Just a thought : Mentorship

[allenleonhart]

I tend to associate mentorship with a father-son or younger-older relationship, while I wouldn't expected it but confiding inner-most fears and trepidation or hope towards life etc would be commonplace amongst the two. It's not just Hart and the pupil needing to gel, but their respective families should also be on board with the arrangement. I don't think a casual relationship between families suffice, it should eventually become an extended family-like status. So it's not just about you, your loved ones have a say in this too.

and i second this.

 

[agape01]

Personally, I would not mentor anyone unless that person shows dedication and passion. That includes giving the harshest of critiques but at the same time not whacking the mentee's own abilities but show how the image could be done better. Also, its more of the mentee that wants to be mentored by someone. From there, there will be desire to be dedicated and the passion to be a better photographer.

 

[allenleonhart]

Personally, I would not mentor anyone unless that person shows dedication and passion. That includes giving the harshest of critiques but at the same time not whacking the mentee's own abilities but show how the image could be done better. Also, its more of the mentee that wants to be mentored by someone. From there, there will be desire to be dedicated and the passion to be a better photographer.

adding on with regards to an article i read this morning...

sometimes its a 2 way road also. mentor can also learn from the one being mentored. new insights by the younger generation might spark off some inspiration. the IT tech-savviness of the young ones shld also be tapped on, rather than scorned on (WRT the article).

i think end of the day... mentor-mentee relationships can eventually become a equal to equal relationship. i still like the idea of mutual exchange and learning, rather than a sifu and student relationship, with the one more experienced leading the way la. it feels less bossy in that sense

 

[agape01]

adding on with regards to an article i read this morning...

sometimes its a 2 way road also. mentor can also learn from the one being mentored. new insights by the younger generation might spark off some inspiration. the IT tech-savviness of the young ones shld also be tapped on, rather than scorned on (WRT the article).

i think end of the day... mentor-mentee relationships can eventually become a equal to equal relationship. i still like the idea of mutual exchange and learning, rather than a sifu and student relationship, with the one more experienced leading the way la. it feels less bossy in that sense

Completely agree.

 

[daredevil123]

Hart, I salute your dedication to help others grow in the passion.

Good input from the rest of the guys here. But please know that mentoring is a lot different from giving free lessons or making youtube videos. Mentoring involves opening yourself up to an apprentice. As foxtwo has mentioned, it is a great deal more involvement. I doubt you will be able to mentor more than 2 persons at any one time. And mentoring is more of a long term affair.

You have to decide on what you want to do here. What is your objective and your target audience. If you meet a person that you really taken a liking to, and feel that he/she has great potential and attitude, you might mentor him//her. If you want to give back in a faster way, while controlling your involvement time while reaching a bigger audience, you might want to consider other ways of doing it like, lessons, workshops, outings. Several gracious folks are doing these. Examples are Dream Merchant who has been organizing food photography workshops, and Dan from Camwerkz who have been organizing introduction to studio lighting. You might want to check with these folks to pick their brains and see how they are doing it.

For some of us, we are also organizing some landscape shoots from time to time. Our target audience are newbies. We want to show them the basics to setting up for a landscape shot. And some basic skills on shooting landscape. How do we make sure our attendees are mostly newbies? . We do the same locations over and over again, because it is easy to get to, and people who are not newbies will find it repetitive and not join us anymore.

Hope this info helps.

 

[Agetan]

Thanks guys...

Yes, I do know the differences about mentorship and sharing... That is why I don't jump the gun and do it right away and at the same time asking you guys for advise on what is it really about mentorship.

Very much appreciate those have given me their thought... and this is something that I need to seriously think through...

Regards,

Hart

 

[foxtwo]

Hi Hart, hope you don't feel I keep directing comments at you. My words are more for those applying actually. Cheers

 

[Agetan]

@foxtwo...

No issue at all... I do like people to comment so I can learn more... Just a normal human being who don't know much...

Regards,

Hart

 

[leumasfotos]

well... ya can try...

simplify this bah. if u wanna get mentored, what is it u wanna learn?

for me i'll wanna learn abt thought processes. how u think and process. from there, adapt and modify to my own style.

no point teaching techniques when u can almost google anything under the sun abt that... nothing special

improving Thought process, mean must mix more with MASTER?
Does it mean o join more photography outing? talk more to mentor online?

 

[Agetan]

I will close this thread for now.

I will shelf the idea for the moment... My time will be better spend at home for the time being with the new baby... don't seems to have any spare time at the moment.

Thank you all for contributing.

Regards,

Hart