In the oft-told story of Alice in Wonderland, she reaches a fork in the road and sees a Cheshire Cat in a tree. 

Alice asks, "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’

`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.

`I don’t much care where –‘ said Alice.

`Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.

Alice the Photographer asks, Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?

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"Hi, Joe McNally? You don't know me, but I'm Lyn Morton. I'm a big fan of your work, but even more so, I love the way you teach. You see, I'm also a photographer and photo coach. I was wondering if you would be my mentor?

"Why would you do that? What's in it for you?!

"Good questions...." Hmmm...

If you've ever imagined asking someone to be your photography mentor and feared the conversation would end like that, Peggy Farren has some tips for you.

Peggy is a portrait and wedding photographer in Naples, Fla. She joins us today to make the case that you need a photography mentor or even a photo buddy, and she has several tips to help you you find one.

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Let's start with the end first. When I asked Parish Kohanim what advice he would give to a photographer who aspires to make a real impact, his advice was succinct.

"Listen to your own voice... Don't listen to people. They will give you a hundred different opinions that don't speak your voice... Your intuition is the most powerful voice that you could listen to."

That might seem like easy advice to dispense from a photographer with a resume like Parish has.

Parish has been a commercial photographer for more than 30 years, working on campaigns for many Fortune 500 companies whose names you might recognize. His work has appeared in ads in Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Forbes, Time and many others. 

He has been a Canon Explorer of Light since 1994 when Canon launched the program worldwide. Parish was even summoned to Cupertino, CA, by Apple to help create their Aperture software.

But there were other voices — a famous fashion designer who told him to give up photography because he had no future in it. And his first college instructors who never liked anything he created. 

That kind of feedback could give even the most confident photographers second thoughts.

You know how the story ends. He proved them all wrong, but how did he get there?

Now let's take the journey.

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Before there was a NY Times best-selling book, before there were more than 20 millions of followers on social media, before he launched a campaign that raised $1 million for a Brooklyn school, Brandon Stanton was a blogger with a quirky goal. He wanted to photograph 10,000 New Yorkers and create a visual census of the city. And that’s when we found him. 

I stumbled on HONY in 2011 and had a crazy idea that we should invite him to one of our Free Photo Webinars. We often asked photographers to share their work on our webinars and answer questions from members of our community. 

Honestly, I didn’t think I’d hear from him, so I was a little geeked out when he wrote right back — and agreed. In all, we spent about 1.5 hours on that webinar. Brandon answered questions patiently and shared his philosophy on so many parts of his work. 

Brandon's interview was one of my favorite from back then. I trimmed the conversation down a bit but wanted to leave most of it intact. I think you’ll want to hear the entire interview. 

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At this point, you might have questions. Why another photography podcast? Why Canon only? Why should you even listen?

This are some of the questions I’ve grappled with myself, so I’d like to share my answers with you. Consider this an episode to set the stage for EOS Photographer. 

Here are a few of the things you will learn in this episode:

• Who this podcast is for and why you should listen - what’s in it for you. 
• What else is in store for this community and learning channel. 
• Who am I....and what’s my back story? 

After you listen, let me know what you think. Join our FB group and join the conversation.

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If you're a Canon photographer or content creator who is in learning mode, I have a new podcast for you.

Hosted by Lynford Morton, a photography coach & former Canon USA employee, this new podcast was created to help teach all our friends in the Canon community and more. 

EOS Photographer will be a podcast where we will learn from interviews with top Canon instructors, conversations with technical experts, lessons from my learning center. 

We'll also include special Q&A episodes to respond to your questions. 

Photography & gear instruction for Canon shooters. How does that sound to you? 
Please subscribe now to become a part of the EOS Photographer community. 

Also, join our new Facebook group and introduce yourself!

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