The tour of:
Jim Lennon's Photography Studio
First I would like to say that as I am beginning this post I am trying to convince my husband Bill that he doesn't like cream puffs so I can have the last half along with my hot chocolate that is so deserved after my chilly charity motorcycle run from today which I will post about after this.
So when our professor's Allen Kenner and Juan Lopez set up the tour to Jim Lennon's studio I was excited because not only did I think it was not going to happen due to a professor swap for the current course I am taking, Photography Seminar, and also that the studio is conveniently located in the Hauppauge Industrial Park where I just so happen to work only a few blocks away but this is where my focus in photography lies, in commercial photography.
Jim Lennon has been photographing for over 35 years and is pretty well known throughout the Long Island photography industry. He has won many awards for his work which he proudly displays all over his studio. Jim has also taught and lectured at many universities and many art and photography organizations all over the region.
In the past I interned and shadowed for a few commercial studios so I was not apprehensive to visit Jim's studio but I was curious to see if he ran his studio the same as the others, meaning did he charge the same, was he shooting the same products or different products and clients. I mean you never know. Maybe clients like to jump around get a different perspective and advertising angle for their products or maybe they are satisfied with their photographer's creative vision and stay or maybe they do not care and just want someone to take product shots for them.
Jim Lennon began his tour starting in the front office by talking about his secretarial staff and what type of work they do for him and what their day entails. He stated that they are part of staff that he has to pay which gets worked into the price he needs to charge his clients in order for them to get paid but still be able to turn a profit. Jim then led us into the next area of the studio where he had a full functioning kitchen set up for food photography. He stated that some clients he was shooting food for would rather cook and shoot in the studio for convenience but some food related clients also requested he shoot on location for them at their restaurant. I recently posted a "Reaction" blog on food photography where Jim hosted the food photography workshop. If you find yourself interested in this type of work you may want to read it. He then led us into yet another area of the studio where he was set up for other types of commercial products ranging from makeup to fashion to hospital equipment, tools, medicine, automotive and beyond. The studio was the perfect size for what he needed to accomplish.
As I have stated once before the one thing about Jim Lennon I really like besides his work is his sense of business. He knows how to work the business end which is something I hope to learn a great deal about from him. He stated to us that him and his wife and assistant Mona have come up with a simple number to charge clients. They figured out they need to shoot at least three days a weeks to be able to cover expenses including studio rental, electric, paying staff, paying themselves and still be able to sink money back into the business for things like for example, equipment repair. This does not mean that the other days of the week are free. There is still editing and other things that need to be done and that will take up the rest of the week. Jim also told everyone that learning the business end is first and foremost, creativity comes later. You can produce a great photograph for your client but if you cannot sell and run the business from a business stand point then you will not be around to long. He met many people that stated to him that they would just open their own studio and do what he is doing but they do not last long because they do not know how to run the business from the business end.
Although Jim demystified a lot of questions I had circling around in my head there is still a lot I want to know. I will be conducting an interview with him in the near future to pick his brain a bit more. One of the questions I asked him was, "What do you look for in an assistant?" His answer was, "Well I want someone to walk in here with some experience under their belt. Not someone who's afraid to touch the camera and touch the equipment because they are afraid they are going to break it". He also stated please do not put on your resume that you have experience with a Hasselblad if you have only used it once because that means you really do not have experience with that camera and probably should not be handling it anyway. He stated that he needs an assistant that can set up and break down without instruction, can guess his next move and has no problem lifting the equipment was a few of the requirements if one decided to approach him for an assistant position....yes I will.
In conclusion I would like to state that I really enjoyed the tour and feel in that short time I learned a lot and still had a lot to learn. As a matter of fact one of the other studios I interned for would never talk business in front of me so I find it intriguing that Jim is willing to divulge any information to help out anyone who is interested in running their own commercial photography business.
I am looking forward to my interview with Jim Lennon and may even ask him if I can assist. I would relish in the opportunity to join in on a food photography shoot!
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