International Fireworks Festival, Cannes, France, August 2008.
I’m not one for resolutions or even a ritual of turning a page and starting anew with goals for the new year. I also don’t have much to say about how unusual 2020 was (others will do justice to that much better than I.)
But I can say that I have A LOT of energy, excitement, and anticipation for the many things I want to accomplish photography-wise in the new year.
And New Year’s Day is as good a day as any day to articulate what I want to do. “They” say you’re more likely to accomplish your goals when you get them down on “paper.”
I used the term “goals” here, but as you’ll see toward the end of this article, these might be more like aspirations. I used the word “resolutions” in the title though because heck, it’s New Year’s and that’s the language of the day.
So without further ado, here are the six things I want to do in 2021:
Keep Learning
Show the Website Some Love
Expand My Gear
Continue Scanning My Old Photos
Create Photo Books
Explore Revenue Options
1: KEEP LEARNING
First and foremost, I want to keep learning. Part of the fun of photography is learning how to get the most out of your camera, lenses, photo editing software and more. Learning new techniques, tips, tricks, and all about the gear - all of this fuels my passion for photography.
To that end, here are just some of the things I want to do in 2021 to expand my learning.
Jared PolIn, FroKnows Photo
I’ve talked about Jared Polin, a.k.a. FroKnows Photo before and how much I love his podcasts and YouTube channel. He’s also released guides as well, including:
Guide to Getting Out of Auto - a true “Photography 101” which Jared recently offered up for free to anyone to learn photography (in honor of his Mom who passed away and whom he had regretted never teaching her photography.) I wound up purchasing it for a nominal fee and recently completed it. In addition to the basics, you’ll also get great tips from watching him shoot real life photoshoots. All about the exposure triangle.
Guide to Shooting Video & Guide to Video Editing - this 2-part bundle Jared put on sale for $99 (normally $300 for both). I do like to shoot video and will love going through these 12 hours to learn from Jared and filmmaker Todd Wolfe.
Masterclass
How many of you have signed up for a Masterclass?
Funny story, when we went into Covid lockdown last March, I could no longer head to the gym. I had been utilizing my Salesforce wellness reimbursement to supplement my gym membership. With that on hold, and no ability to use the wellness reimbursement for fitness equipment, I learned that you can use the wellness dollars for classes, including Masterclass! They had a 2 for 1 special going and so I signed up…and have completed a total of ZERO classes so far.
That’s dumb.
There is good, and possibly GREAT content on there. For example:
Annie Liebovitz Teaches Photography. I did start and stop this course several times. It is interesting and is more like a Ted Talk, less a class, but there are assignments, and I do think there’s blog-worthy content there.
Jimmy Chin Teaches Adventure Photography. Been seeing a lot of ads on Facebook for this course, so I’ll be curious to check it out. In fact, I just watched the first 2 minutes of lesson 1 and I am hooked! I might have to call an audible and complete this one before Annie’s?
Lightroom Tutorials
This year, with the purchase of my Z6, I made the transition from using Apple’s Desktop Photos app, to using Lightroom to process all my photos.
Since I had taken Photoshop classes before, it wasn’t too difficult to get up to speed on Lightroom. But there’s still so much to learn. And when you shoot RAW, there’s more processing and creative opportunities with your photos. So I want to continue to dive into Adobe Lightroom’s tutorials right within the app to continue building out my editing skills.
I’m also curious, and a little skeptical, of how much editing one can do within these apps.
When does photography cross over into creative art? When one can so drastically alter what was captured in reality on the camera, are you still sharing photography - or some kind of “fictional art” or alternate reality?
Case in point, I watched Peter McKinnon’s paid video on Luminar which touts AI photo editing. You can change the sky, add in sunsets, change the shape of one’s face or eyes in just a few clicks.
That goes beyond filters, saturation, color grading and the like. I’m sure there are use cases for all of it, but when one shares these photos, are they being up front about the reality of what was really there?
Portrait Class
As much as I love landscape photography, I am always so impressed by portrait photography as well, especially in the outdoors. I’d love to learn how to do this even better and want to research some portraiture classes to do so.
Here’s one of my favorite models and best efforts in 2020.
