Why Mentoring?


It means the world to me to watch someone develop their skills as a photographer. I don't pretend to be the kind of mentor that will sell you on some strict system as the only way to success. My measure of success and your own measure of success are likely vastly different, and that's amazing!


I have a heart for educating others about photography, which I hope is evident by the free resources I've created over the years. Truly, my ultimate goal is to meet you right where you are and educate you on the things I believe you should know, practice or change to move to the next level that YOU desire to be at.


Over the years I've helped others learn to find stronger lighting on-location, shoot fully on manual, simplify their editing process, and helped them move past the creative blocks that were in the way of their goals.


I've found over the years that no mentor client is the same and none have the same needs. Therefore, your mentoring session is completely customizable to you!

Mentoring Information


Your Investment Includes: 

  • 4 Hours In-Person Mentoring (Fully Customizable on where to meet and length of time spent photographing a model, talking, or on computer editing based on your goals. Questionnaire provided beforehand to access this.)
  • Complimentary Headshots for your own business use (if applicable)
  • Open Access to all tools and systems that I use to run my business.
  • Private GroupMe or Voxer Chat (your choice) where we can easily connect about issues or challenges going forward.


During our time, we will discuss tips to get you in the mindset of shooting simply. Editing is great, but the real magic happens in camera. My Lightroom workflow is very simple and my work is largely dependent on how I perform at the actual session. This is especially important to me to instill so that the work afterwards is minima for you.. I believe developing a dependency on your shooting skills (and not the computer) is key to success as a hobbyist, photographer and business owner! We can start at the very beginning of shooting with manual or jump into better achieving lovely light and skin tones in camera.

""Courtney is amazing! She did a mentor session with me yesterday & I learned so much for her! She’s so sweet & knows SO much about photography. I cannot wait to learn more from her, not to mention her pictures are always gorgeous! I highly recommend her!""

jessica bowman photography

$650 (Plus Tax)

Mentoring Investment

I am currently booking private mentoring clients in the Des Moines area for 2025. Please contact me to learn more and see if I'm the right fit to help you grow!

Contact ME

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@courtneyabernathy_