Photography Goals for a New Year

This time of year can be so refreshing, with a fresh start on the calendar! The start of a new year is a great time to kick off new goals, start projects, make plans, and to get organized. While I’m not a huge fan of resolutions, I do find myself in an organizational mindset at this time of year. That mindset helps with making new goals, and hopefully sticking with them!

Nikon D750 w 35mm Nikkor 1

Back It Up

While its always a good idea to make steady and regular backups throughout the year, and even backups of backups… this is a great time to make a fresh start. My old hard drives were getting full, so I took advantage of the 01/01 date to start using a new hard drive. As technology goes, a new drive is faster, bigger, and even more affordable than my older drives. Starting a fresh backup feels great, with so much space to fill!

Nikon F100 Retrochrome

Get Organized

The start of a new year is also the end of the old year, so a good time to get those older files organized. For me, this includes negatives, too. An small investment of time will get hard drives better organized and negatives sorted and labeled. The investment will be well worth it later when trying to find specific files or photos!

Share More

Having a massive number of files in order and organized helps with sharing, too. After accomplishing those two big tasks, it can feel like a clean slate. For me personally, this makes it so much easier to focus. One of my biggest goals for 2019 is to get better at sharing photos, instead of leaving them on hard drives. Being organized helps me to find what I want to share at any given moment!

Nikon D750 w 35mm Nikkor 2

Get Personal

Sharing photos online can sometimes feel like a task to complete. It’s better when it feels like a personal and fun way of sharing life. This may just mean sharing more photos of everyday life, not just shooting for the perfect or popular image. I’d like my photos to tell a story, more than just being an image for someone to briefly see in a feed. This may also mean taking more photos of the people around me, better documenting friends and family, and creating more memories to look back on.

A Maintenance Goal

My gear goal this year is to take better care of the gear in my bag. Regular cleaning and proper storage are my main goals. Sensor cleaning on a schedule, wiping gear off after a shoot at the beach, and keeping my gear bag organized. Not much fun, but it’ll have a big pay off in the long run!

Less Comparison

Social media is great for sharing but can lead to a lot of comparison. This can make photography less enjoyable, so a good goal is to plan to shoot for yourself. Enjoy the creativity that comes naturally, and don’t spend so much time comparing or looking to other people for direction!

Yashica 124G Kodak Portra

Sell Unused Gear, Save For Wanted Gear

KEH is a great way to clean out the clutter of unused gear, if needed. I plan to try to let go of some unused gear this year, and KEH will be my source for selling. I’m also saving for a couple of new lenses. Used equipment is always more affordable, and KEH is trustworthy with providing high-quality gear, so I’ll be looking to them for the new-to-me gear, too!

While I am not a big fan of resolutions, I do thrive on good plans and goals. This is a great way to enter a new year, with big and small goals. If you’ve come up with any goals to shoot for in 2019, let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear what you’re planning!

Here’s to a creative and rewarding year!