Always & forever learning, I am constantly in search of information to make me a better photographer. Just as much as I yearn to learn (I know I know, totally dorky play on words) I want to be able to pay it forward and teach others the same information that was taught to me, or that I taught myself or pulled hair out over, or stumbled upon on accident- whatever the case might be. I’ve been told I’m a great trainer, and although I am not so sure about that title, I always seem to be assigned the trainees at my day-job & they seem to get by pretty good…Although I will be quick to point out, that I loved the summer that I was an assistant at a primary summer school-but those few short weeks showed me that I could have never hacked it as a grade school teacher. Honestly, I really do enjoy training others and sharing what I know. What good is knowledge if you hoard it for yourself? It saddens me that there are photographers (or any other type of art or career for that matter), who are secretive with their methods and won’t give out a measly tip every now and then and look at you like you have three heads when you ask how they get their images so crisp & sharp (I’ve gotten my share of snubs that made me feel like an idiot for even thinking I could ask that question), but thankfully there are even more who so freely and graciously give their time and talent to help with the betterment of anothers newfound hobby or budding business when they can. Personally, I think it betters the industry as a whole & makes us more of a community rather than a competition.
Take Justin & Mary or Jasmine Star for example. Both have an incredibly successful business that they work very hard to achieve and build, yet still find the time to post tips on their blog and offer amazing yet affordable workshops. They can’t possibly answer every one of the 1000 emails they probably get a day about posing, lighting, equipment, their vendors, etc. (and those are just mine) but they share what they can to the masses – and that is the true meaning of sharing the wealth.
Inspired by these and other awesomely generous photographers and enthusiasts (Ree Drummond the “Pioneer Woman“, Amanda Bottoms), I too want to share the wealth by starting a series of training & tips of what I know, what I don’t know, what I pretend to know, what I want to know and what I have learned along the way. Whether you are a photographer, want to be a photographer, it’s a hobby you are passionate about or you just want to be able to take better photos of your kids- I want to share. Be warned, I don’t claim to know diddily squat and my ideas & workflow & procedures many change –in fact I hope they chance for the better as I learn new techniques and simplify my process and I’ll be sure to give you an update on it. In the meantime, if you know an easier way or a better way or a cheaper way that creates less work with more quality product…..please please pretty please do share. Also, throw me a line and let me know how you learn so that I can try to train you that way. People have different learning styles and different training styles. I train like I learn, which means I’m all about the visuals, lay mans terms, bullet-points & K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid). I like to start from the beginning and build upon it. Unfortunately I’m not very technical at this point, so that’s definitely a work in progress and hopefully by sharing my knowledge & doing the research I will gain some much needed essential technical skills in return. I want to know how to make it happen first, then I learn the technical logistics later. Who knows-perhaps one day I’ll be skilled, seasoned & confident enough to train in-person, offer workshops, online mentoring…a distant goal, but a goal none the less. But for right now I just want to learn and pass it over to you via the blog. Now, where to start…?!
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