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Have you ever noticed how memory has its priorities a little… out of line?
[ALTERNATIVELY: THE REAL REASON YOU DEDICATED YOUR LIFE TO CAPTURING HUMANS BEING HUMANS]
Memory remembers the distinct smell of hours-old sunscreen after a day at the neighbor’s pool where you spent the better part of your childhood… but not the sound of your own laugh circa ten years ago. It’ll faithfully preserve the cringe-worthy wallpaper of your teenage bedroom… but it won’t let you keep how your toddler used to say “spaghetti,” even though you heard it a good six hundred times a day.
Memory lets go of the things you’d bet your life you’d never forget. (The system’s a little flawed, if you ask me.)
But if memory weren't so wonderfully, frustratingly imperfect, neither one of us would've ended up here—doing what we do as family photographers and calling it a living.
That’s why they hire you—to help them outsmart memory.
Nobody sits at the kitchen table and thinks: “You know what our family totally needs? Someone to professionally tell us where to stand for an hour.”
What your clients want is a way to hold onto ‘this version’ of their family—a version where bedtime might require three stories, two glasses of water, one very important conversation about the color of the sky, and half of a meltdown—before it changes again.
(lucky for them, that's exactly what we're in the business of.)
“Okay cool, Ali, love the casual existential crisis over my coffee… but what does this have to do with me becoming a storytelling family photographer?”
THIS IS PROBABLY WHERE YOU INTERRUPT ME:
(Other than everything? So glad you asked.)
If you're here because you're hoping I'll hand you my camera settings, my presets, or the five prompts that (don’t exist and) guarantee every toddler smiles at your lens, I should probably warn you now: that isn’t really my style.
This mentorship for family photographers exists because outsmarting memory isn’t a matter of knowing more. It’s a matter of noticing more.
Another course won’t change how you feel about your work, or how your families feel in front of your camera. Perspective will.
his regularly scheduled backyard flower inspection
photographer
field notetaker
keeper of the blur
A family photographer’s guide to developing perspective
(WITH ME AS SAID GUIDE, OF COURSE)
Hi, I’m Allison— Vermont family photographer. Wife to Sam and mom to Henry. Professional collector of the kinds of moments people are sure they’ll remember, until they don’t.
You can learn all kinds of things about me elsewhere on this website, but if we’re about to spend anywhere from three days to four weeks together, here’s what I hope you know, first:
The world doesn’t need more photographers who shoot the same way I do. It needs more photographers who trust the way they see the world.
Families don’t come to us because they need pretty photos. They come to us to do the very important work of seeing (really, truly seeing) the version of their family that few have the privilege to see.
The version where Dad instinctively reaches for the littlest hand in the parking lot. The one where a toddler insists on wearing rain boots with pajamas because that’s simply who they are right now. The one where everyone forgets the camera was there in the first place... because you made that possible.
The photographs that will make your clients feel like you pulled a magic trick on memory itself have little to do with luck and everything to do with noticing the things everyone assumes they’ll remember.
Sure, a camera and a working knowledge of said device are helpful, but technical skill only determines whether you can make a good photo.
Perspective determines whether anyone feels anything when they look at it.
The work I create—and the work I teach—is a way of moving through the world, and it’s one that can be practiced.
And noticing isn't reserved for family photographers who were born with some elusive creative gift you missed out on, either.
This mentorship is built around helping you understand the way you see, trust it a little more every time you pick up your camera, practice the art of perspective, and build a body of work that couldn't have been created by anybody else.
me and my vermont feet
off to tend to the girls
“How, exactly, do you teach someone to notice?!”
which naturally begs the question:
Short answer? You don't. At least, not in the traditional sense.
You can't hand somebody perspective in a PDF booklet. You can't memorize your way into making more meaningful photographs. And I certainly don't think another twelve hours of course modules is the answer to having families bought into your storytelling approach, do you?
The kind of work we're chasing together is tactile… so it only makes sense that the mentorship itself is tactile, too.
here's what that looks like:
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A voice-led, story-driven questionnaire
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Before we ever meet, I want to hear your voice.
Yes, you can type your answers if voice memos feel totally outside your comfort zone. (I'm a mom, too. I know sometimes you have exactly zero uninterrupted minutes and typing is simply what works.) But I'm going to encourage you to pour yourself a cup of coffee, or take yourself on a walk, or sit in the parking lot for three blessed extra minutes before you head into Target.
Then hit ‘record’.
Tell me about the gallery you still think about, the photograph you almost deleted, the session that felt like a home run, the one that absolutely didn’t.
