Your 3Bs Collection
Ok, your first assignment is to send me a portfolio. Not just any portfolio—I’m going to give you some pretty specific guidelines. Do the steps in order, but don’t stress out. Just follow your intuition. You can answer the questionnaire below and send that first and then work on this portfolio, or the other way around, but I will look at them both together and send you a video response when I’m all done. You can make these collections in Drop Box, Flickr, Shootproof or whatever file delivery system you use, or however you can get them to me.
The Beginning: Find 5-10 of the very first shots you took, or, maybe the very first shots you were proud of. This can be 10 years ago, when you were a kid, yesterday. . . I don’t care. It doesn’t matter if the editing is super crappy, if you didn’t know what you were doing, if you took them on your phone, whatever. Just send me those first shots you got that give you those little inklings that said, “Maybe this is what I’m supposed to be doing.” They could even be the first shots that felt like you were on your way to a more creative path. You just interpret this however you need to show me the beginning of your current path.
The Best: Show me your very best work. At least 10 but up to 50 of your very very best shots. I don’t care about technical perfection, you won’t be “graded” on this, this isn’t what any one else would consider your best work. I want to see what YOU think is your best work. Your favorite stuff. It’s ok if you have mom goggles and send some lovely portraits of your kids, but really try to include only those shots that also tell me about you and your creative process, not just your technical ability. (But for real, if technical ability is your main goal here, let’s see your very best technical shots!) Just show me your best and bravest! When you were the proudest of yourself.
The Beyond: Collect some work from some other photographers or artists (it doesn’t have to be photography) that inspires you. This can be your “goals” set, an inspiration set, or something you’re drawn to but never actually want to create. Find at least 10 images that just really speak to you.
Send me your 3Bs collections. You don’t HAVE to, but if you feel like you want to explain or expound on any choices, just let me know your thoughts about why you chose what you chose. Don’t try to make any big sense of it right now, but if you DO have thoughts after you make your selections, go ahead and share them. I’ll definitely tell you what I see in your selections. If you also want a more traditional portfolio review, meaning, where I think you could improve technically or creatively, let me know and I’ll weigh in there as well.
Mentoring Questionnaire
Please take your time and answer these questions as honestly and in-depth as you possibly can. This will not only help me get an idea of exactly what you’ll need and what you want during our time together, but you might end up figuring out or even answering some of your own questions. This is a big part of the process. It’s the first step toward some big changes. So dig in, take as much time as you need, and once I get your response and your portfolio