It’s been less than three months since I announced my mentor meetings. I’ve had three meetings so far and have two more on the calendar for February and March. I was able to overcome my nervousness and hesitation about teaching and am now happy to report that the meetings have been very successful! I really do enjoy teaching about the wonderful world of photography and I’m so thankful for the mentorees who’ve trusted me!

This past Saturday I met with my old friend Kirby for a mentor meeting. She and I were suitemates during our sophomore year at Bridgewater and have stayed in touch since our college years. She recently purchased a DSLR camera and desperately wanted to take better pictures. So she contacted me and set up a mentor meeting! I was completely flattered that she drove 1.5 hours to meet with me and actually trusted that we’d get work done instead of just catching up on the old times…ha! We ended up talking photography for over two hours and completed the meeting by taking head shots in the coffee shop parking lot. I just love that my photography journey reunited us after 4.5 years. 🙂

Kirby is a pageant queen down in Hot Springs, VA so we got some pictures with her official crown first…

I love the picture on the right! Kirby has a sweet, playful (maybe a little ornery?…a good ornery!) look that is unmatched. 🙂

Uh oh, sweet and playful turned sultry…

Kirby wore this great teal/mint winter jacket that was just beautiful on her, so I requested she wear it for a few pictures. Don’t you just love this color for winter!? So unexpected and so refreshing. 🙂

And because we’re old friends, I needed to get a couple of us together! Yep, lookin’ good in the coffee shop parking lot! 🙂

Kirby’s meeting was all about using her camera…shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, and focal points. We did some indoor practice with some pens and paper as our subjects, and Kirby seemed to really understand the way the settings worked together and how to change them to alter her images. We also talked a little business at the tail end of the meeting just in case she wants to be a stay-at-home-mommy someday. 😉 Kirby’s next moves will be to get more comfortable with her manual settings and possibly invest in a faster lens (I suggested the 50mm 1.8!).

Thanks for meeting with me, Kirby! I hope you learned a lot and feel more comfortable moving forward with your photography journey. Hopefully it won’t take us 4.5 more years to see each other again! 🙂

P.S. Mentor meetings are for all kinds of aspiring and present photographers! If you’re interested in learning more about mentor meetings, click here. If you’re interested in signing up for a mentor meeting, email me at jessica@jessicafikephotography.com.