Featured Photographer

Five Questions With Jerry Burns

Jerry Burns is a photographer based in Atlanta, GA. He's also a TalentSoup client. You can see his work at http://www.studioburns.com/. This is part of our Featured Clients series.

How did you get started in commercial photography?

I attended a local photography school for about a year until I ran out of money (no trust fund here) and began working in the industry as an assistant. An old school apprenticeship, if you will. My logic at the time was a simple math equation: Either pay a school to teach you skills that may or may not be relevant in the real world or opt for being paid to acquire valid and necessary knowledge from a working professional. Scenario A puts you in considerable debt and lacking skills while plan B keeps your bank account flush and exposes you to information that conventional education has no clue about.

No matter what route one goes, there is tremendous trial and error and at the end of the day, you should never stop learning.


Describe a production from last year you are really proud of.

One client we really love is Randstad. They are based in Amsterdam and have been using StudioBurns and TalentSoup for an annual project for six years now. The talent component is critical to the success of the project and Rad has been an extraordinary asset in enabling us to pull off extensive days of shooting a diverse talent collection not just in Atlanta, but Miami as well.


What are some of the big trends you see coming in the next 5-10 years in the production industry?

All of life is cyclical. "Everything that brings you joy will one day bring you pain." So, I stick to the core elements of making good images and try not to get hung up on the flavor of the minute.


What advice can you give to talent when they're on set?

If you've made it to the set, it means we like you and see the value you'll be bringing to the shoot, so be yourself. In a nutshell, Show up, work hard, have fun, and finish.



Unrelated to work, what are you passionate about?

Music. All this photography nonsense was simply a Plan B when I realized I wasn't good enough to make a living as a guitar player!


Jerry uses TalentSoup to shop for great talent. If you're a producer, and interested in our services, see our Producers section for more details. Are you a model, actor, or actress, or run a talent agency, and interested in working with great photographers like Jerry? Check out our Talent and Agency sections and get in the Soup today.

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February, 2013.