Olan Mills

I have been offered a photographer position at Olan Mills, has anyone worked

for them and have any opinions on them as a possible employer.

Jim

Never worked for them. I was put off by the no beard and their anti-drugs policy. I'm not a drug user but I object to having medical tests to prove that I'm not. I understand they have a rapid staff turnover and tend to be low-payers.

 

I saw one of their studios set up with a dedo light for the hair and a softbox above the camera. very bland and not very creative.

Speaking of Olan Mills, I'm sure that a lot of you folks have seen <a href="http://listoftheday.blogspot.com/2007/09/great-olan-mills-photos.html">this little gallery</a> already, but perhaps a few haven't.

I'd never heard of the company before coming across the link posted above a few days

ago. Maybe they're just big in the US South?

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I Googled a bit and came across this, but I suppose to be fair it doesn't necessarily reflect

the US experience. Assuming you're American.

 

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<A HREF="http://www.photocritic.org/2006/olan-mills-into-liquidation/" > http://

www.photocritic.org/2006/olan-mills-into-liquidation/ </A>

They used to be big over here in UK. Speciality is the cheap makeover and shoot for a few quid. Gone bust over here now.

Matthew, that site was more fun than (as we say here in the South)...the day my little brother got eat up by the pigs! ;)

It is just a job. You are not likely to make much money unless you are also working as a portrait consultant and are an exceptional salesman. their whole system is setup on selling people stuff they walked in thinking they didn't want. There is not much room for creativity because everything is done by a formula. Basically you will learn to become exceptionally efficient in your work flow, and develop a thicker skin in the sense that you can't please all the people all the time. Being a national corporation there is the requisite baggage of big company politics. They have closed all the studios that were around here. You didn't mention if it is in a studio or church directories division. If it is for church directories, you will become an expert at assembling and disassembling a studio with your eyes closed, which will get old fast since you will be doing it every week. I worked in an Olan Mills studio here years ago. Actually in the 70's. Most recently I have been working for Lifetouch church directories. Working in a studio is more fun if you enjoy spending your time interacting with small children, and being able to just turn out the light and lock the door at the end of the night. Doing church directories you will get more experience posing groups and working with adults and, you will become an expert at assembling and disassembling a studio with your eyes closed, which will get old fast since you will be doing it every week. Either way keep in mind that your job will be churning out portraits of 80 to 250 people every week. If you want to develop a streamlined work flow, good basic posing habits and strong people (selling) skills, you will learn these things. If you want a job as a creative photographer, you will become disillusioned quickly. I did not have any horrendous experiences with either company. Hope these been there done that thoughts help.

Olan Mills is an old company, my baby shots were done at Olan Mills in a Marshall Fields store in Chicago. They started in 1932; they are headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They actually mark on their prints "olan mills" unlike todays so called pseudo pros; and get a fee if I enlarge a wedding photo 50 years later for a 50th wedding anniversery event. Folks either like or hate Olan Mills; they have been around since many of us have been born so their business formula must work.

Any photo job is worth a try if you learn some new things. A place that caters to moms and dads; churches and kids probably wants an employee who baths; doesnt smell, has that Waltons JohnBoy/girl look; not a bearded tattooed messy tattered biker look.:):).

I live in Chattanooga and understand from talking to several local photographers who have either worked for them or have applied for employment, only to be turned down...that they have pretty darned high requirements for a company that pays their photographers so little and produces such a genereic, mediocre product.

" the day my little brother got eat up by the pigs! "

 

John, you simply have to elaborate on this, as I have precious little idea of what this is supposed to suggest. Some part of me has to ask and another part of me is reticent to know. I did read the Olan Mills thread so I am at least up to speed on that aspect of the issue.

Gordon B,

 

The expression is a form of bucolic humor, and it usually is in the form, "I ain't had this much fun since the hogs ate my little brother."

 

Aren't you glad you asked?

Gordon, Kerry beat me to it. Her version is fairly accurate. The saying varies from place to place, person to person as most sayings do. In my neck of the woods it is, " I ain't had this much fun since my little brother got eat up by the pigs!" Hell, we don't even know what it means. I was raised on a dairy farm...so I know cows well. We had horses and ponies. Pigs and chickens are creatures I know nothing about... :) This expression is one of many that Southerners seldom use except while in the presence of any Yankee who during a visit to Dixie...chooses to disrespect our culture :) Keep in mind that as you read... that while everything I'm saying is true...there's a humorous aspect to it that i'm completely wired into right now. so...nothing i say will be a rant about our Northern brethren! I'll give an example of how the saying might be used, but first I'll share something we as Southerners live with on a daily basis.

