Grand Rapids Photographer // Mentoring Session!

I obviously love photography.  To be a photographer, I believe that you must love it.  Not think that it’s a kinda sorta fun job……but head over heels LOVE it!  The days are long, exhausting, sweaty and oh-so-not-glamorous.  Everyone has this perception that we just show up with our cameras, eat wedding cake and dance the night away…..so SO wrong!  (Just ask Terra and Joe 🙂  ).  No one hardly mentions the hours spent at the computer, late into the night editing or that we hardly ever have a Saturday to just hang out or go to the beach.  The only time I see the beach in the summer is when I’m head to toe in black dress clothes, lugging around my big fancy camera.  But still…..love it.

Throughout the years I never thought that I would be interested in teaching as much as I am now.  After attending a few workshops, I started to feel this want and this crazy need to teach and help other photographers learn their way through the photography maze.  So many others have helped me along the way, I finally feel ready and knowledgeable enough to help too!

Kuirsta is a great up and coming photographer based in West Virginia.  I met her a few years ago when I photographed her pretty country wedding and have kept in touch ever since.  Since her family lives in Michigan, she visits often.  We chatted online about possibly doing a mentoring session and the stars just lined up!  We had the most gorgeous couple as our models and a perfect night to teach about sunlight.  How did we get so lucky?!

Here are some of the shots that I snapped while teaching Kuirsta as much as I could in the little amount of time we had.

I promised our lovely model, Tara, to make a disclaimer about these photos.  Dave and Tara are NOT engaged.  (We didn’t want to start any silly rumors… 🙂  )

After the session, I asked Kuirsta to answer a few questions…….

So……how was the experience?  Did you learn anything new?

Awesome! I felt comfortable to ask questions, it was easy to talk to you, you were very organized, answered all of my questions, gave valuable feedback…..I did learn some new info too! Like, positioning in different lighting, using hand to shield light, when/why to use certain lens’, post process techniques to make editing easier such as the star system, short cuts like alt+ cntrl + shift for auto contrast….

How did you feel going into the mentoring session?  And coming out?

Coming into the session, I was nervous and excited to learn some new techniques! Coming out of the session, I am more confident and still excited to put these techniques to use!

Did you think it was worth spending your hard earned money?

It was definitely worth every penny!!!

What was the most valuable piece of information you took away from our time together?

The most valuable piece of information I learned was how to use natural light properly to create beautiful images!!

Anything else you’d like to add?

Kellie is amazing!!! She’s a wonderful photographer and teacher.

Kuirsta making some magic happen….

And a few head shots for the lovely Kuirsta….

When trying to put this blog post together, Kuirsta mentioned that they were only having overcast days to shoot on….so I can’t wait to see her results when she gets more and more practice with gorgeous light!

Here are some images from before, during and after the mentoring session that Kuirsta took..  I think her images look brighter already!

Before

During

After

If you have any questions or would like to know more about a mentoring session, shoot me a message!  If you would like to see more of Kuirsta’s work, check out her website here!