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assignment inspiration is a unique
opportunity for
free photographers to join national
geographic
and seek new adventures and what's
exciting is we get to find
new talent in three days one of you will
be selected to go on assignment with
national geographic travel
this is like every photographer's dream
to get out and do something for national
geographic
i still can't believe i'm here to make
yourself better to do better for the
world
those are my first impressions of
national geographic
just to be in the running for something
like this is almost too much to handle
for this assignment you've been given
three different photographic quests
we developed these quests while i was
working in hiroshima japan
with mazda some of the spaces that david
took pictures of when he was walking
through hiroshima
really helped us craft what these
assignments would be
our second quest is unique reflections
for me unique reflections can be a
literal interpretation of that
how the environment is reflected around
you but it's not only that
see how you can reflect how you feel in
the pictures that you're taking
each one of you has a unique point of
view and we really are excited to see
that point of view and we're fighting
each of you with a mazda cx-30
to get you around la over the course of
the next three days
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at mazda the inspiration behind unique
reflections
started with the way we approached our
car designs
that reflective base surfacing sculpting
in the side panels
there's a depth there there's layers to
that design
layers to that story
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i like how light plays off the mazda
panels and i think
i'm gonna try and replicate that in the
barbershop club
hey how's it going welcome good to see
you when i think of unique reflections
reflecting on yourselves is the first
thing that comes to mind
you're staring at a mirror for a
prolonged period of time and as a result
it forces you to assess who you are
it's not easy to frame an image it's not
easy to know when to take the shot
it's even harder to know how to use
reflection in an image
i want to learn how to be a better
photographer so far my voice
has probably been landscaping wildlife
photography
getting outside my comfort zone to
really challenge
myself that's part of this quest we're
heading down to
san diego to the seaport village area
specifically
to photograph the carousel it's a really
joyful
experience to ride a carousel i think
it'd be really nice to see reflected
back to me
smiling faces joyful faces i'm excited
to shoot this location
today i'm at the santa monica pier i
chose the pier because it's a really
iconic
part of california and america for that
matter
it's really bright and colorful there's
a lot of motion things that i really
love and try to showcase in my
photography
so i'm going to be looking for
reflections that tell a story
and inspire people i'm just so excited
to be here because
it's really different than minnesota
it's really refreshing
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meeting woody i'm able to see why he's
so successful as a barber
i'm third generation barber so i grew up
in a barber shop like this where you
know a bunch of men gather
this is one of the best places to be a
listening ear and a support for men
trying to be true gentlemen of today's
time some of my interest
in people specifically their faces is
really something i wanted to focus on
and i think
that is gonna show in my work because
i'm also one of the fastest barbers in
town too man i'll be done with this in
about three minutes
if you don't capture it there's a lot
going on
i'm definitely struggling with the
cramped space and maybe even a little
bit
angled uh sorry the other one gonna be
doing a lot of really
up close shots of some of the chrome
that's another challenge
can you see yourself in that no
i'm somewhat concerned about being able
to create a diverse
set of photos
to try to be creative getting into
situations that i'm not normally taking
photos in
it's so exciting i do want to capture
those
really special connections between the
parent
and their child i love how precious his
face is
but it's a little bit hard to get the
position i want
sometimes i'm hanging off the carousel
hoping i'm not going to hit something as
i
rotate by it gets a little disorienting
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i'm going to go back that way because
there was some i thought that there
would be more
reflective surfaces here where i thought
that like the rides would have some
reflection to them
they didn't but i'm
pushing myself to be the best that i can
when i'm out there
the tricky part is not getting myself in
this
here we go
i'm getting your sunglasses no leave
them on
thank you can i get a picture of you and
your friend after you get your tickets
maybe you can put your arm around here
that's awesome oh that's so cool
nailed it i really like the image of the
couple coming out of the burger joint
reflections on the surface the route 66
sign so it was really kind of an iconic
image yeah
reflection can also be a tool to convey
a piece of yourself
it could be pain it could be joy but
being in touch with that part of
yourself is a powerful tool
how does that image move its audience to
action and emotion
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hey woody is it okay if i use this
mirror
yes you may
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so i've got him in the shot and i've got
him in the shot again
i would look straight ahead
woody thank you so much amy good luck
with everything man i really appreciate
it right
one thing that is working well is one
little girl
riding by herself it did remind me of
how i was as a child
but i can see the light is changing and
i'm feeling the pressure like i really
need to find
the compositions that i want because the
light is going to go away
all right i can't see my dials that
looks better
i was thinking that maybe we go to the
parking lot and see if we can get some
reflections
the mazda is really reflective and so i
thought if we were able to park it in a
way that we could get the
amusement parks lights on it that it
would be really fun to photograph and it
was
i hope that people can see joy and the
part of our culture that amusement parks
are i'm gonna take one more shot you get
what you needed
we'll just yeah yeah
i think that there are definitely some
shots i feel excited about
shots that i'm proud of i want people to
be
moved and inspired i'm pumped to see
some of these shots there's a couple
that i can't wait
to get on my laptop there's going to be
a lot to go through and a lot of
decision making
the quest was about not only the
responsibility and
hope to reflect the world around you as
a photographer
but also to convey the very individual
personal
path that you've taken