My Second Year

This year I need to lay down a clear foundation for what I intend to do with my photography activities. 2008 turned out a surprise. I started with the idea of brushing up my video skills but with the first photo shoot with a model, Kaleb, in May, my focus shifted and I discovered something that I enjoyed and suited my previous predilections. This year would likely have it own surprises. I can't plan for those; I can only plan with what I know.

My model images are what so far have attracted the most attention in my portfolio. They are largely generic images, pretty with pretty faces and bodies. That's fine but they don't really identify my unique vision. They are run-of-the-mill creative.

Shooting Brandon last month with a Christmas motif makes me think I can specialize on holiday images. Most people would want their own images for the holidays but there are other situations when models would work better e.g. in magazines, webpages, even greeting cards and marketing brochures. This can also lead into doing more commercial work. So I am thinking of doing Valentine images at my next shoot with the model.

Meanwhile I still want to enlarge my repertoire and skills. A need to learn to use Adobe Creative Suite software is obvious but I am dragging my feet here. I am more interested in exploring genera.

I ended last year with a business loss even when I surprised myself at earning some pittance from my photography work. This year I should plan to earn a little more. I can already see where the income could come from even without making a systematic study of the market. I will however have to take business more seriously. At least that's what I want to do when I think of the coming year these first few days in 2009.