In Person Mentoring
Do you learn most effectively by doing?
One-on-one pet photography mentoring adds jet fuel to your self-study – speeding up progress, taking you farther. As an experienced teacher, Charlotte Reeves can answer every little question, demonstrate, and correct things that are getting in your way.
In-person mentoring is right for you if:
- You're serious about improving your pet photography skills quickly
- You're willing to invest in your pet photography education and learn from the best
- You have a solid knowledge of shooting and editing but want to learn all the tips and tricks for working with dogs
- You want to find your style and stand out from your competition
"Charlotte is an excellent teacher, very professional and obviously loves what she does. She interacts really well with the dogs and their owners and was very attentive when teaching me and answered all my questions with ease. I feel so much more confident now than I did before the session!"
Nicola Harnett
Brisbane
Learning topics
SHOOTING TOPICS
What better way to gain practical real-life experience than a mock client shoot with me as your personal tutor! Our canine subject, usually sourced from my model database, will have a good level of obedience, allowing you to concentrate on getting the best shots possible. If you’re more advanced, we can take on a more challenging subject.
What we cover will depend on your existing skill level, but there’ll be nothing held back from my end. Prepare to be saturated with knowledge, skills, tips and techniques to give your pet photography skills a massive boost!
- Introduction to the dog and assessment of personality and obedience level – learn the best questions to ask to get the information you need
- Communication with the owner – a very important part of the process!
- Evaluation of the location and coming up with a rough, flexible shooting plan
- Camera setup and lens selection for various shot styles
- Focusing techniques
- Finding the best light and learning how to make it work for you
- Shooting action – obtaining sharp, stunning images of dogs in motion
- Techniques and tips for working with dogs on and off leash
- Creating variety and interest within a session
- Working with the dog to capture personality and expression
You’ll need:
- Digital SLR camera and lenses covering wide angle to telephoto focal lengths
- A good level of fitness and no health issues that would affect the session
- Enough excitement to try things out, and enough humility to accept the suggestions you came to get
- A passion for photographing dogs and a positive attitude!
EDITING TOPICS
Editing goes hand in hand with shooting – I always shoot with the end result in mind. We’ll usually concentrate on editing the shots we’ve taking during the shooting component of your mentoring session, but we can also go over any issues you are currently having.
The editing is usually held at my consult room in Auchenflower but might sometimes take place in a local café or in my home – whatever is more convenient to where we shoot. We download all your images onto your laptop, discuss file management and workflow practices, then get into the fun stuff!
I’ll take you through how to choose your best shots to edit to perfection, making them the best they can be.
- Importing, file management and workflow in Adobe Lightroom
- Quick (and brutal!) image culling techniques and how to select your best shots
- Basic to advanced image adjustments in Adobe Lightroom
- Leash removal and final finishing in Adobe Photoshop
- Advanced Photoshop techniques such as object removal and head swaps
- Colour cast and white balance correction techniques
- Creating your own time-saving Actions and Presets
- Watermarking and optimising for the web
- Preparing images for print
You’ll need:
- A laptop with recent versions of Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop installed
- Memory card reader or cable to connect camera and download images
- Notepad, recording device or note taking app
Please note: Topics related to running a pet photography business (pricing, sales, marketing etc) are not covered by this mentoring experience. For the business of pet photography, I highly recommend my good friend and pet photography business educator, Nicole Begley from Hair of the Dog.
"Whether you're a beginner or an expert, if you're thinking to learn about pet photography, a mentoring session with Charlotte is a must and will save you years of self-learning experience."
Putra Adhitama
Melbourne
Choose your mentoring experience
In-person mentoring is completely customised to suit you. We can delve deep into your current challenges, cover what you want to learn most, discuss photography techniques and photo session best practices. We’ll shoot real life dog photo sessions together and edit the images. I show you how to get the most out of your images, and we discuss what you can do to improve.
FULL DAY
$1250
AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS
Pet photography theory + photo session + editing
Monday-Friday only
Pre-session questionnaire to help us determine focus points
Dog model chosen to suit your skill level
Complimentary copies of my
e-books Fetching Photos and Dog Shots ($69 value)
Licence to use any images you take during the session for self-promotion and portfolio
BONUS: Complimentary café meal
BONUS: Homework review – send through your 5 best shots from the day and I’ll provide constructive feedback.
TWO FULL DAYS
$2400
AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS
Pet photography theory + 2 photo sessions + editing
Monday-Friday only
Pre-session questionnaire to help us determine focus points
Dog models chosen to suit your skill level
Complimentary copies of my
e-books Fetching Photos and Dog Shots ($69 value)
A licence to use any images you take during the session for self-promotion and portfolio
BONUS: Complimentary café meals (2)
BONUS: Homework review – send through your 10 best shots from the day and I’ll provide constructive feedback.
Please note: Pet photography mentoring is not available to existing professional photographers or those intending to start a photography business who are located in south-east Queensland, including but not limited to Brisbane, Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast. Mentoring is also not available to those who offer mentoring or teaching in pet photography, or intend to start in the future.
Diane Costello, San Francisco
"Charlotte is a very seasoned pet photographer. She knows her light and is not afraid to use it! I had a wonderful time working with Charlotte and came away from our session feeling inspired and motivated!"
Full day mentoring
Shannon Hill, Melbourne
"I would recommend Charlotte not only as a pet photographer but as a mentor as well. Charlotte was very open with her teaching, extremely knowledgeable and inspiring. I travelled from Melbourne and it was well worth the trip."
Two day mentoring
Mel Murzeck, Hobart
"With all her years in the pet photography industry, Charlotte is a wealth of knowledge and more than happy to share her knowledge and personal experiences with you."
Two day mentoring
Have you considered RealShoots?
Before you book an in-person mentoring experience, please consider enrolling in my RealShoots Complete Course. This course covers 10 different “real” dog photography sessions in video format and comprehensive editing tutorials in Lightroom and Photoshop.
It really is the next best thing to an in-person mentoring session!
FIND OUT MOREYour mentoring session
Here's a few things to keep in mind before booking your in-person mentoring experience.
Whether you're coming from overseas or interstate, please make sure you can be available in Brisbane at least one day either side of your booking date (preferably two) in case we need to reschedule shooting sessions due to weather.
If you're coming from overseas, I'd advise getting in touch as soon as you've decided to work with me, so we can discuss the best time of year and start planning. Even if that's six months or a year in advance!
I also advise that if you are travelling from a different time zone, allow a day or two before your mentoring experience to wipe off some of that jet lag so you're in your best learning state of mind.
At the very least, I'll need at least 4 weeks notice to get you booked in and organise your session, which will include choosing a dog model suitable for your skill level.
I can't wait to hear from you!