Social Media Following
These days you can learn A LOT for free by following noted photographers on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. Here are just a few I’ve been following.
Jared Polin Fro Knows Photo - the “Howard Stern” of photographers. Great podcasts and great photo reviews and news.
Peter McKinnon - Learned about him from listening to Jared and he’s apparently HUGE in the YouTube world. Many great “how to” videos.
Monochrome Memoirs - I don’t even know what this guy’s name is, but his “shtick” is his black and white videos and Boston accent. He’s a wedding photographer and a huge Z6 proponent and shares great Z6 advice, albeit, he’s been MIA for a bit.
Gear & Light - Jerad Hill. Unlike “the Fro”, this Jerad has the “e” before the “a.” This was formally “Ditch Auto” and I really appreciate Jerad’s no-nonsense approach to his YouTube videos. Just learned he’s also a self proclaimed “broken person redeemed by the mercy of Jesus Christ.” That’s pretty fascinating.
Facebook Groups
A few of the Facebook groups I follow (can’t seem to share direct links to them outside of Facebook).
Nikon Z Mirrorless Cameras
Nikon Z5 Z6 Z7 Shooters
Nikon Mirrorless: Z5, Z50 Z6 II, Z7 II Users & Info Group
Mini Session and Photography Tips and Tricks By Photo Box Designs - this one’s run by an old friend from high school Alissa Beth Rosenberg.
2: Show the Website Some Love
I launched my website last year and painstakingly tried to select a Squarespace template that gave me the look and feel and flexibility I desired. I ultimately landed on their Avenue template.
I’ve been “Coming soon” for a year now.
I threw together this cover page with a “Coming soon” headline and started blogging away.
A year has gone by and my cover page still says “Coming Soon” and I’ve got no real landing page at all. That’s ridiculous. So I’ve got to get that home page set up in some way, shape, or form by the end of January.
Beyond the home page, I want to continue pulling together portfolios of my photographs, including continuing the Calendar series and then adding in others from trips to Yosemite and other travel favorites. I am also open to changing templates possibly as I don’t necessarily love the current one, especially the blog fonts.
Analytics
I have paid 0.0 attention to the analytics of my site. So let’s up the ante on that.
In 2020, my site analytics included:
885 visits to the site by 675 unique users
1,500 page views
51% came directly to the site, 39% via Facebook, 3% via Instagram
84% were from the U.S. 4% from Canada, 2.5% from the UK, and 1.8% from…Russia!?!
My top blog entries were:
20/20 Photography Vision (January 3, 2020)
Behind the Scenes of a Covid Holiday Card Photo Shoot (November 1, 2020)
2020 Calendar - Year in Review (January 6, 2020)
Nine Years to Find This Fabled Next Door Treasure (December 23, 2020)
Keen to See Keane at the Dawn of Coronavirus...Or Were We? (March 29, 2020)
For 2021, I’d like to pay a little more attention to
which articles are driving traffic
who’s visiting the site
and how I can continue to draw more attention and interest overall, including setting up a more dedicated Facebook and Instagram feed for my photography
These Smashing Logos are neither smashing nor logos. Discuss.
Logo
A part of the revamp of the site should include some kind of logo. Not that I HAVE to have a logo, but I think it would be nice.
I’ve seen so many use their name in some kind of calligraphy for their logo - and that could work. But I am open to something else that might be simple and elegant.
My friend John introduced me to something called Smashing Logo which is some kind of automated logo generator. In 5 minutes, it spit out this (see photo to the right).
I’m more than pretty sure these are not "it,” but I’m willing to give it and other sites a shot at something. Definitely open to hiring a designer too.
3: Expand My Gear
Without question, I’ve got some wishlist items for expanding my gear.
SIRUI T-024SK Traveler Light
Tripod
To make a long story short, I was “an asshole” back in 2014 and had my video camera, laptop, and tripod camera mount stolen out of my car in a San Francisco parking lot #dontbeanasshole.
And I suppose I was so traumatized that I haven’t thought to use my tripod ever again. (And I don’t leave any valuables in my car anymore!)
