New Years Resolutions for Photographers

Happy New Year to all my photography friends !  Can you believe it is 2019 already? Time flies huh?  

Are you one of those people who makes resolutions every January and then fights to keep them?  Even though I have a hard time sticking to some of the resolutions I make, I still find that the practice of making resolutions helps me to get myself motivated. It is also a chance to look back at the year and to see what I have learned from my experiences and what I need to work on.  For myself I find it very useful to set some clear (obtainable) goals. 

Just about every photographer I know says they’re going to try to shoot more in the coming year. Practice makes perfect right?  How about raising the bar a little and start sharing more of your work online or on social media platforms? This can be a great way to build up your business and network more at the same time.

In the winter months I try to update my portfolio (s) and get my backups in order. Depending on how thorough you are throughout the year, this can be a simple project or a major one. Another good resolution can be to get your gear lust under control and try to maintain your current gear instead.  Here's a great tip; stop comparing yourself to other photographers. 

Here are a few ideas for resolutions you might try in the coming year

• If you have a website (or websites) you could try updating it or maybe giving it a fresh new look with a much needed overhaul?

• We all have books in our libraries we have never gotten around to finishing yet. Break out some of your photography books and read or re-read them.

• Improve your skill set by either taking a class at your local community college or online. Classes in retouching or post processing techniques are always helpful. Face it; unless you’re an Adobe Certified Expert we can always improve our Photoshop and/or Lightroom skills.

•  Teaching a photography or lighting workshop.  Maybe you have some experience editing or taking photos with your iPhone. These days everyone has a cell phone that takes photos and videos and a lot of them would like to improve their photography.

• Improve your own lighting skills with off-camera flash or with studio lighting. Photography is all about light and the better we get at it, the easier our jobs become right? 

• Maybe you could organize a photo trip with fellow photographers.  I find these not only fun, but very educational at the same time.  

• Print more photos. There is nothing better than a beautiful print right?

These are just a few suggestions but the list can go on and on. Stick to your guns and make 2019 your best year yet. As always, remember to keep shooting and have some fun!

Getting your photos on the Web

These days if you’re a photographer, a clean, professional-looking website or blog is a must. This could be something to help you to promote your business or services, or maybe a place to display your work and sell your images. But for most people, the thought of having a site that displays your work like a pro seems either too expensive or too hard to create. Face it, you have to keep up with the competition or get left in the dust.

Now some people just want to show off their photos and you can do that on sites like Flick’r, Webshots, Facebook or the new Google + just to name a few and it won’t cost you a dime, but if you already have an established business or are just starting a business, you need a web presence.

In the past it used to cost you quite a bit to get started online. First, you needed to hire someone to create and design your site. Then unless you knew coding and HTML you still needed them to edit and make updates and changes to it for you. Finally, you needed a hosting service to go online. These costs could add up quickly and could get rather expensive.

Now you might know something about web design already, but most blogs these days are created in a program called Word Press. Word Press is nice because it is pretty easy to understand and it’s a totally free program, just download a copy and you’re ready to get started. Word Press was actually created in 2003 and as of February 2011 it has been download over 32 million times! The beauty of the program is you don’t have to know how to write any PHP or HTML code or have a formal education in web design skills. It is by far the most popular CMS (content management system) in use on the Internet and has helped bridge the gap for many people to create and edit their own sites without having to go back to school. Don’t get me wrong, it can be helpful to have some basic editing skills, but there are a ton of free sites online to help you with that once you get up and running.

If you have ever read any of my blog posts, you’ll know I’m a big fan of NAPP, (the National Association of Photoshop Professionals). NAPP is part of the Kelby Media Group, who also owns and operates Kelby Training and sponsors the Photoshop World Conferences. If you’re into photography and editing your photos in Photoshop, then these are the places to learn. Check out my May 2011 post for more info on NAPP.

Recently, Raphael ‘RC’ Concepcion, one of the curriculum developers over at NAPP, has written a book called “Get Your Photography on the Web”. The book has been a huge success with photographers everywhere. If you are ready to make the next move and get yourself a truly professional looking site up and running quickly without breaking the bank, then this book is for you.

In the book RC walks you through the whole process from start to finish. Like all books put out by the Kelby Media Group, they are filled with tons of photos and easy to follow diagrams. This book was designed to help people create a website and get it on the Internet as painlessly and as cost effectively as possible.

Not only do you get a step by step method for getting yourself online, you also get access to free templates for use on your own website. He has also added resources so that you will be able to sell your images immediately without having to learn how to program a shopping cart onto your site. Included are some real examples of other photographer’s blogs and websites along with their own personal stories. He’s dedicated another whole chapter on using plug-ins and for using and installing Google analytics (to keep track of your traffic) These days more and more people are getting into DSLR video and he even shows you how to add flash based gallery on your site with FTP, plus a ton of other great information.

This book takes you through an easy step-by-step process so you can build your own site from the ground up and have it look like you paid someone a lot of money to do it for you. “Get Your Photography on the Web” can be found in all fine bookstores or online at Amazon or at Kelby Training. I hope you find this article helpful and remember, keep shooting and have some fun!