 

It's oh so common for Northerners to visit the South and ask a perfect stranger to "talk Southern" for them. It can be innocent enough...and even flattering that someone would have a fascination with the accent. But I've seen it carried a bit further than that. I was sitting in a restaurant once and a van (with Michigan tags) full of people came in, sat down at a large table next to me. The patriarch of the family began the whole ...say something Southern thing with the waitress, a young lady in her early twenties. Let's just say that the comments went from what seemed to be harmless kidding...to out and out mocking, and belittling disrespect. I was about one more comment short of walking to the table and asking the man to take his Yankee a-- home if he didn't like the way we talk. Fortunately for all, they left without another comment. I asked the waitress if she was offended, and she replied that one more comment was have resulted in a freshly brewed pot of coffee being dumped into the man's lap.

 

Southerner's would never think of going to New York, Chicago, or Boston...and asking strangers if they will...speak "Yankee" for us. Southerner's are one of the last segments of humanity that seem to be exempt from being singled out for prejudice, intolerance, and discrimination. It seems that most people...all decent people understand the wrong of mistreating and disrespecting people because of race, religion, sexual preference, origin of birth, and so on...but Southerners somehow remain fair game, even by guests of the region that is their home.

 

By in large we Southerners try to keep a good sense of humor about it all. We're certainly able to laugh at ourselves. Lewis Grizzard (in case you're not familiar with him) was a writer for the Atlanta Constitution, the South's leading newspaper. He wrote a daily column for years that was based on the many odd, quirky, and humorous aspects of Southern culture...and wrote several best selling books on the subject. He broke the ground for comedians such as Jeff Foxworthy and the whole Blue Collar Comedy Tour. So, there are some notable Southerners that are having the last laugh...all the way to the bank, as the saying goes.

 

Bottom line, we Southerners can laugh at ourselves...right along with our visitors from north of the Mason-Dixon, as long as they know where the boundary is between good natured fun and mocking disrespect.

 

Since I've ran my mouth this long...I might as well share one more thing. An example of how and when a Southerner might use the expression that started my diatribe.

 

Let's say we have a couple of guys from the North who like to come to the South to hunt ducks or geese. They stop at a Seven-Eleven near my home, just outside of Chattanooga, Tn. ...and ask the clerk where they keep their boxes of shotgun shells, and by the way...where can we buy some moonshine. She politely informs them that even in Tennesse, shotgun shells can't be bought at a Seven-Eleven and we don't make moonshine any longer we make "meth". The two guys laugh and say "Isn't that cute. Could you speak some more "Southern" for us ...hunnnie?" Two rednecks in overalls hunting, caps with fishing hooks in the bill, chewing Redman and spitting into empty Pepsi bottles... speak up and say, "hell man, you want Southern...we'll speak Southern for ye!" After a few minutes of talking about huntin', fishin' and their corn crop...they might say, "Well fellers (Southern for fellows)...it's been reeeaaallll fun, but we gotta' go. But I gotta tell ya... We ain't had so much fun since our little brother got eat up by the pigs!"

 

The Yankees have been entertained by the good ole Southern boys, and later in the day, the good ole Southern boys will have a good laugh while sharing with their co-workers at the power plant, how they duped a couple of Yankees earlier in the day. Then they will go about doing whatever nuclear engineers do. ;)

 

So, hopefully the point is obvious...that even though we talk "funny", the South has produced more than it's share of President's, astronauts, nuclear physicists, Faulkner and Tennessee Williams, Jack Daniel's Whiskey, along with Goo-Goo Clusters, Moon Pies, and Krispy Creme Doughnuts...and the expression, "wasn't that a hoot!"...we're all still stereotyped as being direct descendents of the Beverly Hillbillies.

 

But other than that minor issue ... we love our Northern brethren!

 

 

one last thing...do you think i got off the subject of Olan Mills? :)

Man I must be slow tonight, John is writing lengthy disertation's in the same time I'm throwing out one liners.

That has to be the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. I think some portrait people on here need to see that, including me, lol. Thanks for that.

Shay...how are you doing my man!

insomnia has me up late and rattling on...what's your excuse? ;_

Obsession. By the way I just got done reading your lengthy reply to Gordon. Very good stuff.<br> "...ask a perfect stranger to "talk Southern" for them." How strange that people do this. I might talk southern once in a while, because I like it. I do this with all types of accents, dialects and phrases as I'm sure many do.<br> I don't feel I'm mocking the group in which I impersonating. I just like to try in on for size and see how it feels, just have fun with it ya know? I wouldn't feel comfortable doing this in front of the person I might be impersonating, unless it was a proper situation, as it might be taken as an insult or disrespect.<br> I'm not prejudice or racist but a lot of people are. You "good ole boys" seem to handle it well.

