When you combine a mentor’s experience, skill and passion for her craft with a mentee’s desire to learn, grow and express herself, magic happens. But there’s often more to a photography mentorship than that. Sometimes the greatest gift a mentor can give is affirmation and validation. Because there’s true power in realizing that your dreams and goals are possible and hearing that from an expert who’s been there is sometimes the push we need.
We recently connected Serena Grimson, who would like to transition her documentary photography skills into birth photography, with the amazing Chenille Rojas, an experienced birth photography expert, for a mentoring session. We absolutely cannot wait to see where Serena goes after this because, wow, what a powerful match.
Here’s what Serena told us about her photography mentorship experience:
Click: Tell us a little about your mentorship session. What was the experience like?
Serena: I met with Chinelle via video chat after winning a contest from Click and Fujifilm. I knew it would be a great meeting just by what I had gathered from Chinelle’s Instagram accounts, and I was not disappointed. She is as genuine in person as she is on social media. It was an easygoing and carefree experience and our conversation flowed easily as we connected on common ground.
Click: What did you hope to talk about? Did you get what you needed?
Serena: I wanted to talk about transitioning my photography into a career as a birth photographer (as I had just been asked to document my first birth!). But, honestly, after we started chatting I realized that what I really needed from Chinelle was just affirmation that I could do it. She gave me some beautiful advice about her approach to documenting births, but at the end of our session I remember saying, “I think I just needed permission form someone like you to do what I know I should be doing.”
Chinelle letting me talk freely, without judgement, adding her experiences along the way was so amazing and freeing. Getting validation from an expert like her was huge.
Click: Can you tell us a few of the most valuable takeaways from your mentoring session?
Serena: The first takeaway was to find what drives your passion in photography and showcase that to the world. It’s great to photograph anything you want, but I learned that if you want a certain type of clientele, you should create a portfolio around that theme.
Secondly, Chinelle encouraged me to practice the things I need to work on. I told her I was nervous about flash photography and she gave me a few helpful tips and told me to have fun and play around while practicing my skills.
Lastly, I learned that you don’t have to know it all, have it all together or have the fanciest gear in order to get started. This realization came from some truths Chinelle shared about her own photography career and I found it very comforting.
Click: Will you share the best piece of advice Chinelle gave you?
Serena: The best piece if advice I got from Chinelle was to run with what I have, create with the gear I have, and improvise if if feel my gear can’t support what I want to accomplish. She told me about some of the improvisations she has made with the images she created over the years, and it blew my mind what she was able to accomplish. It made me realize that I need to get out of my head and trust my creative process.
Click: How do you think this session will affect you moving forward?
Serena: Chinelle helped me realize that we all start somewhere. I know that I need to keep proving to myself that I can do new things, but I also needed that reminder that other people also started somewhere. It relit the fire in me to put myself out there, try new experiences, praise where I succeed and learn from my short comings.
Click: Any “ah-ha” moments you’d like to share?
Serena: My biggest “ah-ha” moment would definitely be at the end of our session when I shared that I felt I needed to get permission from someone who was doing the things I wanted to do in order to get out and start doing them. I realized how much I was my own worst critic! I already know what need to do, I just needed someone to tell me about their journey to validate mine.
Click: Why did you want to do a mentoring session as opposed to taking a class or another way of learning?
Serena: I’ve taken a lot of classes, and they serve a great purpose, but I don’t have any photography mentors in may life to talk to. I just wanted to get a real and raw version of their struggles and triumphs in getting to where they are today. I love hearing about peoples lives, especially people who are living the life I want to follow. I wanted real human interaction and I got it.
Click: Anything you’d like to tell our readers about your experience with your mentor?
Serena: Chinelle is an amazing soul. She is an artist in the truest form and choses to see the beauty behind the story. She is empowering, she’s a true mentor and I’m lucky to have connected with her.
Having someone to talk with in a real life conversation is beyond what I expected. I think one of the biggest values of mentorship is getting advice and encouragement from someone who has walked the path you’re on. It lets us know we’re all capable of living the lives we dream of, but only if we’re brave enough to put ourself out there, be vulnerable, and show up for ourselves.
Click: How do you feel walking away from your mentoring session?
Serena: I am so grateful for this experience. I had always wanted to document a birth, but was too afraid to fail. Then, just after I won this mentorship, I was asked to consider photographing a birth. I know I would not have accepted if I wasn’t meeting with Chinelle. She gave me confidence to say yes to what scared me.
The Mentor
Chinelle Rojas is a talented documentary birth photographer, Fujifilm X-Photographer and brand designer in Tampa, Florida. See her gorgeous work @tampabirthphotographer.
The Mentee
Serena Grimson is a self-taught photographer in Alberta, in Canada. She hopes to expand her passion for documentary photography into birth photography. Find her @sir_e_nah.
Serena Grimson won a mentoring session with Chinelle Rojas through a collaborative project by Fujifilm and Click, which seeks to highlight the importance of mentorship in photography growth. See video clips from their session on our Instagram @click.magazine.
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