In addition to the 150 educational workshops offered each year by Santa Fe Photographic Workshops (santafeworkshops.com), the photographic resource center began offering individual mentorship programs in January.

After an initial orientation, students are paired with one of the 12 photography professionals affiliated with the studio, who include Nevada Wier, Arthur Meyerson, Sam Abell and Elizabeth Opalenik. The program focuses on each student's particular aspirations, whether it is to enhance technical skills, capture a personal style or generate career advancement, and includes assignments, critiques and mentor consultations...

Restlessness and patience may seem like conflicting traits, but for Nevada Wier they are driving forces behind a successful travel photography career.

"I travel to have experiences, and the photography aspect heightens that, because the camera forces me to come in closer, become involved and notice what people are doing," says Wier. "I'm trying to capture on celluloid one instant or feeling or action or moment in their lives that has to be fairly poignant."

From a 1978 Nepal trek to a 1999 river expedition on the remote Blue Nile in Ethiopia, Wier has been journeying to obscure places and soaking...