July 21, 2014
After a ton of thought and hard work, I am so excited to announce that I have officially started offering Mentoring & Shadowing Sessions for new and budding photographers! I have always loved helping others and I wanted to continue that in the photography world. I think it’s extremely important to do your best to help those around you. I believe in learning from one another. I believe in sharing what you know. I believe in building a network of creative friends instead of competing against one another.
When I started my journey in photography over six years ago, I knew very little. I knew I loved using my camera to capture moments of people showing love and that I wanted to make that my life’s work. With education and lots of guidance I have grown into the photographer and business owner I’ve always wanted to be. And yes, everyday I am still learning, still growing, still doing but I’ve come to a point in my life where I want to start sharing my knowledge with photographers beginning their journey. I want to welcome them to this awesome world where you can shoot what you want and own the business you’ve always dreamed of. I want to share everything I’ve experienced and learned with you all.
I created my Mentoring & Shadowing Sessions to do exactly that. To take all the knowledge I’ve gathered over the years and share it with the world! To help new photographers in their journey and to guide them on their path to a successful photography business. Everyone needs someone to cheer them on! If you are reading this right now thinking, “This is exactly what I need! I’ve started my business, I know how to use my DSLR but now I need a little guidance to be the best I can be,” then this is perfect for you!
Here’s a little more in depth summary of what Mentoring and Shadowing Sessions are all about:
Mentoring
Sitting down in my home studio we will discuss your photography and business goals and set out the best plan for you to achieve them. What drives you? What inspires you? What do you want your business to look like in 5 years? We will answer all the questions and start figuring out the best ways for you to get where you want to be. We can go through any questions you have – from workflow to shooting to getting published – whatever you want to know I will share with you. I can review your website, go through your gear and show you all the products I offer. With these sessions the sky’s the limit! I want to help you as best as I can, I want to see you succeed! They can go as long as you’d like and in the end we’ll have a mini photo shoot. I’ll snap a couple professional photos of you to use for your website or blog.
Shadowing
This session is the best of both worlds. You’ll receive absolutely everything from the Mentoring Session and then we’ll move on to my favorite part, SHOOTING! You will accompany me on a Portrait Session – I set up an awesome session where we will be able to shoot side-by-side! You can ask me questions, I can give you pointers and you can use all the images you make for your website/portfolio.
I also offer Coaching Sessions via email and Skype for those not able to meet in person. If interested in any of these sessions, feel free to email me (shaunae@shaunae.com) for scheduling and pricing.
I’ll be your teacher, your friend, your biggest cheerleader. I am invested in you and your business. And in honor of helping and giving I’m holding a contest! One lucky photographer will win a free Mentoring Session with me! All you have to do to enter is comment below and tell me how would a Mentoring Session help you and your business. A winner will be chosen at random and announced on this week’s Fresh Brewed Friday!! If you are not a photographer, feel free to share with photographers you know that might benefit from this opportunity.
Below is an example of a Shadowing Session. I met with the lovely Ana of Ana Claire Photography to answer her questions and help her achieve her goals. We sat down and talked for hours about shooting, posing, blogging, and everything in between. Then we met the beautiful Cassandra at the Bomier Boat Landing for our Portrait Session. Kyle and Zane helped with lighting and reflecting and Kyle snuck a few behind the scenes shots of me working with Ana. It couldn’t have been more perfect and wonderful.
These women are the best and I had a wonderful time working with them!
I have admired your work ever since I found your business card. I would love to learn and grow from you. I think a mentor session from someone who has such a great eye like yours would bring some helpful and amazing things to help my business prosper. Thank you for giving such an amazing chance away. I would love to talk business and lighting, along with posing and well just everything. :) Thank you again! <3
I’m just starting out with my photography business and I feel I’ve only scraped the surface! There’s so much more to learn and improve on! Your mentoring session would come at the perfect time to help start off my business. From lighting, to editing, to posing, and the business aspect, I’d be very fortunate to gain more insight. I’m a fan of your photography and would be honored to have you as a mentor!
Hi there! I’ve just starter my own photography business this summer. I am a stay at home mom of twin boys who turn two this summer. I have a degree in early childhood education and digital photography but would love the opportunity to talk one on one to learn more about photography and the business and how to grow bigger to be a successful business. Thanks so much for the opportunity!
Hi there! What an awesome thing you are doing! To be honest, I just learned of you — a friend of mine ‘likes’ you on Facebook, and I had to check out your work (it’s pretty amazing, by the way). I was just telling my husband the other day that I SO wish I could just follow a professional photographer for a “day in their life”. You see, I “technically” don’t have a business yet; I do a lot of side jobs for family & friends, but it’s equating to about 3-4 shoots every month. I currently work full-time and am finishing my bachelor’s degree part-time (done in December, THANK GOD!) and finishing my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management was *supposed* to tell me what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, professionally. And all its taught me so far is that I cannot sit behind a desk all day & crunch numbers. I need to be more creative, more hands on… and photography is such an inspiring hobby to me that I would love to make it more than just hobby someday. Frankly though, I am terrified and have NO IDEA where to begin. You seem to have it all figured out ;) so a chance to have a mentoring session with you would be like winning the lottery. Thank you for the chance at an awesome giveaway!
Hi there! What an amazing opportunity to win a mentoring session! I have been eyeing it up for the last 2 months, as a chance to work along side you would be amazing! I feel like I have come so far in the last year, as I have looked at photography as a career rather than just a hobby. I know I have come along way, but I know there are so many more things for me to learn!!
I would feel SO lucky to win the mentoring session with you :)
[…] to see more photos from our shoot or want to win a free mentor session with Shaunae? Click HERE for more info! (Be fast, she will choose a winner on Friday, July […]
I enjoy learning and enjoy sharing in happiness. I want my business to be my happily ever after (in addition to having a wonderful husband and family :) ) and although I feel like I’m making my steps towards that, sometimes I just feel stuck and that I could use a helping hand. Learning from such a talented photographer such as yourself would help me learn the things I may not know, improve on the things I do, and help me grow as not only a photographer, but an individual. I am most happy when my clients are happy. I know that learning from talented people will only better myself and my business, and I would love the opportunity to learn from you!
A mentoring session would HUGELY help my confidence as a businesswoman. I’ve been photographing people for a long time, but my business savvy is definitely not up to par with the industry. I often get discouraged because there are a lot of things I don’t understand. Running a business is a crazy monster, but I really love making images and would love to have the opportunity to learn more about how to make that happen in the long run.