Getting Organized: Specific Goals For the Year

In my last entry I commented on some photographic goals that I have for 2010, none of which will be easy for me to achieve, but sometimes we are at our best when stretched. For me getting organized and having a set of goals or a plan is not normal, as I tend to be more of a see how things go type of person. With that in mind, I look forward to this next year, because I realize that I need to change and be more goal oriented if I want to progress and move forward. What does that have to do with photography? A lot actually! Often as photographers we get stuck seeing the world in one way or another, so without goals to push us to think differently, it would be easy to stay the same, without growth, and no improvements in our images.

In what ways do you want to improve as a photographer this year? That is an important question, one that you might want to break down. What do you want to learn in the first half of the year, or the first quarter, or even in the first month? Is there one area of photography that you love and want to improve on, but as things stand right now, you would not consider your images of that type to be very good?

I am going to answer a few of those questions based on what my goals are, but do not think they apply to everyone, although they might for everyone at some point! What do I want to improve this year as a photographer? I would like to improve my post processing, compositional skills, and flash usage. With those answers in mind, what do I want to do in the first half of the year? During the first half of this year I would like to focus on improving my compositional skills, because without an improvement in that area, I cannot see myself moving on to the next level with my photography. I see improvements in post processing to be something that would happen with time, over the entire year, so I wouldn't place that in the first or second half of the year. As for flash usage, that too could be something I focus on over the entire year, but I think I could focus on it more during the latter half of the year, maybe with the addition of a second flash for improved light balance?

Is there one area of photography that you love and want to improve on, but as things stand right now, you would not consider your images of that type to be very good? Yes, landscapes. I think my limited compositional skills are having an impact on how well I can create landscape images. There have been times where I think I have made some decent images, but overall I feel that most of my landscape shots are lacking something. Many have been taken in less than ideal lighting conditions, mid-day, or taken in a rush without too much thought going into composition. This year I really want to focus on improving my landscape photography, which will really help with my upcoming project and overall photographic goals for the next few years.