TKA goes back to school

Terry Anderson Photography awarded five senior art direction and design students a complimentary photoshoot. The students, from Miami Ad School, Brainco, and Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) were selected in Terry Anderson Photography’s annual “Bring Your Layouts to Life” contest.

The contest awarded students Brett Essman and Michelle Swanson of Brainco, the team of Donny Brunner and Josh Feuerhelm of Miami Ad School and Leanora Porter of MCAD with a half-day photoshoot on November 13, 2008.

“We enjoy working with these young art directors,” Terry Anderson said. “They get a chance to polish up their books and we enjoy the potential of added portfolio images.”

Tami Galvin, a talented prop, set and makeup stylist who works regularly with the studio, donated her expertise for the three models photographed by Bill. She lended a hand on the other shoots as well.

“I donated my time and thought it was a very fun and valuable experience! I truly believe in the practice of "paying it forward,” said Galvin.



Leanora Porter, who shot with Bill Bartlett on her “A Flavor for Every Craver” campaign for Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, said she had a “fantastic experience.” “What a great opportunity! My new layouts with the new photography have been added to my portfolio.”

Brett Essman called the experience “amazing,” saying “I knew I wanted to go into this field, but after my first real-life photoshoot with Dewey (Koshenina), I know this is my calling. Thank you so much Terry for this contest.”



Dewey photographed a series of three ads for Carhartt clothing targeting women who are not afraid of rugged manual labor. “We discussed the possibility of a location shoot, but decided we have the space, sets, props and materials to build the environments in our studio,” said Koshenina.


Koshenina used Brett’s electronic layout as a template in Capture One to best compose the shot. (Capture One is the software program TKA uses to capture the high resolution camera files from the Phase One digital camera backs.)

Jeff Schmieg photographed a three-piece series of print ads for Gorilla Glue. Donny Brunner & Josh Feuerhelm created the concepts with a retro, 1970s feel.


“Our shoot presented several challenges, one of which included gluing a 400 lb. TV to the wall,” said Feuerhelm. He added, “Jeff, our advisor and photographer, constantly followed up with us during pre-production to work out several solutions so we could properly execute our vision.”

Myron Wolf, TKA photo assistant, worked with Schmieg to gut and mount the TV. Wolf also built the wall set consisting of retro-style wood paneling and a finished texture ceiling. All building materials are part of the extensive props at TKA Photo.


“I did plenty of retouching to remove stands that supported heavy console TV and also duplicated a lamp in one photo because they needed two,” said Schmieg.

“Terry Anderson truly wants to do his part in elevating the creative and advertising community in Minneapolis,” said Brunner. He added “Everyone there was very helpful, insightful and a blast to work with.”

Judging of the contest, which brought in twelve entries, was done by a select group of three Twin Cities’ Art and Creative Directors: Randy Justice Creative Director and owner of Tango Creative, Scott Pfeil Art Director with SK Marketing and Tom Bleakly of Tom Bleakly Advertising, Inc.

Terry said, “The studio has all the resources necessary to pull together the shoot, from model selecting to set building and propping. We’re very good at creating the environment needed to communicate the message.” He continued, “We had a lot of great entries and plan to do this again next year.”

The third annual “Bring Your Layouts to Life” contest will be held in Fall of 2009. It is open to juniors and seniors at MCAD, Brainco, and Miami Ad School.