Photofocus

Now that we all realize we need new calendars, it’s still not too late to make some New Year’s resolutions. I’d like to nominate some of these ideas for your consideration. They are all aimed at making you a better photographer by next year.

In no particular order…

1. Set some goals for your photography. Decide you will attend at least two workshops, or make a personal photo book project, or create a new portfolio, or learn how to print your own work, etc. Goals drive success.

2. Try to get some of your photography published. Whether it’s self-published, or published on someone else’s blog, or in a magazine, try to get something published. It will drive you to work harder on your craft and your vision. (2013 Photographer’s Market
is a great resource for those of you who want to go down this road.)

3. Build (or upgrade) your own photo blog. Post your own photos on your own site and share the stories behind them. This will force you to make more photos because if you don’t, you’ll run out of blog ideas :)

4. Go to photography meet ups. The networking is fun and the groups usually offer opportunities to shoot. If there’s one thing that each and every photographer reading this absolutely-positively needs, it’s more time using the camera. It always makes us better. Yet we fall victim to excuses not to get out of the house and go make images.

5. Give yourself a “self-assignment” or project. Make it color or form or people or things or wildlife or sports or whatever. Personal projects are usually where most growth happens in photography.

6. Teach someone else how to be a better photographer in 2013. No matter how new you are to photography you know at least one thing someone newer than you does NOT know. It only takes knowing one more thing than your student to make you a teacher. And most teachers agree that the best way to really learn a subject is to start teaching it.

7. Make a promise to tell more stories with your camera. Document what’s happening to you right now because 10 seconds from now – it’s history. Make sure you record it and you do so in a way that someone who follows you can figure out what you were trying to say. I can’t stress enough how doing this myself improved my photography, my vision and my craft.

Happy New Years!

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