Seven Ideas For Photographers’ New Year’s Resolutions

Just as I was about to retire for the night, I saw this from facebook and I know it deserves a spot here in my blog especially to aspiring photographers like me XD. Here are seven ideas for photographer's new year's resolution (my swabeng thoughts in blue).

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. Probably I'll consider attending Sir Jo's Advance Class since I took my Basic Photography Class from him in 2011. I'm also considering building up my portfolio but maybe after sorting more than a thousand shots I made as well as what kind of genre I'll stick to.

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. Maybe I'll attend some events for me to be able to submit my work and have them published on a magazine. Challenging but I hope I could make it.

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. I still have a lot of photos to edit first before I could share them (a thousand). XD

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. I guess I should give some openshoots a try as long as I'm on budget and I would be able to have a perfect excuse to go out an shoot.

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. But what project would I start with? Another Project 365 perhaps? I hope I could get my creative juices going. XD

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. I should teach my wife the PROPER way of handling our DSLR so I could be the subject once in a while. XD

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. Its easier aid than done as my Canon 7D + Canon 24-105 lens is getting heavier by the day. I just hope I could purchase a lighter digicam for me to carry all the time. XD


Any other ideas in mind? Please do let me know. ^_^