I wanted to use my tripod recently to shoot sunsets and realized I was missing the part that was connected to the stolen video camera. And learned that it would cost more to replace that part than the (cheapish) tripod was worth.
So I’m in the market for a new one and recently received recommendations for the following travel tripods around $200 or less:
MeFOTO RoadTrip A1350Q1R Tripod
Grey Befree One Aluminum Travel Tripod
QZSD Professional Camera Video Tripod with Fluid Head and Quick Release Plate
Benro TMA28C Series 2 Mach3 Carbon Fiber Tripod
SIRUI T-024SK Traveler Light
There are also a number of tripods recommended on Wirecutter that' I’ll check out too.
Filters
Given my love for landscape photography, I’ll want to ultimately invest in filters and have been intrigued by the Kase Wolverine magnetic filter kits that allow you to easily switch them on and off as you go.
Nikon NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S Lens
People in the Z Facebook group rave about this lens. As a landscape photographer, I really need to invest in a wide angle lens. This Z 14-30 f4 is still north of a grand to pick up, but that’s a bargain compared to the new Nikon NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S Lens coming in at $2,400.
Yes it’s an f2.8. And yes, Jared loves it. But that’s a big difference in price and the f4 is a lot more travel friendly.
I’d also like to upgrade my 24-70 f4 for the f2.8, but that’s going to come at a cost of two grand right now too.
When it comes to Nikon native glass, I am still holding out hopes that Sigma will start making Z glass sooner than later so I can afford the higher quality faster lenses.
Point and Shoot Camera
Fuji X100V
Somewhere between my Z6 and my iPhone lies a camera I’d like to be able to take on the run and not worry too much about. My iPhone 8 Plus does take reasonably good photos, but I’ve got a work phone with 64GB of memory that’s constantly running out of memory every other day. I’d love to pick up a small camera that will allow me to shoot raw and take great photos and videos.
I haven’t done much research on this front yet and I am sure there are a WIDE array of options here. My friend Kelly likes her Fuji X100, as do many others out there, so that’s one I’ll have to check out.
Gimbal
I didn’t really know what a gimbal was, but for sure I could have used one while precariously dangling my iPhone out the vaporettos of Venice in the summer of 2019.
It’s not easy to hold the iPhone at times, especially when taking video. So I’d love to pick up a recommended gimbal for the next trip I take…assuming I will take a trip in 2021.
4: Continue Scanning My Old Photos
During the wildfire season, I wrote about my purchase of a fast scanner (Epson FastFoto FF-680W) to scan my old photographs. I made it to March 1990 and have a long way to go to get up the start of the digital age in 2001, so I’ve got to find the time to pick that back up BEFORE the next wildfire season.
5: Create Photo Books
Would love, love, love to get back to making photo books.
I made photo books of my oldest daughter’s first three years of life - and a couple of other books, but I’ve got so many more I “need” to make (my youngest daughter’s books, a book featuring best photos from my calendars, another from the holiday card photo shoots).
Photo books take a long time to pull together though - but I love it. So let’s see if I can find the time. Jared Polin recommends Printique from Adorama as a good supplier, so I’ll have to check them out.
2020 Holiday Card
6: EXPLORE REVENUE OPTIONS
Last, and potentially least (TBD), I’d like to explore options for how I might make money from my photography.
At one point, I had a Zenfolio site and sold my photos there (making one sale to a friend before stopping my maintenance of the site).
I’d like to pick up exploring these sites that allow you to sell your photographs to see what might be possible there.
Do I look to try to get paid photography gigs? I could take portraits or event photography and see how that goes.
Or, since I’ve received so much positive feedback on my holiday cards, do I try to spin up a business partnering with other photographers to help design holiday cards for people?
I’m not sure which of these options I might explore, but I’ll continue thinking it through on top of everything else I want to accomplish in 2021.
Getting It Done
So if I were doing this by the book, I’d make these 6 goals SMART and really get specific about the what, how much, and by when. I’d be that much more likely to get these things done.
But that also sounds a lot like what I do at work…and I’m not sure yet I want this to be like work. So let’s call these aspirations over goals and I’ll continue to follow my bliss and see where all of this takes me in 2021. I hope you’ll join me for the ride.
Happy New Year everyone!