set » Raji Barbir Photography

There’s nothing quite like beautiful light on a movie set. And this one had it in spades.

I always love being on set. It’s just so much fun. Mind you, this is coming from a guy who’s never been on any set other than small independent productions. I just love them to death, and I go shoot them whenever I can.

So when my good friend Andrew James called me and asked, “My brother Danny is shooting a short film in a really cool location, can you come shoot behind the scenes photography until midnight or later for no pay?”, I didn’t hesitate for even half of a hundredth of a second to jump at the opportunity.

Because first things first; if you’re a photographer expecting to get paid for shooting on movie sets but you don’t live in LA, you’re deluded.

And since I’m not deluded, don’t live in LA and love what I do for a living, I was on-board in a heartbeat, no pay and all.

Here’s some of what I got from the set of The Piano Man. There were a lot of pink and purple colors that I wasn’t so crazy about, so a lot of them are black and white. Besides, it focuses you on light rather than color.

Enjoy!

Ok, here’s some of what you’ve missed out on.

Day 293/365

If it weren’t for this shot, I would have forgotten to take anything that day. I thought it interesting that a chair was just out there (iPhone photo)

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Day 294/365

Family shoot.

DISCLAIMER: Both my good friend Heidi and I were shooting with my camera that day. On the same memory card. For those who have been following my blog, her gear was stolen recently, so she needed loaners as she worked to get back on her feet – which she is now; she bought all the new gear she needed! Yay!! Anyway, what this means is that I’m not completely sure these are all my shots. I’m pretty sure most of them are, but I’m not 100%

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Day 295/365

I can’t post pictures of Kenzie’s bridal shoot until after her wedding on December 16th… But I have a good deal of cool stuff to show you when I’m allowed. Put it on my tab!

Day 296/365

Scouting for new locations. Best day of my life.

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Day 297/365

I absolutely LOVE being on movie sets!!

This was from a goofy short film a friend of mine wrote and directed called “Takito: The Quest to Save Rivendork”. It was, believe it or not, a prequel to another short film he wrote and directed called “Takito: The Revenge of Dreyfus”.

Yes, it’s a spoof. It’s a joke film. I mean… “Takito”. We’re alluding to taquitos.

It was a spoof on a largely unknown feature film called Shikito, by Utah Wolf Productions. Now, I’m not one to talk smack about other artists, but these people make some truly, TRULY atrocious films… As if that wasn’t enough, they’ve willfully infringed on an unbelievable number of copyright laws while insisting that you don’t infringe on theirs.

Andrew (the writer/director for Takito) and I found this incredibly funny. Particularly because Utah Wolf Productions seem to take themselves so damn seriously. So Andy decided he wanted to make a short film out of it last year. The original Takito film. I found this to be dangerous, not just because he’s stealing the movie from Utah Wolf Productions, who are stealing things from giant corporations like Sony, who probably stole their ideas from some schmuck in Arkansas, but also because… Well, how do you spoof a film that sucks? Make it suck MORE?… Andy decided to make it more obviously silly (ie. make it a comedy) while making the cool stuff cooler (ie. better production values).

Regardless, it was enormous fun shooting on set. I shot on days 2 and 3. On day 1 I wasn’t available.

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