returned to the location, and of course I also had to tell Ria I’d be almost an hour late because apparently I’m a genius.
 

Before mastering light, composition and storytelling, maybe start with the advanced professional technique of actually bringing your camera.