If you’re going to be in a mentorship about photographing real humans in a very human way, it only makes sense that we make it as human as we can.
perspective exercises
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Perspective doesn’t begin when we hop on Zoom together. It begins the second you start paying a different kind of attention to the ordinary, wonderfully unremarkable moments that make up your life.
Before we meet, I'll send you a simple exercise designed to wake up your noticing muscle, so we can begin your mentorship conversation(s) getting curious and sharing observations.
mentorship conversations
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(Notice I didn't call it a coaching call.)
I don't have much interest in spending an hour and a half lecturing while you frantically scribble notes you'll never look at again.
We'll look at your work together. We’ll make field notes. We'll talk about the photos you can't stop coming back to, the galleries that feel like they have your signature touch written all over them, and the ones that left you wondering, "Why doesn't this feel like them?"
We’ll talk photos, but we’ll talk people, too. We’ll touch on why one family melted into the session while another froze, why one toddler invited you into their little world while another kept watching from a distance.
Somewhere inside all this conversation is the storytelling photographer you're becoming.
Voxer support
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Isn't it funny how your brain waits until you're picking up the toys scattered all over the living room floor or standing in the self-checkout line at Whole Foods to connect the dots?
Enter: Voxer (because this mentorship was built around the reality that both of us have lives outside our businesses, and most of that life isn’t lived at a desk).
Send me the voice memo from your car or from snacktime or from the shower because that’s where you get your “alone time.” Odds are good I'll answer while I'm doing something equally un-glamorous (read: hiding from Henry in the outdoor shower or feeding the chickens or waiting for the pasta water to boil).
post-work integration prompt
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We've all finished a workshop thinking, “This changes everything."
...only to wake up on Monday and slip right back into the way we've always worked.
In the interest of helping all that inspiration become instinct, you'll receive one final reflection designed to help you keep practicing your noticing long after our mentorship ends.
Feeling inspired is cool and all, but seeing differently is a whole different ball game.
gallery reviews & image assessments
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** long(er) term only
With this feature of the longer format mentorship, we get to watch your work evolve instead of simply talking about how it might.
You'll send me a full gallery of your choice before we begin. Then, after a month of practicing together, you’ll send another. We’ll put them side by side to see how your perspective has changed.
I have a feeling you’ll surprise yourself.
weekly photo check-ins
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** long(er) term only
Some weeks you'll send me work from a client session. Other weeks, you’ll have nothing but a photo of your toddler eating watermelon on the back steps (I have one of those, too). There will be iPhone photos and rolls of film and RAW files you haven't even touched yet.
If you're trying to make a career out of documenting ordinary life, it seems pretty logical that you practice on your own.
the field trip
(AKA, BECAUSE SOME THINGS ARE EASIER TO EXPERIENCE THAN EXPLAIN)
You can't spend your career asking families to trust you with one of the most vulnerable versions of themselves without knowing what it feels like to be on the other side of the camera.
So, if you're local (or looking for an excuse to spend a day in Vermont), I'd love for you to meet me for a few hours—and bring your kiddo(s), if you have ‘em. We'll wander wherever it feels like life is happening that day: a farmers market, a forest trail, an apple orchard. We'll take photos (obviously) and stop every few minutes to talk about all of the decisions that shape your photos on the move.
For a little while, you’ll even get to be the mom in front of the camera, realizing how it feels to exist inside the frame instead of to be the one creating it.
Sure, you’ll leave with a handful of photographs of you and your little one (and a few updated branding photos while we're at it—because two birds, one very lovely stone). But next time a mom apologizes because her toddler would rather collect rocks than look at your camera, you won't just understand her.
You'll remember being her.
optional add on: +$350
rare
occurrence
of a
mom
in a
photograph
A mentorship designed by a mom, for family photographers who also happen to have lives run by a toddler.
This mentorship wasn’t designed around the delusion that life will magically calm down for a month while you "work on your business." We both know it won’t.
Someone will still wake up with a fever. Someone else will need a snack approximately fourteen seconds after you've sat down. The laundry will continue to stare you down from its place in the corner of your bedroom.
Life—rather inconveniently—will continue to life.
Instead of asking you to step away from it, this mentorship asks you to pay closer attention to it.
If your work is about documenting ordinary life (in an extraordinary way), why wouldn’t your own ordinary life become part of the curriculum?
frequently wondered things
Q: What practical outcomes might I experience from this mentorship?
The answer is both "it depends" and "quite a lot."
