Mentoring for photographers

 

As you know from my books, and from my online video courses if you've seen them, I enjoy passing on the experience I've accumulated in almost fifty years of professional shooting. Books are, to my mind, the ideal vehicle for one-way teaching. Nevertheless, I'm very aware of the intensely personal nature of photography. Unlike, say, video, it's not a team effort. All photographers have their individual personal creative development, and at a certain point, nurturing that is the way forward.

Many people think of investing in equipment as an essential means of developing their photography. But that takes you only so far and in limited directions. I believe it's far more important to invest in yourself.

So, for photographers who, at any stage in their avocation or career, want personal coaching and guidance rather than the classroom experience, I do mentoring. This is a focused system, not vague chatting, and it all works toward outcome, as any good teaching method should. This means setting goals. If you want to work in one specific genre, like street photography, landscape or still-life, that’s OK too, although my areas of competence don’t include fashion, sports, weddings or wildlife.

It works best, in my experience, as a longterm programme, although I’m also happy to do short sessions if you have a clear idea of some very specific area or skill that you need to develop. The way it works is:-

Step 1: Profiling. Sounds like something out of criminal research, but it really means building up a profile of you as a photographer, your interests, skill sets, strengths and weaknesses. It includes a first portfolio review.
 
Step 2: Agree goals and outcome, in discussion based on the above.
 
Step 3: Together we rough out a tailored programme.
 
Step 4: We do it.

In my experience, the most effective unit is an hour's Zoom or Skype talk, although face-to-face is good if distance permits (I'm in Kensington, London), backed up by email correspondence if needed. Typically, an hour a week ought to be good for most people. If you're interested, please write to me at photography@michaelhfreeman.com

 

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