Roland Allen: Really Random Pics

I was reading the Digital Photography School the other day and came across one of their writers blogs called Mostly Lisa. I really like her blog, and one of her posts really stood out and grabbed me – 10 New Year’s Resolutions every Photographer should make. I ‘d been thinking a little bit about what I wanted to achieve in 2010 with my photography, although I hadn’t made any decisive plans I just had a few ideas. So it was really handy that I came acroos this post at just the right time, as it really inspired me to make those plans more definite and not just procrastinate about them.

So taking her lead I’ve decided to write my own 10 goals for 2010. Because her post has really got me moving and got my ideas together, and also because as she says if you put it down in black and white (and want to be taken seriously) then you have to see it through. It’s going to keep me honest and I can’t shirk away from what I’ve said without looking useless…

So here are my 10 goals:

1. Start a Photoblog

Although I have a Flickr page I’ve wanted to start a photoblog for a while, as a more individual place to display my images and hopefully make them easier to look through. Also my sister wants help starting a blog, and this seems a good example and an easy way to show her how to do it by starting my photoblog. I’m going to write about how to do it on my other blog, Build a Blog.

2. Make a Photobook

Last year I participated in SoFoBoMo and made an e-photobook about food, it was the first time I’ve created anything like that and I really enjoyed doing it. So the next step is to create a real photobook. Last year I went on a trip to France to visit the Normandy D-Day  beaches as it was the 65th anniversary of D-Day, I’ve always wanted to go as my Grandad was there on D-Day. So I’d like to use the images I took to create my photobook using Blurb.

3. Start stock photography

I’ve been interested in starting a stock portfolio using food as my main subject for a while, and I’ve been learning more about stock in the process. But now it’s time to stop thinking and start doing. I want to start and build stock photography portfolios at 123rf, Dreamstime and Fotolia agencies.

4. Learn more about post production editing with Photoshop

I want to find the time to learn more about Photoshop. I was trained on Photoshop a long time ago (Ok about 10 years ago). I think it was Photoshop 4 that I used, but it’s moved on a lot since then (understatement) and I’ve fallen well behind with the new features so I need to brush up!

5. Learn more about lighting

I really know very little about lighting, how to use it and get the most out of it. The more images I take the more experimenting I get to do and there are plenty of uselful sites out there to help me. So if I’m serious about improving my photography then I need to get a better grasp on it.

6. Write an ebook

Well I may as well have one pie in the sky idea! I’d love to write an ebook. The interent is a great place to find photography tips and tutorials that solve a photography problem or question. I’d like to take one of my popular questions off the blog and address it thoroughly so all the answers you need are in one place. Like my Camera Obscura post for example.

7. Get to know more photographers and build relationships

There’s no point in being a blogger and photographer on the internet without interacting with like minded people, it’s one of the great benefits of the internet, breaking down the barriers of time and miles between us down to nothing. I’ve found a lot of great photographers online through Digital Photography School and Your Photo Tips and I want to interact with those and other photographers more and build those relationships.

8. 12 photowalks – one a month for the year

Every month this year I’m going on a photowalk around my area and I’ll post about them here on the blog. I’ve actually done January’s photowalk already when we had the worst snow here for 30 years. This is a more scheduled way of making sure I get out their with my camera, my last photowalk was in Liverpool last year. But if I don’t organise it, it’s easy to let it slide and I need new images to practice my new lighting and photoshop skills on!

9. Guest post on other blogs

I’ve never guest posted on another blog and I’ve always wanted to, I’ve just never been able to decide what to write about. Because I was trying to be too much of a perfectionist, so I just ended up doing nothing. But that’s going to change and I’m stepping outside of my comfort box and giving it a go.

10. Get to know my camera better

Last but certainly not least is getting to know my camera better. Last year I did shoot a bit in aperture priority or AV mode, but it was a bit hit and miss. I also shot in RAW once but I need to get to grips with how you view and edit them in the RAW software that came with my camera. The only reason I put off trying these things is because I don’t know what I’m doing, so instead of ignoring it lets give it a go…

The Photographr Blog, this blog follows my journey with photography and going on this little lot it’s going to be one heck of a journey and an interesting year in 2010!

I’d love to know what yours goals are for 2010?

Mandy

Tagged as: digital camera, dps, ebook, mostly lisa, Photoblog, photobook, Photoshop, photowalks, Stock Photography, your photo tips