If you’ve been thinking about doing our Advanced Photography Course but you’re not fully confident in manual mode yet, that’s totally ok.

Maybe you just finished the Enthusiast Photography Course where you learned manual mode, but it’s still really new for you.

Or maybe you’ve been dabbling for years and although you haven’t fully mastered the technical side, you already have a good grasp of the foundations of light and composition that the Enthusiast teaches.

On our courses we meet you where you’re at.

That’s the beautiful thing about having a team of instructors supporting you the whole way – the personal tailoring that comes with being able to ask any question, any time.

So if you feel you’re “in between” the Enthusiast and Advanced Courses, Advanced Grad Kelsey Carrillo knows what’s in your head.

Kelsey has loved art and photography all her life. She endured a lot of frustration over many years on the way to learning how to use her camera, but she did have an eye for the creative stuff.

Read on to learn how the Advanced Photography Course was the missing puzzle piece she’d been searching for…

 

Meet Kelsey

Hi! I’m Kelsey! I live in Littleton, Colorado, and I have two sweet little boys – 3-year old Koa and baby Reilly.

In a past life, I was an elementary school teacher, but now I’m a stay-at-home boy mama. I got a sudden burst of creative energy right after my second son was born though and decided to officially start my photography business. So now I have two ‘babies’, Reilly and my fresh photography business!

I Thought I ‘Knew It All’

I have taken photography in one form or another since high school – I even majored in art at college, with an emphasis in drawing and photography.

So given all that, you would think I had been an expert photographer… but I wasn’t.

I had a natural eye for composition, and I was proficient in darkroom developing and all the unique skills that come along with film photography. Except… I did all of this without ever taking my camera off of auto!

At the time, I was given all the information about the exposure triangle and everything I needed to know to use my camera in manual mode, I just never actually took the time to learn it because I felt like I was getting by just fine in auto and I was more excited to learn about using film and the darkroom than ‘boring’ camera settings.

Outgrowing ‘Auto’ Mode

In college, I remember seeing my classmates’ digital images and being blown away by the quality of their work. I realized that my photography would be significantly elevated if I learned how to switch to manual mode. But by then, I was so far into my photography career that I was embarrassed to tell anyone I didn’t understand manual settings!

So, after college I put down my camera.

Six years later, I bit the bullet and took an in person class to finally learn how to use my camera in manual mode. The class was helpful, but I STILL wasn’t getting my images to look the way I pictured in my head. So the camera got set on the shelf again.

Taking The Plunge

Fast forward to the pandemic, I was pregnant and like so many other people around the world, I was sitting at home. I knew I wanted to do something for myself before the baby came, and I knew I would want beautiful photos of my son, so I decided to use that time to have one last final go at photography.

I came across Click Love Grow in a Google search, and immediately saw stories from so many other mamas just like me who were getting gorgeous photos of their kids after taking the Advanced Photography Course.

My first thought was: “THAT. I want to be able to do that!” 

So I signed up!

Discovering A Whole New World

Art has always been something that has come very naturally and easy to me, but photography was the one exception. For years I did not understand how photographers were getting the photographs they were getting and it drove me nuts! Photography is challenging!

Coming into the Advanced Course, I finally had a bit of a grasp on using my camera in manual, but I still had very basic editing skills and I had no concept of how to use light creatively.

The Advanced Course gave me SO many ah-ha moments! I feel like I FINALLY have the grasp on photography that I have been wanting since high school.

I gained confidence in my skills, I am able to be more creative with my camera and I have gorgeous pictures of my boys that I am proud of and will treasure for life.

Not Sure Which Course to do?

I had the foundations of manual mode, but I still wasn’t fully comfortable with it and didn’t understand how to achieve the creative visions I had in my head.

But I had an eye for composition and a basic understanding of light, so that’s why I took the Advanced Course instead of the Enthusiast Course.

It helped me solidify my foundational understanding of using manual mode to the point where I became completely confident and was finally able to play with my camera in a creative way. And my photos actually came out looking like the vision I had for them in my head.

A Flexible Career

Plus, while starting a photography business was never something I saw myself doing, the Advanced Photography Course gave me the confidence to give it a go!

So as of just a few months ago the LLC is filed, the website is done, and my photography business is freshly up and running!

CLG has also given me creative fulfilment, plus the ability to be home with my babies while also making money doing something part time that I love.

So overall, I have a lot to be thankful for!

A Lifelong Learning Journey

In my opinion, one of the most beautiful things about photography is that its capacity for continuous learning is almost limitless.

The course itself was obviously fantastic, but without a doubt, the ability to continue learning through CLG has been the gift that keeps on giving.

I use the CLG Grads Facebook group ALL the time. It really is a fantastic community full of talent and kindness. I can ask questions when I’m stumped on something. I get feedback on my work, and I love looking at the work of others for inspiration!

If there’s something I want to know more about, there is likely someone in that group who can help me. Plus, there’s a constant stream of further learning opportunities with the CLG Creative Workshop series.

What’s not to love?!

Still On The Fence?

Still undecided whether to take the Advanced Photography Course?

In the immortal words, of Nike: Just do it. You will love it!

I love taking beautiful pictures of my kids and capturing those moments that I wish I could bottle up and relive over and over again. The Advanced Course absolutely helped me do that.

But more than that, I think as moms we often have a hard time spending money on ourselves or justifying taking time to do something JUST for us. And the Advanced Course was exactly that – it was just something for ME outside of being a mom, and that’s important.

You deserve the empowerment and passion that will come from this course and seeing yourself grow in something you’re excited about.

Before & After

As always, we love to share a before & after set of images from our Grads to show how far they’ve come. Check out Kelsey’s gorgeous transformation!

Our gratitude to Kelsey for sharing her story and stunning work! If you’d like to see more of Kelsey’s work, you can find her here.

Ready For the Next Steps in Your Photography?

If you’re shooting in manual mode, our Advanced Photography Course is the next step. You will learn to shoot with confidence in any scenario, and push yourself creatively to develop your style through intensive 1:1 critique on your work.

Click HERE to find out more and join the waitlist for our next round coming soon!