"Besides being an immense wealth of knowledge about multiple genres of photography in general, Joe is one of the best mentors I have had. I attended a workshop with Joe this past year because I love wildlife photography and I wanted to bring myself to the next level. Joe’s years of experience in not only wildlife but multiple disciplines of photography along with his always positive and helpful attitude makes him an outstanding mentor. His teaching style focuses on strong theory with robust in the field techniques and instruction. He adapts to his student’s skill level and concentrates on improving the areas where you lack or need improvement. Joe also spends a lot of time listening to attendees, answering questions, supporting, and encouraging them resulting in substantial development on your current skill set and understanding.

 

After taking the course, I have stayed in contact with Joe. He has continued to mentor me, always taking time out of his busy schedule to answer my questions, give me his professional opinion on gear, inform me of other photography events, and on occasion, critic some of my work when I asked for his opinion. Although Joe is extremely professional, he has a great sense of humour and makes shooting with him feel like you are spending time with your closest friend. His energy is tremendously contagious, one of my favourite memories of this is when we heard an elk bugle in the distance, Joe’s smile radiated with excitement and brought the entire group to his level (even though it was cold and rainy) and made me realize why we all love wildlife photography. I hope I get the chance to attend another workshop of Joe’s, I want to continue learning from him! Even only after one workshop with Joe’s guidance, I have drastically improved in my development as a photographer!"

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Jonathan Gillingham