It’s #TravelTuesday and I, Dave Williams, am here for 2023 wishing you all a Happy New Year from Lofoten, Norway. I’m way up in the Arctic right now as part of my Due North II adventure and there’s all kinds of stuff happening. The Aurora has been shining strong, but so have the polar storms! I’m writing right now in a heavy rain and windstorm with unusually warm weather but I’m hoping the weather horoscope is true and the next few days will clear up. You can stay up to date with everything on my Instagram story. Anyway, let’s get into this.
This is a New Years Eve, Eve (yes, 30th) shot from up here in Lofoten. With 2023 upon us I’m sure a lot of people have new years resolutions. Photographically speaking, as well as creatively, these can be as broad or specific, or as vague or intense as you like. It’s a good idea to have one and to keep pushing and developing your creative skills. Here are some ideas: –
Shoot more (or less)
Shooting more, dusting off the camera and getting out there, is a simple way of getting our eye back in the game and picking up so self-developed skills. On the flipside of that, if we shoot too much and don’t spend enough time post processing and evaluating our images, perhaps shooting less is the answer and spending more quality time in post. I guess what I’m trying to say here is to shoot for the right amount of time! But what about the actual content?
Shoot different
This one means to shoot outside of our comfort zone. Shoot another genre or unfamiliar conditions to see what that other field of photography can offer your skill set. There will always be something from other genres that translates to your favourite subject matter so getting out there and shooting different subjects makes a huge difference in our development.
Fix the website and socials!
This is huge for the business of photography and self-promotion. Having a clean and easy to use website as well as social channels that exemplify who we are and what we do will give us better chances of success. Spend some time addressing these and coming up with a marketing strategy. There are a lot of KelbyOne courses to help in this arena and it’s time very well invested.
Undertake a project
And finish it! Personal projects in photography are amazing not only for the actual skill of using the camera, but also for getting our eye in on specific subjects, self-review and reflection, and understanding discipline. A project can be something as simple as shooting things that look like the letters of the alphabet, shooting 20 things with 20 minutes of your front door, or shooting a series of skies for Sky Replacement.
Dedicate time to education
This can be classes, workshops, photography clubs, YouTube videos, conferences, whatever. There’s a huge scope of photographic education out there, including KelbyOne and Photoshop User Magazine. There are more conferences coming up this year from KelbyOne as well as the ShutterHound Conference by Dog Breath Photography. Investing time in education is huge. Seriously.
There we have it! Happy New year everybody!
Much love
Dave
