I would like to congratulate Leslie on getting this job. It's a great opportunity and a break that a lot of people would love to get. My advice is to focus on the assignment at hand, and forget everything else for now.
When someone like Leslie or Angi comes to us with happy personal news, I think the least we can do is to affirm, congratulate and wish them luck in this new endeavor.
The well-meaning, wet-blanket carpet-bombing by some here is stifling, and a turn-off. Perhaps sending a few URLs and answering questions in a friendly, gentle manner might work better than a sententious, preachy, dreary, guilt-laden and seemingy endless jackhammer lecture series ? I wonder how many of us did our first job for top-rate pay ?
We all have something to learn from each other. In Leslie's case, her deep commitment to her own photography & her own way of working are things we can all learn from. The conventional wizdom uttered here as gospel, of journalists carrying cases and cases of lights is so old school. Some of the top PJs in the world work with less hardware than many here take for a Sunday stroll.
I would refer anyone interested in this to look at _Sam Abell: The Photographic Life_. It's a great read about the life of a top pro, who by the way, rarely used flash, and for most of his career used two bodies, one with a 28mm the other, an 85mm.
--- Luis
Ps. Eugene Smith was a master of subtle flash techniques, but used mostly small flash units with minimal w/s output.
