Every year I write a list of personal and professional goals for the coming year. I keep these goals in my Moleskine notebook. It’s my ideas book that goes everywhere with me. When ideas come to my mind, I jot them down. This works well for me because sometimes I have so many ideas swimming around in my head that I will sometimes forget the details unless it is written down.
Last January I posted “Setting New Year goals” . It listed a few items I felt I needed to accomplish in my photography journey.
Calibrate iMac Display – I purchased i1Display 2 software by X-rite for calibrating my display. This has helped tremendously when ordering prints from my lab. I also learned how to soft proof by using the color profiles the lab made available.
Photography Workshop – I wanted to attend at least one photography related workshop during the year, but I did not. Already for 2012 though, I am signed up for two, and a third is currently in the planning stage. I was hoping to attend Photoshop World but another opportunity presented itself.
Purchase New Tripod – In January I purchased the Manfrotto 190xprob and the 496rc2 ball head. This has been a good option for me as it’s lightweight for hiking. I know at some point I’ll upgrade to an even better tripod, but for now this has been an important step up for me. I blogged about it here.
Buy at least one L Lens – I did not buy an L lens, but I did buy the Canon 10-22mm wide angle lens from a friend that never used it. It’s a super lens and I’m happy with the purchase since I mostly shoot landscapes.
Participate in one art festival – I only did one festival this year to test the waters. For me that was the Windfest in Bandon. You can read about my experience and things I learned from my blog post, “Windfest 2011“.
I did get involved in several Artwalks in my community. These were one evening a month. Though they were not profitable, I did make contact with other artists that have proven to be very valuable. Through these contacts I’ve been able to hear about other shows and just meet some wonderfully creative people.
Take my time - The end of 2009 through 2010, I completed my first 365, a photo a day. It was an amazing experience for me as I posted all my images to Blipfoto and had met some great people through that community. Read my blog post, “My 365 project“. Since I had rushed around taking a photo a day during that project, in the new year I only wanted to concentrate on composition and the quality of my images. In looking back, I feel I made progress in this area.
Learn new areas of photography – I love nature and landscape photography, that is my passion. I love exploring the outdoors and enjoying the beauty of it. I am however, very interested in other areas of photography. This year I had my first shot at doing food photography and some other commercial photography opportunities. I really enjoyed trying these different types of photography.
Portrait photography has never interested me until this year. Though I don’t have much opportunity to do it, I did get a couple of chances this year to practice on my family. In addition, I was hired for a special photo assignment in which I will share later in the new year.
This year some wonderful things happened that weren’t in my notebook.
Here they are:
- I joined Google+ during the beta period. It has been a fun ride. I have met some incredible photographers in a great photography community. Through the community I have had other opportunities come up that I will share about in the new year.
- I was invited to be an exhibitor in the Cranberry Festival Photography Show in Bandon, as well as be one of the judges for the public photography contest. I had a wonderful time and learned a lot about exhibiting.
- I was honored to be juried to be an exhibitor in an art gallery. This also has been a great opportunity and learning experience. Watch for a future post on this.
- I did my first photo assignment for a national magazine. I will be sharing the details later in the year when the publication comes out. It was a fun and exciting experience.
I have already been jotting down my new photography goals for 2012 in my notebook. This year I’ve been inspired by many wonderful photographers I have met or follow on Google+ or other social networks. I’m going to set my sights on bigger goals for myself and I hope you do too!
So important to set goals. Glad you are doing it and seeing the results. Putting pen to paper has an amazing effect. Lovely stream image too! All the best for 2012.
Congrats on the new photographic ventures in 2012
Thank you so much Ed for taking the time to stop by and comment! All the best to you as well.
Just saw some of your pix on Facebook under the Oregon Adventure Coast posting,, Looked at your website,, you have some great pix, I love the shots at Shore Acres, I too have a lot of splash pix from there, but I just have to guess when to head over there and hope the swells are big enough. It looks like you take a lot shots in the same areas that I do.
Hi Dave! Thanks for taking the time to comment. I really appreciate it. I will take a look at your work!