Q&A Session with Jasin Boland

Photto by: Jasin Boland

Jasin Boland is an Australian-based motion picture stills photographer who has worked on some of the largest global blockbuster action franchises of the last 25 years. His remarkable ability to encapsulate the essence of an entire scene into a single photo has led to him becoming an Ambassador for Nikon, Black Rapid and Hoodman and a member of the Society of Motion Picture Still Photographers. We recently caught up with Jasin to chat about the complexities of movie stills photography and how he works on set to capture some of the most recognisable images in the world.

Jasin spent his foundation years in photography, working as a photojournalist throughout Australia, Hong Kong and London. He eventually tired of the London scene and returned home, where he transitioned away from print media and picked up stills work for local television and small-budget movies. In the late 90s, Warner Bros. decided to film the first Matrix movie in Australia to keep production costs down. There wasn’t room in the budget for a Stills Photographer to be flown in for filming, so the call was put out for a local photographer, and Jasin landed the job. The movie became an enormous success, and Jasin’s stills put him on the radar of other high-profile filmmakers and studios. His images from that film have become some of the most iconic in the industry and still resonate with movie lovers today. He jokes that he could have ridden that wave for years, picking up work with just that one film on his resume.

A body of work as revered as Jasin’s does not happen by simply turning up on set and taking some photos. Meticulous planning goes into gaining access to the best possible vantage point for a shot while not getting in the crew’s way or distracting an actor. Jasin will study the script in advance and watch rehearsals to identify key moments where he can convey the Director’s vision of a scene in a single frame—often positioning himself to capture that one photo and sacrificing the rest of the sequence. Sometimes multiple takes allow him to grab different perspectives, but typically with expensive large action scenes, there’s no second take.

Photto by: Jasin Boland

“As still photographers, we’re only as good as the access we create for ourselves. And what I mean by creating for ourselves is the help you get from every single crew member on a film set; without them, I don't get my shots at all.”

Much time is spent liaising with Safety and Stunts crews to nut out where he’d like to set up and how to do it safely and unobtrusively. On set, Jasin has gained a lot of trust by not deviating from what has been agreed. If he has said he will be somewhere during a take, that’s precisely where he’ll be. Even if he thinks the shot might be better half a meter to his side, he’ll let it go and, in doing so, has garnered a great deal of trust from key personnel and is given a lot of leeway on set.

Jasin acknowledges without resentment that he is last in line on a set. It’s an understood part of his job that he needs to be patient and accommodate the needs of all crew and cast, but in extending a respectful work ethos to the production team, he has found they’re more inclined to make way for him too. 

‘I'll say to the camera operators “Right, I'm going to be close to you here; if it makes you feel uncomfortable, you let me know, and I'll get out of the way” and 99% of the time, everyone's just like “No Jasin, come and dance”.’

Photto by: Jasin Boland

When it comes to lens choice, Jasin says he is primarily governed by the light available on set, closely followed by his access to the action. Previously, he worked mainly with primes; the AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4G is his favourite lens of all time. And although convenient, he steered away from using zoom lenses as he didn’t feel they were up to scratch optically. Now he is blown away by the quality of the latest generation zooms and recommends the NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S and NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S as staple pieces of kit. Jasin also admits that he used to avoid opening up beyond f/2, but with the new Z-Mount lenses, such as the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.2 S, he’ll confidently shoot them wide open all day long. 

“I mean, Nikons can see in the dark like a cat full of carrots anyway, so when you combine it with the lens and the ISO, it’s just made for me.”

In the days of shooting with an SLR and later with DSLRs, Jasin housed his camera in a sound blimp to reduce the amount of shutter noise it made during live takes. And although it effectively dampened the sound, the last 5% could still be problematic. The transition to mirrorless has completely revolutionised things for movie stills photography. With its outstanding tracking autofocus and the absence of both a mirror and mechanical shutter, Jasin describes the Nikon Z 9 as “the camera we all dreamed about”. 

Jasin often harnesses himself onto vehicles and rigging to get among the action. He will even team up with a stunt person so he can keep shooting, knowing that they will pull him out of the way of oncoming danger at the very last second. But sometimes, the best image just can’t be captured in person safely. For these, Jasin loves using the much smaller Nikon Z 6II mounted remotely to shoot dynamic perspectives he could never get handheld. While stationed photographing one view of the scene, he'll also have a trigger in his hand, firing the remote camera at the same time. This way, he can grab the absolute most energy and emotion out of a scene.

“I love getting the director's performance when the actor just gives everything to the director. I don't like doing setups because I feel like it sucks the life out of an image, but when you get the director's performance - it just stops you dead.”

While talking through some of his favourite photos, Jasin shares a still from the Matrix that he disliked for years. He explains that he rediscovered it a few years ago and saw it in a new light where he felt it encapsulated the Matrix beautifully and was more indicative of his style today. He shares the image as an example to other photographers to revisit their back catalogues with a fresh perspective and look for images previously disregarded. Jasin surmises you might have grown into that style you didn't realise you had when you first shot it. 

For those just starting, Jasin says there are no shortcuts; you've got to start at the bottom, and that’s not a bad thing. He strongly encourages working on student films and short films to begin building a portfolio and developing relationships because there's no reason why that director isn't going to be the next George Miller or Paul Greengrass.

“In my 25 years as a photographer, I've never looked at myself as an artist; I've only ever looked at myself as being a storyteller.”