New Year Photographic Resolutions??

[rogerdaltx]

January and the New Year is always a good time to reflect back on

accomplishments and to think about directions and goals for the upcoming year.

Do you have any photographic goals or "resolutions" for 2008? Maybe starting /

growing a business, leaning a new technique or new software, maybe it's about

developing a style or just taking better photos of your kids and pets. Looking

back what was your favorite photographic achievement in 2007?

 

For me 2007 was about getting back into photography in a serious way again after

a ten year hiatus and building out a digital SLR system (unfortunately I started

with the wrong system). It was about travel photography and keeping a camera

with me more. It was also a lot about obsessing over gear and software. It was

about rekindling passion.

 

For 2008 my goal is to obsess a lot less over gear and the latest greatest

models & gadgets and to take more pictures. Which will be hard as over the next

six weeks I'm cashing out of my EOS system and moving full into Pentax (more on

that in a few weeks.) I'll be working on getting more natural looking flash

photos of people and getting deeper into Adobe Lightroom and Corel Painter X.

 

So how about you what direction is your photography going in 2008? What are you

most happy with from 2007?

 

/Roger

[mcmanamey]

#1 - Growing business enough so the equipment is fully paid for, and there's actual

income coming in

 

#2 - STOP when driving along on trips and take pictures of the stuff that you say, "yeah,

that's kinda cool, but i've got a schedule to keep here...."

 

#3 - carry the camera around so there's no "grab the camera.... OH CRAP!" moments

 

#4 - improve my shots to about 3 levels higher than i think they're at.... be consistent...

and work faster (know what i want better) when doing portraits

 

#4 - really really focus on getting better & better quality - and get the shots done quick

(portrait-wise)

[markus maurer]

Hi Roger,

I'm looking for some more paid portrait photo sessions this year to finance my Pentax lens buys :-) I got some softboxes and umbrellas for a mobile potrait kit with flashes lately. I get rid of all my unused photo equipment. I sold some of my unused old Sigma and Pentax zooms for good prices at auctions due to that short supply on new DA Pentax lenses here in exchange for some first class Pentax K/M/A primes like a K 200mm :-) I continue to always carry the K10D with at least the 50mm macro with me...

[michaelc]

Hi Roger, I am looking at getting back in to photography after about a 15 year hiatis. I just want to take pictures that I can be proud of and when someone looks at them they say they like them. Don't get me wrong, I don't shoot pictures primarily so that people will like them. I am my own worst critic. It has to be perfect for it to be acceptable to me. Never the less, I don't take to many "perfect" pictures. I have Adobe photoshop on my computer and I have to learn how to use it. So in a nutshell, in 2008, I have to get out there and take more pictures and learn how to "make them perfect" using Photo Shop.

[mountainvisions]

Just get out more...so far so good. Not that 2007 was horrendously poor, I spent over 20 nights sleeping in my tent during paddling season from June thru Oct, but I'd like to avoid those 2-4 week layoffs which never seemed to plague me before, with more nights under the stars, or clouds or whatever. 2006 was much better!

<P>

So I suppose being consistent, which = being in better shape all the time, which = getting to do harder trips over shorter time periods (the 2-4 days I typically have), or which = being able to carry more specialized photo gear on shorter trips, which = more overnights spent in my tent, which = more photo opportunities.

<P>

Like I've always said, I'm not a photographer, just an adventurer who takes photographs of the things and places I love.

<P>

From Sunday morning sunrise:

<BR>

<a href=" title="Summit of Casade by Mountain Visions, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2206/2191385961_976529ff0d.jpg" width="500" height="388" alt="Summit of Casade" /></a>

<P>

Oh and I'd like for global warming to end (whatever it's cause), because some of us actually do value 4 distinct seasons (yeah, my friends in LA and San Diego laugh). The above photo taken Jan 13th shows a typical northeastern November which over the last decade has gradually become expected. The drive out was even more sad, typically the passes, and valleys steep walls are filled with ice flows fille with ice climbers and waist deep snow, but today, there was no snow, no ice, and the look of either November or later march. Either way we are losing winter here in the northeast.

[roseberry guitars]

My big resolution this year is to learn my digital inside and out. I've been a diehard film buff (mainly classic medium format and some 35mm) for the last thirty years and totally surprised myself with a Christmas present of a Pentax K10D, two lenses (smc P-DA 16-45mm, smc P-DA 50-200mm)and a AF540FGZ flash. I also heard a rumour that for my upcoming birthday I would again be surprising myself with a standard lens, maybe something like a FA- 50mm f/1.4.

 

This year I will be retiring from the Chefing business after 25 years in the kitchen. I'm not really of a traditional retirement age, just been doing the cooking for a long enough time and need a change. I know gourmet food and love photography so thought it would be a good combination to pick up some part time work in my area. I've got the gear (cameras and lighting) and plenty of contacts so now just have to solidify my technique. So there-in lies my other New Years plan, to learn and practice the fine art of food photography.

[roseberry guitars]

What I ment to say about the standard lens was...something like the FA 43 f/1.9 Limited. Don't know where the 50mm came from???

