Reflections Magazine Issue #83 - Fall 2015 | Page 23

Feature Article

“It kind of what I do,” he said. “I’m
very blessed to do it, and Siena kind of
helped me start it.”
When the lights go out, there’s still
plenty of work to be done, Smith said.
“As director of photography, it’s not
a photographer,” Smith said of his job title. “It’s a cinematographer that controls
not only the lighting of the program and
the angles, but it controls the cameras,
all the lenses, crew and electricity.”

He said the days are long—very long.
“Most of my days are a minimum
12 hours,” Smith said. “I’ve been blessed
to work on a lot of shows and behindthe-scenes specials.”
He’s worked on outtakes for the
Grammys, handled audio for the ESPY
Awards and shoots player featurettes
for the NFL Network. He recently completed working on two pilot shows, and
recently work on “The Voice” television
show.
His advice for others wanting to
follow his career path?
“It’s highly competitive, so be willing to work for free,” Smith said. “If you
really want to work with somebody, be
willing to make their life easier. …
The best thing you can do is anticipate.
Don’t keep asking, ‘Can I have a job?’
Anticipate. Clean a lens. Set up a tripod.
It’s those anticipation moments that
means you are paying attention. And
if you can anticipate, then you have a
shot at getting in.”
And he said there are plenty of opportunities in his career field.
“Don’t walk away from a movie at the
end of it. Read all those credits,” Smith

said. “All those credits are nothing but
jobs. For every one person who’s up there
(on the screen), there’s three people who
didn’t get a credit.
“It’s been a great career.” u

Reflections Fall ’15 | 23