Absorbing tips from Jerry McCullough, Cameron Holt continued to perfect his craft. 

“I started taking pictures with my dad’s little bitty digital camera and everyone liked the photos,” Cameron said. 

While Cameron’s love for photography started at a young age, it wasn’t until meeting Jerry that his future potential came into focus. 

“The first thing he told me was to never say, ‘I can’t,’” Cameron explained. 

Jerry is Cameron’s mentor. The two have known each other for eight years. As a longtime photojournalist, Jerry has gained a lot of experience over the years. When he wasn’t taking photos, he was busy mentoring youth. Most of the time they had challenged backgrounds, but Cameron was different. 

“Cameron was one of those very few people that listened to every word that you said because he wanted to be a photographer so badly,” Jerry said. 

It showed in his pictures. Cameron snapped a shot of a buffalo and has sold more than 600 prints of it to the owner of Bass Pro Shops. A picture he took of a waterfall was published in the Smithsonian Magazine. Another photo of his was awarded Top 1000 in the world by the Nature Conservancy.

“Before I met Jerry, I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my photography skill, but when I met Jerry, he really helped me build my confidence,” Cameron said. 

Bonded through photography, the two are now friends for life. 

“All it takes is to care about somebody and you can become a mentor,” Jerry said. 

Jerry is a firm believer that every adult has the power to make a difference in a young person’s life. 

Cameron now owns his own photography business. Click here for more information.