"Every week I felt inspired and enriched by the wonderful work of my fellow mentees, and feel that I now have a...

"Every week I felt inspired and enriched by the wonderful work of my fellow mentees, and feel that I now have a group of photography friends that spans the globe. Personally, I feel that my whole approach to photography has changed." Byron Sheldrick 

Such great work and thank for sharing your post about your time in Alex Lapidus' mentorship, Byron!

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For anyone who has read this far, consider mentoring someone else here (or more) ... some people don't even know where to start with their cameras and you could be the change they need in their lives. Even the smallest bit of knowledge can be passed on and you can create your mentorship in many different ways. Imagine the feeling of taking someone to their next level, paying forward the knowledge you've received and watching someone blossom with enthusiasm and accomplishment!

Originally shared by Byron Sheldrick

For the past 8 weeks I've been so incredibly fortunate to have been participating in the "Blurs and Unsharp photography: Guided Play 2015" mentorship led by the incomparable Alex Lapidus.  One of the fabulous G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers founded by Robin Griggs Wood, it has been an exciting, exhausting, and rewarding experience.  

This was the second G+ mentorship program I've participated in, and all I can say is that if you ever want a richly supportive and creative environment, that will push you and allow you to develop your artistic and technical abilities, don't hesitate the next time you see a call for participants.  

For this mentorship I was challenged right from the start.  Having worked so hard to "perfect" my ability to take sharp and focused shots, I was suddenly asked to deliberately move the camera with the shutter open.  Up and down, sideways, move your feet, rotate the camera.  It turned my world upside down, and the results were ... well staggering.  I soon was looking for opportunities to take blurry shots. Where I once saw clear sharp lines, I now saw blurred possibilities.  

We moved on from those first efforts at deliberate camera movement.  Waterfalls, ghosts, light trails, post-processing for blur (something I had done very little of), shooting in the Pep Ventosa style.  By the end, we were digging into the "toy box".  Shooting through bubble wrap, zip-lock bags, using fisheyes, beer bottles, and freelensing.  Through it all, we were shooting 100s of photos a week. I've never devoted so much intense time to my photography, and I loved every minute of it.  

All through we were supported by each other and the fabulous team of mentors and crew assembled by Alex Lapidus.  I won't even attempt to name them all, but collectively the environment was one that allowed artistic creation and exploration to blossom and flourish. Every week I felt inspired and enriched by the wonderful work of my fellow mentees, and feel that I now have a group of photography friends that spans the globe.   

Personally, I feel that my whole approach to photography has changed.  Rather than simply seeing the picture in front of me, I now see the picture that might be.  And in doing so, I think I actually have found new (and sometimes better) ways of conveying the emotional impact of what I see.  It has also given me the confidence to continue exploring the world of blur.  Before I started this mentorship, I admired the blurry photographs I saw others post, but did not have any confidence that these were images I could create.  Who could imagine that by making things a bit blurry, so much clarity and direction could be achieved.  

Thanks so much to everyone