During my trip to Copenhagen earlier this Spring, I spent time on the long flight brainstorming a new way to offer my mentoring for other portrait photographers. Up until this point, mentoring had only covered the branding side of things- websites, packaging, pricing, building a niche, booking clients you enjoy working with, workflow and systems, etc. But I knew it was time to step out and teach behind the camera for those hungry to learn. So this past August I hosted my first one on one workshop session in Portland Maine with the wonderful Anne Miller, a Connecticut family photographer. It was a two day intensive- the first day spent examining every nook and cranny of her brand and business, and coming up with a vision for her work. We together mapped out solid, attainable goals for where her focus should be next. There’s so many steps to developing a successful brand and business that brings you fulfillment as an artist, and I think sometimes the biggest hurdle is just overcoming that hesitancy on deciding what needs our attention the most. Imagine, not just two hours, but an entire day to look at what’s working and not working in your business! It was just as fulfilling as I thought it would be. We brainstormed the areas she felt stuck on, and we were able to tackle so many things right then and there, over bottomless mugs of freshly roasted coffee and blueberry crumb tarts at one of my favorite local spots.

The second day we spent photographing together on the coast of Cape Elizabeth Maine. I walked her through what settings I was using, my posing tips, the light I look for in my style, and more. She was able to take a few images and I would look at the back of her camera and give feedback on what I would do differently, and she would take a few more. I wanted her to not only have a hands on learning experience, but to walk away with some great portfolio images. When I put the model call out, Spring instantly responded, and I knew she and her daughter would be perfect, having already photographed her maternity, newborn, and family portraits over the years. Spring has this classic elegance that I just love to photograph every time.

Here are a few of my favorite ones that I took that evening, photographed both digitally and on medium format film. When I first posted a few of these favorite black and white portraits on Instagram, I received multiple comments that the images had the look and feel of the old Kennedy summer vacations. As someone who is personally drawn to iconic black and white photography that is adored for generations, I’m not sure a bigger compliment could have been given! It wasn’t done with original intention, so the description was incredibly meaningful to me.

A huge thank you to Stacia Makeup Artistry for an, as always, incredible job with Professional Hair and Makeup for this shoot.

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Tiffany Farley is local to Portland Maine and frequently travels for maternity, newborn, and family portrait sessions- with clients from Bar Harbor to San Francisco.  To find out details regarding her upcoming travel dates to a city near you– or to book a custom travel session, please contact for more information.