Something I wanted to add. I think it's also important for me to say that when I hear something said from another person that identifies them with a certain culture I get intrigued. It starts with a smile when I hear it. The smile is not indented to disrespect the person. It is "wonder" and "beauty." It reminds me just how complex and wonderful we all are with our differences. I hear it, smile and want to know more. Not in a "what kind of creature are you" way but ?how interesting you are? way. Man one could go on for hours about this and I have not really put these thought together well enough to just post it now but I know you?re smart enough to know where I am coming from.

why can't this site just work with IE7 and Word, for Christ sake it's only the most widely used platform in the world. It?s a big pain in the butt. Question Mark.

John, Thanks for that reply. My father was raised on a farm and on occasion he used the expression having " more fun than a pig in sh*t "

I had never heard the eating your relatives one before last night. I was born in the city and then left for the country. Maybe it refers to the rather non particular nature of a pigs tastes in food. I've always been led to believe that pigs will eat pretty much anything, possibly including little brothers. My brother in law lives in a tiny village in rural Mexico and his in laws have a pig tied outside the house. They toss anything they no longer have a need for out the window and the pigs eats most of it .

 

I've travelled the US a bit and been through Tennessee a half dozen times. You guys have an accent for sure and loads of colloquial expressions, as I do 'EH', but it is usually quite decipherable. I travel much more in Canada than the US and some Canadian dialects are nearly impossible to understand. One of my favourite places in Canada, or the world for that matter, is Newfoundland. Out on the " rock" in some places I have no idea what people are saying. Some people poke fun at the odd accent but it is, in my experience, done in a lighthearted fashion. I have a friend in Cape Norman who refers to me as his " mainlander " friend as in " you're not half bad, for a mainlander "

 

I have a bunch of very good friends who live in Manhattan who are alway poking fun at my Canadian accent and expressions. Another good friend from Houston joins us annually to go to a music festival in rural Quebec and we all have a wonderful time not understanding each other or any of the local Quebecers.

For generations the locals in my adopted town have referred to Parry Sound as Parry Hoot. I have yet to find anyone who can tell me why.

I have always been fascinated by such things.

I haven't seen anything above that's inaccurate, but I'll add my 2 cents as well.

 

I worked for them a long time ago, in NW Ohio, around 1984.

 

I was 22, hadn't attended college yet, had been learning photography for the past 2-3 years in Arizona's scenery, and thought it would be great to earn a living at it instead of getting my hands dirty like my last job (3 years in parts / service in m/c dealerships out west).

 

I took a photographer osition with OM in November 1984, was taught the basics of studio operation / portraiture for 3 weeks by a mentor in Flint, MI; named Michelle West, IIRC. It was of course all film back then, going from memory it appeared to be 2.25" film on a big roll. Learned to change film, magazines, test the lighting daily, shoot a grey card. Then worked at my own studio in upscale Sylvania, Ohio; outside Toledo.

 

I learned the basics of portraiture. I learned customer handling, and was constantly working on faster workflow. This was during the Christmas rush, which it turns out is their busy time, and the pay was decent. Not bad or great, but decent.

 

For about the first 3 months, I had a chronic cold. Kids come in, they're sick / infected, and you are in contact. After that 3 months, you're pretty much immune to everything.

 

You'll wear out shoes, seriously, walking back and forth on good dress shoes.

 

The pace of the work is fast, but you strive also to never look like you're doing anything but taking your time with your craft.

 

After Xmas, things slowed down a bunch. Pay was less good at that point. College beckoned. My skills continued to improve, but my pay and my skills weren't necc. inter-related.

 

Eventually I quit, to go back to college. By Autumn 1985, I was in college for Mechanical Design at a local community college.

 

I'm glad I did it, even though I only do portraiture for my own pleasure and for friends. But I wouldn't do it again for money, at least not for OM. I've continued to build on what I learned there, combining their techniques with natural lighting and posing friends in *real* scenes (an oilman with his oil pumping rig on his farm, for instance, my father at work with his cars, or my son on a waterslide or in a bathtub - see my folders).

 

I also wouldn't say that photography is easy money, but then, nothing is.

 

Hope that helps!

Gordon, re Parry Sound - I just read on your local library website that only Parry Harbour is dubbed "Parry Hoot" and it's where the lumbermen would go as it was the only place where alcohol was permitted, and it became known as the "wet" side of town. Parry Sound itself was covered by the Beatty Covenant ( Governer Beatty prohibited the sale or production of alcohol on any land that had been purchased from him, but Parry Harbour wasn't a part of this. The lumbermen would go there for it's booze and rowdy atmosphere. A common expression over here in UK is that something that is a right laugh can be a "right hoot" or a "bit of a hoot". It's an expression also used a lot in Australia and NZ. Actually, probably used there more than in the UK these days. So I guess the "Hoot" part of "Parry Hoot" comes from that - the lumberers would have "a right hoot" in Parry Harbour.

oops, back on topic...is there an Olan Mills in Parry?