I’ve been a photographer for over 10 years now, & it’s been incredible having this word show up in my inbox just this last year. Mentoring. Holy shit. Yep, I’m saying it. I’ve never offered mentoring or even thought about offering mentoring. Why? I’m still having a hard time calling myself a professional. HA! No really. First of all, I’m a trucker when I talk! I don’t know how to execute what I want when I’m posing & I do things this way or that way because well, thats how I like them done? I give no explanations. I feel I still have so much to learn & I have nothing to offer you that you don’t already know?! To put things lightly, I lack confidence big time.

Basically my knowledge of Photography comes from countless youtube videos, how-to books & well, shooting/personal preference. I took a couple film classes in High School, built my own kick-ass pinhole camera & then tried to complete my photojournalism certificate at SAIT before I got pregnant. Needless to say I never got my certificate with a baby on the way & moving to Stettler, BUT my passion & drive for the art was still there. It was hard moving to a new town & giving myself a name here. Everyone knows everyone & you just keep hiring & going to who you know? Obviously! I took about a year off after I had my son & got right back into it….. then I fell pregnant with my daughter, taking more time off haha! But since I’ve had my daughter it’s like something clicked. I love this field. & Everything about it. For the longest time it was just a hobby because I was simply terrified to turn it into work. That “work” word scared me & I didn’t wanna fall out of love with Photography by turning it into work. But the truth is, I love it so much more. SO. MUCH. MORE. How IS this work? It’s work? This is a job? I’m still coming to terms with the fact that I’m a full time Photographer… but I’ve driven myself head first into this industry & I’m not looking back.

I’ve never personally been mentored by another Photographer or taken any sort of workshops because I take everything upon myself when it comes to what I wanna know. Once I got the basics down, I wanted to learn what intrigued me & not what everyone else was doing. So I really had no idea what a mentoring session would entail.

Until now.

I had two awesome ladies interested in meeting up so we could shoot one afternoon. I didn’t prepare a whole lot because I’m still learning this whole Photography thing, just like everyone else. It’s a learning experience for me too! I put a post on Facebook asking if anyone was available on Friday for us to practice posing & I was lucky enough to have 2 couples join us that afternoon!

Amber & Candice asked the questions & I tried my best to answer them. I pointed out the beauty of BBF & how it’s changed my shooting, some of my marketing techniques & we were able to practice posing. I’ve had my taste of mentoring & I’m putting some things together as to what I will be offering. Unfortunately, it’s not a crash course of ISO, Shutter Speed & White balance… it’s how I run business. I’m real? The best thing I’ve done for my business is just to be myself. I don’t dress in all black with a name tag & give you goody bags with my logo stamped all over your free pens & notebooks. I do things a certain way because it works for me. & I’m so open to letting you know everything! If you’re interested in hanging out, let me know! I’d seriously love to help you in any way I can!

Here are a couple images captured from our afternoon together!

You can find Candice HERE

& As soon as Amber has her page up & running, I’ll make sure you can all find her too 🙂