[shots worth sharing]

Scott, It seems Santa gave out a lot of k10d's this Christmas--I found one in my stocking too! I hope your luck holds out--the 43mm is really sweet (ditto, the 77mm!)

 

My resolution is to make some serious progress in upgrading my pp competence (I'm off to a pretty good start.)

[mc2imaging]

My motto is that if you don't get harassed by the police at least once a year, you aren't out taking enough pictures.

 

My goal is to get harassed 4 times this year.

[stemked]

Image Management!

 

I am in the process of converting my huge slide banks into digital format. Especially now that I seem to take 50X more images than when I shot slides I feel the need to better categorize and organize my images.

[andrewg_ny]

I am attempting a <A HREF=http://www.flickr.com/photos/19349382@N00/sets/72157603608750363/>self-portrait-a-day</A>. So far so good, but a year is a long time and this will be a severe test of my willpower and self-discipline. In order to make this happen I will be needing to carry a camera more frequently than in the past (so I have added a Pentax Optio A30 P&S to my arsenal). I am hoping that this will give me many excuses to sharpen my editing and post-processing skills as well as more practice with artificial lighting and to exercise the little grey muscle between my ears to 'see' more creative opportunities.

[mc2imaging]

Wow, the self portrait a day sounds like a fun idea, but it also sounds like a lot of work...

[a few images]

I'm like Justin, I travel and I shoot.

 

My goal this year is to improve my photos by spending more time on composition, build a website to showcase my travels and, as always, making some money while doing so is a great bonus.

[mountainvisions]

"My motto is that if you don't get harassed by the police at least once a year, you aren't out taking enough pictures.

 

My goal is to get harassed 4 times this year."

 

There is some validity to this (as a family member of 2 PD), I'd agree that you aren't taking enough if you're not harrassed. Personally, so far this year I'd been booted by the Secret Service 1X which is an honor, but overall I'm stealth enough even PD doesn't know I'm around (damn the microphones on the Whitehouse fenceline and my big mouth).

 

"I am in the process of converting my huge slide banks into digital format"

 

Me too. I got a HP G4050 recently (first 6 color scanner on the market and yes, the 6 color 96 bit does make a difference), and the hardware is amazing, too bad HP didn't provide usable software for it. 30 negative batch scans, with IR dust removal. Very nice...thus far my record is 4 consecutive frames before it shuts down. However, if I spend an additional $104 I lose the IR dust removal but gain otherwise functional software? Hmm, seems like I lose either way.

 

So in theory, if the software worked, I could head to work with a batch started, come home and have 1.5GB of 16bit TIFFS sitting on my HD...unfortunately, that is still a dream. Right now my 6 image, Scan Dual III is still a ways faster.

[mountainvisions]

Oh, not sure if the 6 color does anything for negatives, but for slides and photos it does capture color that 48bit scanners don't. Really I got it to catch up on negatives, but it can scan 16 slides in a batch as well. Assuming I pay an additional $104 to Silverfast Imaging.

[andrewg_ny]

Justin: On a tangentially related topic, I found the scanning software included with my HP all-in-one atrocious. Massive memory footprint, hangs (locks) frequently. I eventually resorted to the less feature-rich 'corporate' software downloaded from HP which has proved somewhat less problematic.

[samius]

Using my tripod much more often.

 

Thinking about the shot before taking it.

 

Disconnecting my keyboard before posting on forums after I have had a cocktail.

[morgan lee]

Neat idea for a thread, Roger.

 

1) Be more gregarious and confident to put myself in situations where I will be able to take better and more interesting photographs. i.e. Don't just photograph an event, get behind the scenes, ask if I can photograph rehearsals etc. Don't just photograph an orange grove. Talk to the farmer and ask if I can photograph, say, his crew harvesting the oranges.

 

2) Really make friends with my K10D. I understand any single concept and can think about a couple of things at once while shooting a photograph but I need to work on instinctively considering every issue to get the best shot. Also, by this time next year, I hope my fingers are dancing across the different buttons on the camera body with the deft agility of a 13 year old pressing away at his X Box controller.

 

3) Learn more about the different equipment and what can be done with it. Continue to grow the contents of my kit bag.

 

4) Ditto on Samuel's previous number three. Alcohol should never be mixed with posting on a forum or shopping on E Bay.

[shots worth sharing]

I love your #2, Morgan.

[arctic corsair]

I want to be more consistent with my photography.

 

Perhaps take fewer shots but make the ones that I do take really count. I have a decent kit in my Samsung GX-10 w/grip and my Sigma 50-500, Sigma 10-20, Pentax 18-55. I want to add in a 300/2.8 this year sometime, funds permitting.

 

 

I think I cornered my idea last year to come out and make my own style in my photography. The bulk of my shots are of merchant shipping and whilst there are a few of us in my area doing this, my choice of kit - long telephoto's and super wide lenses - has allowed me to distance myself from the pack and has made for some really interesting shots. There seems to be very few others doing B&W in this area as well which makes a difference.

 

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2381/2205525495_94ee9bcd2f_b.jpg