Sure, you might walk away with stronger galleries, more confidence during sessions, more social media engagement, a clearer editing style, a better way of describing your work in your website copy, or clients who suddenly start describing your work the way you've secretly hoped they would. Those are all awesome (and honestly, pretty common).
But you also might stop interrupting moments that would've become your clients' favorite photographs. You might trust your gut instead of your shot list. You might find yourself reaching for your camera on an ordinary Tuesday because you've started seeing your own life differently. You might finally understand why certain images stay with people long after they've forgotten where they were taken.
In my experience, the practical outcomes tend to follow the perspective shifts.
q: who is this mentorship really for?
This mentorship is for family photographers who already know enough to realize the answers aren't hiding inside another preset pack.
Some of you are transitioning from weddings into families because your own life has changed. Some of you have been photographing families for years but feel like your work is on the verge of becoming something different. Some of you are just tired of making work that looks like everybody else's.
If you want someone to hand you a formula, I probably won't be your cup of tea. If you're looking for someone to help you trust your own artistic voice a little more, I have a feeling we’ll be the best of collaborators.
q: can i do this mentorship if i'm not a mom?
Absolutely. Motherhood shapes the way I teach, but it isn't a prerequisite for the work we’ll do together.
At its core, this mentorship is about learning to observe people, relationships, quirks, the ordinary marks of a life well-lived. You don't need to have children of your own to be really, really good at noticing those things.
That said, you'll probably hear me reference motherhood often. It's the season of life I'm living, and it naturally finds its way into the way I see the world.
q: is this mentorship about photography or client experience?
Truthfully, I don’t think you can separate the two.
The photographs your clients treasure most are almost always born from the moments they forgot they were being photographed in the first place… and that has everything to do with trust, emotional safety, and connection.
People rarely remember exactly what you said during their session, but they always remember how you made them feel. That’s a skill worth practicing just as much as composition and perspective.
Q: What if I don't have any sessions booked while we're working together? Can I still participate in the gallery reviews included in the long(er) term mentorship?
Of course. If you have recent galleries, we'll use those. In many ways, they're even more helpful because the pressure of delivering them has already passed, which gives us room to slow down and really look at your work. If you don't have galleries, you’ll create intentionally elsewhere (i.e. staged shoots, personal work, backyard sessions with your kids, etc.)
This mentorship isn't built around chasing the next session. It's built around changing the way you see before you ever arrive at one.
q: do i have to photography families the same way you do?
Oh gosh, I hope not. The goal is for you to leave photographing more like you. We might spend time talking about the decisions I make and why I make them, but only because I hope they help you better understand your own instincts—not replace them.
The world doesn't need another me. It needs the photographer only you can become.
q: what does payment look like?
Both mentorship options will have a pay in full option, along with a payment plan option. The Short Term requires a 25% retainer to book, with the remaining balance due two days before our call. The Long(er) Term is typically broken up into three equal installments: one upon booking, one two days before we begin, and one in the middle of those two.
That said, I never want logistics to be the thing standing between you and becoming confident in your craft, so an alternate payment plan feels more workable, let’s chat.
q: how do i know if i should choose the shorter mentorship or the longer one?
If you're craving a thoughtful reset, have one or two specific areas you'd like to unpack, or simply want to spend an afternoon getting curious about your work, the shorter mentorship is a great place to start.
If you're hoping to fundamentally shift the way you photograph, build new habits over time, receive ongoing feedback, and practice perspective until it starts feeling like second nature, the longer mentorship will give us the space to do exactly that.
choose your own adventure
mentorship for family photographers
Whether you're looking for a short term reset or a long(er) term container, I've created both mentorship options with the same goal in mind: helping you create family photographs that couldn’t have been made by literally anybody else.
[ALTERNATIVELY: 3 FOCUSED DAYS OF DOING THE THING]
Voice-led, story-driven intake questionnaire
Pre-work perspective exercise
X1 60-90 min live mentorship call for focused collaboration
Call recording
Two business days of post-call Voxer support for real-time and real-life integration
Post-work integration prompt
the short term
[ALTERNATIVELY: YOU’RE STUCK WITH ME FOR A WHOLE MONTH]
Voice-led, story-driven intake questionnaire
Pre-work perspective exercise
X3 60 min live mentorship call for focused collaboration
Call recordings
Four weeks of asynchronous Voxer support (+ one week after)
Unlimited gallery reviews
Weekly photo check-ins
Post-work integration prompt
the long(Er) term
$450
$1350
payment plans available
payment plans available
