I absolutely love mentoring sessions for SO many reasons. I get to share my heart with other photographers, learn alongside them, spend an entire afternoon teaching + shooting, and I get to have past clients come back and model for the shooting portion of the day!! Anytime another photographer books a mentoring session with me…one of the first questions I ask is whether they would like to shoot a couple or a senior for the hands-on portion of their mentoring session! Then, I reach out to my past clients and ask them to be my models for the afternoon! It is SO much fun for me to be able to offer this to clients who may have hired me at the very beginning stages of my business in 2013…because they get BRAND NEW photos that look COMPLETELY different!! It’s the best ever!

So, when Emily told me that she wanted to have a couple for her mentoring session, I immediately thought of Greer+ David! These two hired me to do a sweetheart session for them back in the spring of my junior year when I was shooting with a little Canon Rebel T2i. So, when I reached out to them for modeling, they were SO excited!! I just knew they would be absolutely perfect, because they are so naturally ADORABLE that it’s almost hard to stand it!! Their entire session is so sweet…and I had the best time recreating some old shots from their first session with me over a year ago! Here’s just a few examples…

Hahaha!! Oh my goodness…those are so weird for me to look at!! There is such a HUGE difference in two years and I can’t even believe it!! I posted about this on Instagram last week…but those photos on the left are from the 8TH session that I EVER uploaded and delivered to a client!! The 8th! That’s it! And now, almost two years later, my photos on the right look dramatically different. It’s amazing what can happen when you really work hard and hustle, and I’m so blessed to have the opportunity to continue growing every day. Because, guess what? We NEVER stop growing. Ever. It makes me sad when people message me or comment online saying things like “I wish my work looked like that” or  “I’ll never be able to get to where you are”. YES, you will! Those photos on the left are from TWO YEARS ago!! Only 24 months! I remember looking at other photographer’s work and I would just start crying because I would be SO discouraged and frustrated as to why my pictures didn’t look just like theirs. But, instead of letting it take control of me, I just kept taking pictures. That’s it. I didn’t buy a magical piece of equipment, I didn’t follow a special formula or wake up one day knowing exactly what I was doing…I Just. Kept. Taking. Pictures. My little Canon Rebel and I were inseparable. I practiced with different kinds of light, I mastered manual, I pushed all the buttons to find out what they did, I bought a new lens, I took pictures of swing sets and leaves and brick walls…I just took pictures. And this is what happens. This is what happens when you have a passion that you don’t let go of. So, don’t ever let anyone’s work discourage you. Just keep being passionate…you never know where you could be in two years!!