Personalized Photography Mentoring
& Creative Coaching
Let’s Grow Your Photography Together
Photography mentoring bridges the gap between knowing how your camera works and capturing images that actually feel like you, offering a quiet, supportive space to explore your vision and find your unique creative voice.
Photography is a beautiful way to see the world, but it can also feel incredibly lonely. We spend so much time alone in our own heads, scouting quiet trails, waiting for the sun to drop, and staring at editing screens. It is so easy to get stuck in a creative rut or feel overwhelmed by all the loud tutorials telling you there is only one "right" way to take a picture.
I believe the best way to find your style is to step away from the noise and lean into what makes you curious. My one-on-one mentoring isn't about rigid rules or intimidating critiques. It’s a collaborative partnership where we take your current skills and gently shape them into a signature style you feel confident sharing.
San Francisco-San Jose Bay Area Private Lessons
In-Person Hands-On Mentoring
There is nothing quite like learning out in the field with a camera in your hand. If you are in the San Francisco-San Jose Bay Area, we will head out to explore this beautiful pocket of Northern California together.
We will design a relaxed session built entirely around the local light. Whether we are chasing the sun through the golden oak hillsides or watching the thick marine layer roll across the coastline, we will practice reading the landscape in real time. We will chat through composition, experiment with different lenses, and play with exposure as the light shifts. There is absolutely no rush, no pressure to get a flawless frame, and plenty of room to just slow down and try new things.
We can tailor our time in the field to focus on exactly what you need, including:
Mastering Manual Mode: Getting fully comfortable with aperture, shutter speed, and ISO so your camera finally does what you want it to do.
Seeing the Light: Learning how to read histograms, manage tricky exposure challenges, and use creative metering to capture dynamic coastal scenes.
Intentional Composition: Shifting from taking "snapshots" to using different focal lengths and perspectives to create depth and focus.
In-person mentoring is structured as a focused, hands-on field experience designed around your unique technical and creative goals.
Single Session: $225 / 1.5 hours
Three-Session Field Series: $600 (Save $75)
Note: While I am based in the San Francisco Bay Area, I also offer a limited number of private, in-person mentoring sessions seasonally on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks.
Creative Coaching
Online From Anywhere
If you are outside of California or want to focus on the big-picture side of your art, we can grab a cup of coffee and connect comfortably over Zoom from wherever you call home.
These virtual sessions are all about giving your work a sense of direction. We will look through your favorite images together in a completely safe, ego-free space. In addition to reviewing single frames, we will look for the hidden patterns and common threads that exist in your photography. I will help you master the art of choosing your best work, sorting through your archives, and connecting individual photos into a beautiful, cohesive story that speaks to who you are.
Our online sessions are perfect for digging into the behind-the-scenes part of the craft, such as:
The Art of Curation: Learning how to sort through a large shoot, cull with confidence, and choose the pieces that best represent your voice.
Building a Cohesive Series: Translating standalone, lucky frames into a meaningful, interconnected body of work or a beautiful portfolio layout.
Creative Problem Solving: Breaking out of a technical or artistic rut with personalized shooting assignments and gentle, constructive feedback.
Our online sessions are tailored entirely to your goals and needs. Includes a pre-session questionnaire and a recorded copy of our call to reference whenever you need it.
Single Session: $150 / hour
Three-Session Mentoring Package: $375 (Save $75)
The Magic of Film & Analog
Embracing the Slow Pace
There is an undeniable magic in escaping the digital screen and embracing the slow, mindful pace of analog photography. If you are curious about film but feel intimidated by the process, you don't have to navigate it alone. We can easily bring a film camera along to our in-person sessions or talk through the workflow online.
Whether you are unboxing a Polaroid camera for the first time, playing with a 35mm camera you found in a thrift store, or learning how to load a roll of medium format film, we can use our mentoring space to experiment together. This isn't about clinical perfection. It is about stepping away from instant digital feedback, trusting your creative instincts, and learning to embrace the beautiful, raw imperfections that make analog photography so incredibly special.
We can explore the analog workflow together at your own pace, focusing on things like:
Choosing Your Format: Figuring out the unique creative differences between shooting 35mm, medium format (120), or instant film formats like Polaroid and Instax.
Trusting Your Instincts: Learning how to read scenes and light and frame your image confidently without relying on an instant digital preview screen.
Embracing the Imperfections: Understanding film stocks, managing the pacing of a limited roll of film, and learning to love the unique grain, light leaks, and tones that make analog photography stand out.
Let’s Chat About Your Goals
Every photographer’s journey is completely unique, and I want our time together to feel entirely tailored to you. Drop your details below to tell me a little bit about what you love to shoot, what formats you are playing with, and where you are currently feeling stuck. I can't wait to connect and help you take your next creative step.
Once you hit send, I'll reach out via email, and we can easily set up a completely free, zero-pressure 15-minute chat over coffee to meet each other, talk through your goals, and see if we’re a good fit before you ever book a session.