A Photo Assistant

Too shy for light-test?

TJ Turner is a photo assistant and photographer based in St. Paul, MN. I sat down with him recently to talk about some of the stuff going on in his world of photography.

APhotoAssistant: Hi, TJ, thanks for spending some time with us today. Tell me when you first started assisting and, if you went to school?

TJ: Hey thanks for having me.  Well let’s start from the top… I went to a few different colleges in Minnesota trying to find a photo program that I liked.  In 2006, I toured a school in Massachusetts called Hallmark Institute of Photography. I was not ready to move 2,000 miles from home at that point in time, but after trying out some different schools in Minnesota, I was ready to give it a shot and moved out east in August of 2008.  It was an intense ten month program, and glorious, it was a complete commercial program.  From there I learned about assisting and the basis for what is done on a set.  So I guess my first technical assisting job was over spring break of 2009 with Matt Karas on a set for Pointe Magazine.  That week I also lined up an internship with Studio D for the Hearst Corporation for that summer.  That’ss where I really got my start assisting.

APA: So what was your overall experience with school? Was school necessary for you to get started in your photography career?

TJ: I had a great experience with school, I made some great friendships and great business connections as well. For myself school was a definite yes, as far as getting a start in photography. My parents work in elementary education and biological sciences, so not much of an arts background. I was starting basically from the ground up. My opinion on the school vs. no school debate is that in most cases school is going to help, but my preference is in the direction of trade schools. Hallmark was a perfect spring board into the commercial photography world, but it really depends on the person and their background. A person who has a very heavy photographic background is going to be less likely to need what someone like me needed to get that basis built for their knowledge in photography.

TJ hanging out in NYC.

APA: When did you return to Minnesota and tell us why you decided to come back? I mean, did you think about staying out east? New York, or somewhere else, maybe?

TJ: Well I came back to Minnesota this past August, for several reasons, but one of the primary reasons was that New York, where my internship was, was expensive and I was running very low on funds. Initially, I had thought I could stretch a dollar a little farther, but it’s a pricey place to live, and also I had been away from family and friends for a long stretch of time. Plus the Twin Cities are a great place to live and work, and there is a pretty good market here in the creative sector. So I thought that I would make a run of it here. So far so good. I’ve been meeting some great people and have been working on some interesting sets.

APA: What sort of interesting sets have you been working on? Tell us a little about a recent shoot.

TJ: Lately I’ve been working on some fairly simple sets, I’ve been working a lot with Chris Bohnhoff. Chris’ specialty is with food, so we did some promo work recently fro Brother’s Deli in Minneapolis, photographing sandwiches and etc. We also did some editorial shooting for an in-house magazine for Best Buy, and one of their designers. More recently, I’m working some with Sara Rubinstein, and we just finished Fashion Fight Night 4 for Twin Cities Metro Mag. So its been a busy past couple weeks, with shoots and prep work. Otherwise I’ve been on a few interesting sets in New York, where there have been guards on sets with expensive jewelry, and I’ve also met Dr. Oz on a set for O Magazine. Nothing too extreme yet, but I’m enjoying everything that comes my way.

APA: Wow, TJ! Sounds like you’ve been keeping pretty busy. Has the economy impacted how much work you’re getting? What’s it like out there, on your own? Tell us a little bit about running your own business, starting out in your first year.

Horsin' around, errrr... light-test on location.

TJ: I’m definitely enjoying everything. The way the economy is effecting assisting is fairly unfamiliar to me, I entered at what was a very rough time for assistants and photographers (as far as I’ve been told). But I’ve been keeping busy with assisting and shooting my own work for fun and portfolio. As far as running my own business its interesting, but I’ve been lucky to have a large number of people that I can use for resources and are willing to help me and explain the ins-and-outs of the business side of assisting, which needless to say can be relatively confusing.  But its very exciting and is part of the game.

APA: What sort of things do you like to shoot? Do you know you’re style, or do you think you’re still developing that?

TJ: I like to shoot most anything. But primarily I prefer to photograph people. Lately I’ve been really into lifestyle and environmental portraits.  I’m definitely open to other types and styles of photography, so I guess what I’m trying to say is that I have a couple preferences but I’m really open to just about anything, with a few exceptions. As long as I’m dealing with photography I’m happy really, mostly.

APA: Have you had any paid shooting gigs yet in your career?

TJ: I’ve done a few, primarily band work and a few headshots, and some other things, as well. But, I’d really like to get into some lifestyle shooting, along with environmental portrait work.

APA: What’s the best piece of advice, best technique, best use of gear, or just something you learned, that you would like to pass on to other assistants and emerging photographers?

TJ: I think that the best advice is that its a huge game of connections, when it comes down to it the creative sector is a lot of who you know. So always be friendly and always put your best foot forward on every set you work on, whether its a huge production or assisting on head shots. If you can treat every set like its the most important set you’ve worked on and bring a positive attitude. Otherwise don’t be afraid to say you don’t know how something works.

APA: Sounds like sound advice, TJ! Thanks for spending a little time with me here and letting me get your perspective on things today in the photo assisting world. Before I let you go, can you give us a sense of what else you are into these day?

What’s spinning in the iPod?

TJ: Magnetic Fields, Velvet Underground, Old Crow Medicine Show, and the occasional random Disney song.

APA: Your new favorite website?

TJ: I’m a complete Hulu addict, otherwise I don’t surf too much… I just stick with a handful of sites.

APA: Your favorite photographer today?

TJ: For the last few years, Sam Jones. His image quality is amazing.

APA: And how about a new favorite book?

TJ: Let the Great World Spin is what I’m reading now.