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Assistants by James Hodgins

Where would we be without assistants? Not just in the photographic field, but any situation you can think of for that matter. Wouldn't an extra pair of hands, one more suggestion, another pair of eyes be of greater value to you? Of course it would. Assisting, having an assistant, teaching an assistant, in my opinion, is a very powerful learning technique. Learning? How can you learn from an assistant? YOU'RE teaching them! Well, here's my take on it. What do you have to lose from hiring a photography assistant? Some might say "you will lose business, because after you taught them everything they know, they will leave and take your customers with them." That might be so, but I think if that's the case, then there are other issues with your business that you need to look into.

My photographic career really started when I assisted my mentor, Rob (who is now my business associate). Here was a photographer willing to take me under his wing, and teach me everything he knows. He didn't hold back anything, and was never concerned with me "stealing" business from him. Eventually, I wandered out on my own, shooting the same clientelle he had. Was he resentful? Hell no. Why you may ask? Because of the respect I had for him as a teacher and as a friend. There was also loads of business for both of us. We even recommend each other for shoots that we can't cover. If I don't have a wedding on a Saturday, it's not unheard of for me to go assist him, and him to assist me, likewise.

Over the course of my mentoring, I learned the ins and outs of the business, the photography, and the morals of everything that holds it together. If your assistants are learning all that they can only to run off and become your competitor, then something was lost in that "mentoring" process. Maybe they were just an "assistant", but that's because you treated that way and that way only.

In the past year, I have had an assistant of my own. Every time I need a hand with a shoot, I would call the "Grunt" to help me. Now I use the term "grunt" loosely, but that is what we call him, it's our nickname for him, but we (I say we, this includes my wife, and Rob who also uses the grunt) but we don't consider him just a "grunt". I showed my assistant every courtesy Rob showed me. He asks questions, I answer truthfully. During the shoots I teach him as much as I possibly can without hesitation, lighting, exposure, business aspects, the whole kaboom.

Now, this photographer is growing, and growing fast, I see his photography taking leaps and bounds after every shoot. Am I thinking "I'm just training my competitor?". Heck no. Why? Well several reasons. First, there is PLENTY of business to go around, especially since business is booming. Second, my assistant is also my friend, a friend I respect, and I know he respects me. He will have the same business relationship with me, as I have with Rob. Even though we are competing in the same market, it never was a competition. This all comes down to which path you take to mentoring another photographer.

Now back to the first question I asked, how can YOU learn from teaching your assistant? Well that all comes down to the DB factor (Dirty B*strd). What is the DB factor? Some of you know, but for those that don't I'll clue in. The DB factor was created during the time I assisted Rob. There was an underlying competition between the both of us on who could come up with the better image. He would look at one of my images from a wedding and say, "you DB, that ROCKS!", and the next shoot he would go out and one up me. Then I would look at the image and say, "Man, you're a DB!". This would push me harder to go out and get something just as cool or if not better. This went on for the whole time I was working for him, and still goes on now even though we have seperate businesses.

THIS is the learning process.. We "feed" off each others creativity, and thus improve our own creativity to create more dynamic images. When I was working for Rob I had a different perspective of photographic world, I was looking at it from "newbie" eyes, one that Rob hasn't encountered in years hehe, but showing him my perspective, one that was sometimes different from his own, motivated him to look at it differently. This is what started the friendly competition. Now the "grunt" is in on the DB factor, as he is bringing another perspective to the game, and I know it can only be good for our business, comraderie, and photography.

If you're thinking of mentoring a photographer as an assistant, keep this in mind. They started the exact same way you did, by learning from others. Think of the photographers that helped you along the way, some might have been very encouraging and open, others the totally opposite. I think we all met a photographer that wasn't willing to share their knowledge, remember how that made you feel? What was the reason behind it? I know now!!! They were SCARED!!!!! Scared because they didn't want anyone else to know their secrets, because if everyone knew, they would lose business. Isn't that the biggest crock of crap you ever heard? Makes me laugh now.

Mentor the way you would have wanted to be mentored when you were starting out. If done honestly, openly, you will not only gain a valuable asset to your business, but you will grow as a photographer, and as a person.

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