So you’re chasing a dream of becoming a professional photographer? If you’ve got the foundations mastered and you’re ready for the next steps so you can confidently take photos for people other than your family and friends… and create a flexible and creative business for yourself… then our Advanced Photography Course is exactly what you need!

Finding and using dynamic light creatively, developing an expert eye for compositions that take your images from good to WOW, higher level technical skills and much more, with a view to pushing you to the next level is just a part of what we teach in our modules.

Ebony Scott is one such Grad. But it didn’t start out that way… she initially joined our Advanced Photography Course because she wanted to take better photos of her baby son. She ticked that one off as she’s now taking gorgeous photos of her children but she also, and quite unplanned, created a business for herself as a professional photographer! Read on to learn how…

 

Meet Ebony

Hi, I’m Ebony and I’m a mum of two beautiful children. I live in Melbourne and I am a school teacher and a photographer. I have been on family leave from teaching since having my son four years ago. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to be home with my children while they are young, and in doing that I have been able to explore my creative side through photography. I absolutely love being able to capture my children as they grow, but I have also developed a passion for capturing other families, newborns, and the wonders of motherhood including pregnancy. My photography journey has been extremely rewarding so far and embarking on the business side of my photography has been exciting and fulfilling.

Learning alone

My photography journey began when I went on family leave to have my son in 2017. I got my first DSLR right before he was born, and I really didn’t have slightest clue on how to use it! In the beginning I was simply using it in auto mode, and slowly began to teach myself how to shoot in manual mode. My photography was based around my son at the time, and I was continuously frustrated with my hit and miss photos, especially the sharpness of them.

I wanted the skills to capture him in focus, and the confidence to alter my settings quickly when capturing him. I really felt like something was missing in my photos too, and I wanted more from my photography.

It was at that point I began to search for more.

Click Love Grow… a life changing decision

Then I came across CLG, and read through the material for the Advanced Photography Course.

I knew it would do wonders for my photography… I just didn’t realise how life changing the Advanced Course would be for me.

My goals for joining were to improve on the foundations I already had in manual mode, and to become more consistent with my photography and the
sharpness of the images I was producing. I hoped to learn a  variety of techniques to create images I loved of my family and I definitely reached this goal with CLG.

In fact, the course exceeded my expectations, and I’m so thankful I made the decision to invest in myself and begin my photography journey with CLG.

 

The game changing lesson

I took away so much from each lesson in the course, but the one that really altered my photography journey was the advanced lighting lesson.

The lighting lesson made me fall in love with natural light and the beautiful affects it can have on my photography.

I learned so many creative lighting techniques. It gave me the confidence to read different lighting situations, to tackle challenging light in homes, and the ability to confidently position my subjects to create beautiful portraits. Gaining the skills to illuminate my subjects faces using natural lighting with the use of catchlights has been a game changer for my photography.

I now feel proud of the images I take and photography is a rewarding and fulfilling creative outlet for me.

I especially loved the backlighting aspect of this lesson and looking back on the course now, it is an aspect of lighting I really love to use regularly in my photography. I love shooting at golden hour and I always draw on the skills I learnt during this lesson when shooting at this time of the day.

From frustrated beginner to professional photographer!

When beginning my journey with CLG, I had no intentions of starting my own photography business. I was happy being on family leave from teaching and focussing on my children in  their early years. Little did I know that after taking the Advanced Course and joining the CLG community my vision would be transformed, and I would  embark on my journey as a business owner.

CLG gave me the skills and confidence to step out of my comfort zone, to take photos of families other than my own, and the support, encouragement and a place to ask questions along the way.

Taking the leap into my own photography business happened suddenly for me. I shared a statement saying I was taking bookings and the next thing I knew I had a handful of enquiries, sessions booked in and it really just took off from there.

 

A life changing decision

Having my own photography business has been amazing. I have honestly loved every minute of this journey so far and I feel so grateful to everyone who has trusted me to capture those special moments. It’s such a wonderful, rewarding career, and it works in so well with my young family. I love that I can book my shoots around my family, I  am able to be with my children during the weekdays and then work and edit in the evenings when they are tucked up in bed. I feel so fortunate that my job is my passion  and that I get to do what I love for a living. Forever grateful that CLG changed my path and led me to where I am today.

Learning with Click Love Grow

I loved learning with CLG. The Advanced Course was so much fun, the content covered was very well written and easy to understand, with manageable expectations that really made the whole experience so enjoyable.

When I joined I thought I would gain skills to better my photography, but I never imagined the community I would be joining.

There was so much support offered throughout the course, engagement and regular constructive feedback given from the amazing mentors and a wonderful community  feel was created very early on.

In hindsight…

Learning manual mode on my own had been so challenging. I spent so many hours scrolling the internet, deciphering through technical terms. Although I could eventually use manual mode settings to take reasonable photos, there were gaps in my understanding. These gaps created motion blur problems which resulted in me looking for more, and finally stumbling across CLG.

Thankfully taking the Advanced Course filled in all the gaps for me and built on the knowledge I had. But in hindsight, it would have been amazing to learn from CLG from the beginning. If I had found their Enthusiast Course before teaching myself, I would have absolutely, without a doubt signed up for it. And I now know that it would have been presented in a way that was easy to understand, making the learning experience fun and exciting (and so much faster!).

A community for life

That community didn’t end once the course finished. On completion you are welcomed into the grad community which is truly the best, most supportive group of women.  There are regular competitions, challenges, support and discussions to better your photography and allow you to continue to grow and put your skills and knowledge  gained into action.

I couldn’t have asked for a better learning experience and I really feel so grateful I found CLG.

If you are considering the advanced course and you are unsure, my advice would be to take the leap, step out of your comfort zone and do it for yourself. I did just that, and it was the best decision I made for my photography and myself. You won’t regret it!

Before & After

Check out this before and after set of images from Ebony… beautiful, visual proof of what you can achieve in your photography when you put yourself in our hands on the Advanced Photography Course. Amazing huh!

 

Much love to Ebony for your story and stunning imagery! If you want to see more of Ebony’s work, check her out over here.

If you’re already shooting in manual mode, on our Advanced Photography Course you will learn to shoot with confidence in any scenario, and push yourself creatively to find and develop your style through intensive 1:1 critique on your work.  Our next course is starting soon… join our wait list to get an email when we go on sale!