Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved teaching. My first memory of teaching was when I taught my little brother how to tie his shoes. “Make two bunny ears, then cross them, then one of them goes under the limbo, and pull!” I remember being so proud of him when he got it, and so proud of myself for teaching him.
At age 13, I started teaching violin students. My first student was just a few years younger than I, but I absolutely LOVED our lessons and put great concentration and effort into being the best teacher I could be. A few years later I was up to 20+ students, and reached a high of 46 students and three string ensembles before finally stepping back from teaching music a few years ago.
So teaching is in my blood. And now that I’ve shifted my focus to photography, and have hundreds and hundreds of hours of experience under my belt, I am excited to be offering one-on-one coaching sessions for photographers!
I started my business like many photographers do, with no formal education and very little understanding of how to run a business. I made a lot of mistakes along the way, read everything I could get my hands on, researched, practiced, learned from other photographers, and now I find myself here, with a successful business and enjoying every minute of it. I do NOT claim to know everything nor do I claim that my methods are the only methods that work. But I love how sharing what I’ve learned (much of it the hard way!) can really serve other photographers who are on the same journey, and I’m eager to do more of these coaching sessions.
The goal is to focus the session on YOU and what you want to learn. We can talk about technical things like: exposure, lighting, metering, composition, focus, posing, client interaction, working with young children, workflow, and post-processing. We can talk about business things like: branding, marketing, pricing, portfolio-building, selling, and creating a business plan. I can critique your images or suggest ways to strengthen your portfolio or website. For the half and full-day sessions, we actually go outside and shoot a session together, so we can practice finding the light and using it to your advantage, as well as get hands-on practice with technical things and client interaction.
Every coaching experience also includes access to me before and after your session, so you can ask any questions that come up and send me images to critique as you try out different techniques. The half and full-day sessions also include a short head shot session, so you have new beautiful images of yourself to use on your website and marketing materials.
I want you to come away inspired, motivated, and enabled to produce stronger images and run a more successful, profitable business. My goal is really to see you succeed, so I’m going to do everything I can to give you the tools to get where you want to go and pursue your goals. Contact me at rachael@rachaelboerphotography.com if you’d like to book a coaching session or have any questions at all!
2 hour session (in-person or via Skype) – $275
- 2 hours to discuss any aspect of business or technique you’d like to cover. Includes pre- and post-session access to me by email with any additional questions. Can include topics such as image critique, post-processing, workflow, business management, marketing, sales, etc.
Half-day session (in-person) – $595
- 5 hours to discuss any aspect of business or technique you’d like to cover. Includes pre- and post-session access to me by email with any additional questions.
- Shooting time with a live model to practice skills like lighting, composition, and posing. These images may be used in your portfolio.
- Lunch (on me!)
- Includes 10-15 head shots (photographed by me) to use in your marketing materials or online.
Full-day session (in-person) – $995
- 9 hours to discuss any aspect of business or technique you’d like to cover. Includes pre- and post-session access to me by email with any additional questions.
- Shooting time with a live model to practice skills like lighting, composition, and posing. These images may be used in your portfolio.
- Opportunity to observe a real session with my clients, schedule permitting, and second shoot. You can see how I run a session, start to finish, and how I interact with clients to get natural expressions. In most cases, these images may be used in your portfolio.
- Lunch and dinner (on me!)
- Includes 10-15 head shots (photographed by me) to use in your marketing materials or online.
“I couldn’t believe how much Rachael packed into our mentoring session. She covered just about every aspect of my photography and marketing in such a short time. The personalized advice was just what I needed to pinpoint areas to improve, and her energy is so motivating. I’m so excited to get to work on the things we talked about and watch my style and business grow!”
-Kayla, Florida
“Aspiring photographers could not ask for a better mentor than Rachael. Not only is Rachael an amazingly talented photographer (as is evident from her portfolio), but she is also a gifted teacher. She is extremely patient, incredibly generous with her knowledge of all aspects of the photography business, and very skilled at (and very amenable to) tailoring her mentoring sessions to her mentees’ particular experience level and objectives. My photography business has benefited tremendously from Rachael’s invaluable guidance, and I cannot recommend her mentoring services highly enough!”
-Tina, Maryland
“Rachael was thorough, honest and so very generous with sharing her ideas and experience. Her advice and suggestions were exactly what I needed to take my business further.”
-Michelle, Australia
“Coaching from Rachael is the best investment I have made in my business to date! Rachael provided invaluable feedback and guidance that improved the quality of my photographs dramatically and helped to take my business to the next level. She continually goes above and beyond to support her students because she genuinely cares about their success. I will forever be a huge fan of Rachaels and feel so grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from her.”
-Kelly, Maryland
*At this time, coaching sessions are available for female photographers or for couples who run their business together. Both in-person and Skype sessions are available to photographers at least 50 miles outside the Washington, D.C. area. In-person coaching will take place near Gaithersburg, MD and can be split up into several sessions if desired.
