Be forewarned…this is a long and wordy post…but I hope you will take the time to read it because I think you will learn a lot about me as your wedding photographer.

I am so fortunate to be taking a workshop right now with one of my all time favorite photographers, Brooke Snow.  She is an amazing lifestyle photographer out of Utah and I absolutely love and admire her work. 

It was quite a process for me deciding whether to post this on my blog or not.  This is a very personal journey for me, and it is a bit strange to put it all out there for the world to see.  Then again, if I can’t be totally honest about who I am and what I am doing to improve my photography, I’m not giving you the whole picture of who I (as well as Life’s Stories) am. 

To show you what led me to this decision, I have a short story to tell you that helped me reach my decision. 

Every photographer has to start somewhere.  When I was really getting into photography, I was so excited to delve into the world of weddings.  I had never shot one before and knew I wasn’t ready to just jump out there and do it.  So I took a mentoring session with an amazing wedding photographer who I admire in every aspect of the word.  I never gave this a second thought – I wanted to learn the ins and outs of weddings, and this was a great way to learn alongside one of wedding photography’s greatest.  [Quick side note – I believe in giving credit where credit is due – Teresa is a fabulous mentor – check her out at http://www.reallyfunworkshops.com].

Fast forward a bit…I had photographed a wedding with another photographer and my photos were featured as a ‘Real Wedding’ on a wedding website.  Like anyone would be, I was very excited and proud.  I posted this on my Facebook page with a link.  A response I received to this link really put a damper on my celebration though.  Sadly, it was from another photographer who I had always had a lot of respect for.  I was asked, “Is this the wedding you shot with Teresa’s other mentoring client?” 

This comment just rubbed me the wrong way.  Partly because I know this photographer and know that it was intended to downgrade me as *just* a mentoring client.  I felt like my work, and myself, were being devaluated…because instead of a photographer, I was *just* a mentoring client. 

But I am a mentoring client.  So why should this comment have bothered me?  Why did it make me feel so much shame?  I was never ashamed before, I had never even given it a second though.  So after a lot of stewing on this comment and reflecting on my feelings, I made a decision.  I will not be ashamed to be *just* a mentoring client.  I am proud to be a mentoring client.  And if you have any investment in my work and me, as a friend, family member, client, vendor, or other, you should be proud of me too.  Through mentoring with Teresa my confidence soared.  I saw a HUGE improvement in my work in more ways than one.  I saw a new depth brought to my work and learned many new skills to editing and streamlining my work flow.  Most of all, I learned that I could shoot weddings, and that I could rock them.

So I will continue to be a mentoring client.  I will continue to attend workshops.  And I will be proud that I am doing so.

When I was a teacher, I went through the process of becoming a National Board Certified Teacher (that’s right!  I’m Nationally Certified in teaching English/Language Arts in K-8!!).  This process taught me to always reflect on my work.  To always keep learning and striving to improve …because not matter what, I would never be the perfect teacher.  There would always be opportunities to step it up – and I had to seek them out.

This does not mean I have to be unhappy with where I am along my journey, either in teaching or in photography.  The fact that I’m taking workshops doesn’t mean that I’m not good enough.  It doesn’t mean that I need help.  It means that I’m passionate about my work.  It means that I recognize that there is always more that I can learn – both from others and from myself.  It means that I value my clients and want to give them the best experience and photos that I can. 

So when I continue to attend mentoring sessions and workshops…and post those journeys here…it is because I am a determined, proud, and active lifelong learner.  It is because I know that I will never be ‘there’ – I will never be above the need to learn more.

So, without further ado (did you make it this far?), here is my first homework assignment with Brooke Snow.

The assignment pushed me to really think outside the box and shoot my session from a different perspective.  There were a LOT of new firsts that I did during this session.  It definitely presented some challenges for me, but I am happy with the images and also with what I learned from the experience.  The other ladies taking this workshop with me will get to hear a bit more of my insight about this experience (it’s not that I want to hide it from y’all, but these ladies have paid for the workshop as have I, and I feel that I should be loyal to that in this respect).  We are to post our three favorite images from the session…so, I present to you, Mary and John. 

I LOVE this couple.  Truly love.  I asked them to adopt me.  But they already have 5 kids…so it was a no go.  This couple has such a strong relationship.  I love the way they relate to one another.  You can tell that they are so much more than husband and wife – they are best friends and soulmates.  In fact, I was so inspired by them that I will be doing another session with them next week because I want to try out more new tricks that I am learning with them!  Mary and John, thank you so much for being a part of this experience for me – you two were fabulous to work with!!