When my good friend, Liz Labianca asked me to help assist at her group "Momtering" (mom mentoring) session, I was more than happy to tag along.
I'm not going to lie, though, I was nervous. What if I got in the way? What if I wasn't as helpful as she needed me to be? Good Lord, what if one of the moms asked me a question that I didn't know the answer to!
I was nervous about being put on the spot in a room full of strangers.
Well, it was a lot of worrying for nothing. Yes, of course, there were times where I second-guessed my helpfulness, times when I was put on the spot with a difficult question, times where my knowledge was challenged. But guess what else? For each moment where I felt useless, there were 5 where I felt that my presence was helpful. When challenged with a question, after stopping to think, I found that I already knew the answer. These amazing moms were enthusiastic, at times overwhelmed, but always eager to learn and apply their new-found knowledge. I learned something from them and their fearlessly confident teacher, Liz.
This experience made me realize that although there is always more to learn, I need to stop questioning where I am in my journey, and embrace it, share it.
I'm not sure if many of you know this about me, but I used to be a teacher. Participating in this day of learning made me realize something that I always used to instill in my students: teaching others something you have learned only instills a deeper understanding within yourself.
How quickly I had forgotten the power of sharing.
So thank you for the continued inspiration, Liz.
And thank you to all of the moms for reminding me of this invaluable lesson.
In honor of "giving back" I am going to start taking limited questions from you! Simply email your photography-related question to jmaconachy@yahoo.com. I'll be selecting a few questions once a week/month (who knows, I'm still working all of this out!) to answer right here on the blog,
starting...NOW!
So, ready? set? Submit!
(You can request for your name/info to remain private!)
(You can request for your name/info to remain private!)
*Included are selected images from Liz's Momtering session with my settings attached.
Happy Shooting, friends! :)
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2 comments:
Jordan,
I've been thinking about you and what cool idea to offer this questions section on your blog!
I do in fact have a question for you -
I've always been the one in my group of friends and family to take pictures. I love pictures and capturing the moments. I was an avid scrapbooker for many years. Since I've been expecting and researching photographers for my newborn shoot, I've come to realize that I would love to start my own business, my like yourself, and do photography.
I'd love to hear more about how you got your start with photography and how you got your business up and running.
Also, I've been researching SLRs and would love your thoughts on what I should purchase. I'd love something that is easy to learn from, but also will be able to adapt to professional quality. I've heard the Nikon 5200 or 7000 might be good, although I realize the 7000 is a larger investment. I've also heard that lenses are more important than bases and vice versa, what are your thoughts.
I look forward to hearing back!
Thanks!
I have a question for you!
How do you achieve your blacklighting so flawlessly without getting any distracting sun flares in your images?
Beautiful beautiful work. So glad I came across your site this evening!
- Brittany (brittanylg on CM)
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