1-on-1 Training

I received an e-mail over a month ago from a photographer that attended an all-day seminar I gave during the May 2011 Super Monday program I put on sponsored by the PPA.  She enjoyed the class, and really wanted to get a little more education under her belt.  She was getting nowhere with other photographers in her area, so she wondered, if she drove the 2.5 hours to my studio, would I give her an all-day, 1-on-1 training.

I found time in my schedule, and we coordinated a date that worked for both of us.  We spend the better part of half a day in the studio, going over different lighting equipment and modifiers, backgrounds and lighting techniques that I use in my portrait work.  At the end of the day, we went on-location to a small parking garage and I had her shoot portraits of me, using the techniques that we had gone over.  I prefer being behind the camera than in front of it, but it's easier subjecting me to a training modeling session than anyone else.

From someone who admitted that she kept making the same mistakes over and over again, I showed her a tried-and-true technique for getting good portraits from almost any subject.

Her comments: "You probably felt like you'd been the victim of a drive-by shooting with all my questions, but I really appreciated your openness.  I feel so much better prepared to take the next step.  I actually want to practice now because I can anticipate improving instead of getting frustrated!"