HISTORY

Home | Why us? | Visit my Blog

Jeff McMillan is a graduate of Ohio University with a BFA in Visual Communication with a specialization in Photo Illustration. One week after graduating Magna Cum Laude and his first interview, Jeff was hired by the largest Commercial Photography Studio in Cleveland, Ohio. There, he assisted three photographers. If you see Jeff's work now, you can see the influence these photographers had on his style. The owner of the studio (George) was a fashion photographer. Assisting George, Jeff quickly learned to coordinate small intimate shoots in the studio, larger location shoots around town and huge productions for fashion catalogs on the beach in Miami Beach, Florida. Returning from a shoot like that, Jeff may find his next assignment to be assisting the Product Photographer (Gary) as they photographed clear plastic baby bottles for EvenFlo. The day after that, Jeff may be assisting the Architectural Photographer (Eric) on a shoot for the new Cancer Center in the world renowned Cleveland Clinic. Or, they might be off to Iowa to photograph a renderings plant for a recruitment brochure. Apparently, they had to recruit people because the smell was so bad from burning the unused parts of the cow "renderings"... no one in their right mind would willingly approach the company for a job.

After only a year and a half, Jeff was notified by the George that he was no longer a Photo Assistant receiving a paycheck from his company. George realized that Jeff was motivated and talented. After all, George was nice enough to allow the assistants to use his studio and equipment in the evenings and over the weekends as long as the other photographers didn't need it. Jeff realized the value of this and took full advantage of it. He quickly developed an eye for light, composition and style, and sooner than most, was promoted to a full time photographer. Although, it is hard to call it a promotion since Jeff's hourly wage of $7.00 an hour was eliminated and now he had to survive on a commission based on 40% of his photography fees. Not to mention... that Jeff did not have a single client to shoot for. So, he took to the phones and the streets with his portfolio and began building his client base. His first client was an advertising agency that was doing work for a company in Michigan that made outdoor electrical boxes among other plastic injection mold products. That advertising agency worked with Jeff for the next thirteen years until April of 2004 when McMillan Studios relocated to Northern California.

Now, Jeff is a seasoned professional shooting images that are used and seen all over the world. He has worked with high profile clients such as Dupli-Color, Craftsman, Matco Tools, Calphalon, Bay Alarm, LeapFrog, Duncan Yo-Yo, Harley Davidson, Concannon Vineyards, Xerox and Applebee's. Jeff has also photographed celebrities... Jack Nicklaus, Julie Heaner, Arlen Ness, Steve Brown, Artis Gilmore, Lou Holtz and 42 Playboy Playmates. Jeff has photographed motorcycles that were built by Arlen Ness in cooperation with major music groups like Def Leppard and Journey. These bikes were auctioned off as the groups (and bikes) toured around the world.

Jeff still enjoys a wide variety of subjects in front of his cameras. In fact, He is so accomplished in the areas of People, Product, and Automobile Photography, that many of his clients feel that Jeff Specializes in each one of those areas.

McMillan Studios strives to provide high quality, creative photography, digital retouching, large format photo quality prints, video and excellent service to all.

If you want a fresh look to your advertising... call McMillan Studios!

Home | Why us? | Visit my Blog