Happy New Year! Are you a fan of New Year’s Resolutions? I am, I like to think of them as a great time to make a list and plan for the future. I start with the “what.” As in, WHAT do I want to get out of this year?

For me, it’s to learn new skills, grow my business, create often and feel a part of the local community.

Then comes the “how.” As in, HOW am I going to reach these goals? I want to be specific and measurable. Well, here’s what I have in mind…

Join a Creative Community

Join a local creative community and attend 4-6 meetings/year. Some groups I’m considering in the Austin area are: Rising Tide, Creative Mornings, ClickinMoms (I went to a few meet-ups last year – it’s a very friendly bunch), BossBabesATX, ATXconnection mixer. Let me know if you’re a member of any of these groups (or have another one to recommend). Next steps, RSVPing for a January meet-up.

Take photo classes

Take one photo class per quarter (either in-person or online). Some places I’m considering for online classes are Creative Live, Click Photo School and Lynda.com. Next steps, making a list of classes I’d like to take.

Keep doing personal work

Keep doing personal photo work every month. This could be documentary photos of the kids or portfolio building with new locations or ideas I want to try. Next steps, list and calendar out project ideas. (I have that colored powder I bought for the holidays just asking to be photographed with).

Get in the photos

Get in the photo myself – at least once a month. As the family documentarian, I am woefully underrepresented in our year-end albums. I need to give up some of that control and hand over the phone (to family) and hire a professional (at least once a year) so I’m a part of my family’s story. Next steps, book our 2019 family photo session and hand off my phone this week.

 

Volunteer as a photographer

Volunteer my photography skills to the kids’ school. I plan on (continuing to) photograph the class parties this year as well as donating a family photo session to the school fundraiser. Next steps, think about other ways I can volunteer my photo skills to the school community.

Find better light

It’s safe to photograph in flat light or golden hour. I want to seek out shooting at other times of the day – and play around more with light. This includes: practicing with double exposures, shooting through prisms, and photographing a high noon. Next steps, block out time to experiment with light.

Blog consistently

Most of last year, I would only blog when posting a photo session. But last month, I started writing blog posts with other types of content – Exploring Art in Austin with Kids, Throwback Thursday About Me, and How to Build a Photo Story. And I loved it. So this year, I want to continue that trend (blog family sessions but also write about other photo topics that interest me). Next steps, write out a list of 10-12 topics I want to blog about this year.

Book more Sessions

Last November, I shared some metrics on my Instagram feed. I wanted to look at my numbers around bookings, expenses and profits. One of my take-aways from that analysis is that I’d like to increase my bookings by 10-15%. Next steps, keep learning, shooting and sharing and plan that more business will come.

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What are your goals for 2019? Contact me if they include photography.