There comes a point when you’re building your skills where you exhaust what online training and group coaching can achieve.
You’re no longer a newbie, faced with a huge choice of courses advertised at you daily on social media. You’ve worked hard, levelled up a few times, and now face the prospect that none of the ready-made material out there quite hits the mark for where you are.
I reached that point with my photography skills, and it’s been keeping me awake at night. I want to keep working at it, to keep improving, so I can deliver even better results for my clients.
If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know I’ve done several group training sessions with Paul Wilkinson of Mastering Portrait Photography (here, here and here), and each one has taught me something new.
But I had to face up to the fact that group training could only take me so far. I needed a tailored approach, identifying and focusing on the specific things I needed to work on.
So earlier this year, I approached Paul and Sarah to ask if they’d take me on as a 1-2-1 mentee. I’m thrilled they said yes! It was a significant commitment, but one I felt I needed to make if I wanted to keep raising my standards.
Last week we had a great session in and around Paul’s studio, working with two lovely models, Katie and Kinga.
I was able to practice the technical shorts I most needed to work on, with Paul’s guidance close at hand. He also helped me research and upgraded lighting system and refine my workflow, which was brilliant. Unsurprisingly, I ordered the new lights straight away, and have spent the whole weekend testing them out!
In a way, it’s similar to how I help my clients. You’ve built something real, you’re good at what you do, but knowing what you don’t know, and finding the right expert to fill that gap, is how you keep growing. Whether that’s photography mentoring for me, or brand photography and videography for your business, the principle’s the same: you can’t do it all yourself, and you shouldn’t have to.
If you’re ready to level up your business, and need brand photography and videography to help you refresh your website and show up online, then let’s chat.
A big thank you, as always, to Paul and Sarah for a brilliant time!
You can find out about Paul’s workshops and mentoring here, as well as a wealth of training material and information.
All the photos in this post were taken by me, under the tutelage of Paul Wilkinson.
Who Am I?
Hi! I’m Adele Williams, Brand Photography and Videography Specialist. I’m based in North Somerset and founded SuperFunkyPenguin Photo + Video in 2015.
I Work with founders, business owners and SMEs to help them share their story and attract the right clients, collaborators and investors.
Curious to know more? Book a cuppa-and-chat by clicking here!