Success Story — Nina Nelson

My wonderful client Nina.

I love Nina. Well, I love all my clients. But Nina represents the type of photographer I love working with. She’s ambitious but balanced. She’s creative, artistic, a dreamer, but also has her feet on the ground, which helped me help her find a balance between art and commerce. She is kind but and giving, but she was open to learning about how setting boundaries is not antithetical to that kindness (in fact, boundaries allow you to focus your kindness and help others more effectively). Mostly, Nina is joy because she has a genuine love for photography and for learning, which makes her open to suggestions about trying new things, exploring new approaches, and growing as an artist and businesswomen. I love Nina. And it’s been profoundly rewarding to watch her grow, and an honor to have her call me her mentor. I’m humbled.

Nina came to me thinking that her issues were technical. Some of them were. We needed to cover some basic lighting issues, teacher her the 6-6-6 rule for natural light, and how to use studio lighting effectively in her home studio. Specifically, how to utilize a combination of window light that from a non-optimal direction, combined with supplemental studio light. We needed to teacher how to control unflattering bounce, and to soften the light to eliminate hot spots. She was an eager learner, but moreover, committed to practicing and refining what I taught her.

But the technical parts were less important than helping Nina look at all aspects of her work so she could take more leadership in every element of the images she was creating. To be more assertive with clients so she could execute her vision, while still being her loving and joyful self. To make sure to embrace all her roles as a photographer, from lighting/lenses/camera settings, to strong visions of wardrobe, to increasing awareness and attention to details like congruous environments/backgrounds, effective color pallets for the story told in each photo, attention to art direction and how each lighting schematic could be applied for each story, and applying her own more powerful voice in directing clients.

Nina is thriving. In ways she didn’t expect. From portraits, to corporate work, to fine art work shown in galleries. And now, the student is teaching the teacher a few things. Full circle in the most beautiful way. Feeling blessed.