2012 Photography Goals

So, now it's 2012!  I'm really starting to believe that the older I get, the faster time flies.  It's a good and bad thing.  :)  

Seeing as it's January now, I want to write up my photography goals for this year.  I've never done this before, but I'm excited to this year!  I really think having my goals displayed for anyone to see will keep me accountable! :)  

But before my goals are listed here, I wanted to list some praises from the past year, as well as prayers for the  upcoming one!

The praises:

• I've had more photography sessions this year than ever before!!  I'm so grateful to everyone who entrusted me with their pictures...I don't think they realize how much of a blessing it was to capture their families, relationships, etc. 
• I got my own computer!  We found a computer on Craigslist a few months ago and it was just what I was looking for!  I had recently tried a 30-day free trial of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 and I absolutely loved it.  Photoshop Elements faded very quickly as a great editing program when compared to the superb editing features of Lightroom.  I was really excited about Lightroom, the only damper being that it was expensive.  I mean, like $400 (that's a lot for me right now!).  I was praying about how to get it for cheaper and then someone in our family found a fairly new computer, with lots of storage space, and, hold your breath, Lightroom and Photoshop Elements on it! :)  It sounded perfect.  (It was obvious someone in the photography circle was trying to get out of the business.)  They were selling the computer, printer, and all the programs for only $400.  The Lord answered my prayers beyond what I could ever have thought possible!  After all, Lightroom itself cost $400 and I was getting a computer, printer, Lightroom and Photoshop Elements for just $400 (and the computer was just over a year old)!  It's amazing how the Lord provides.  At first, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money for an entire new computer, but Daddy finally helped make my mind up.  We went and picked up the computer and now it sits in a little corner of our business room, and it's perfect. Now I can keep all my pictures in one place, and I don't have to worry about them taking up disk space on our family computer, getting lost, accidentally deleted, etc.  It's great. :)  This is my little "photo corner" now:

Yikes!  I should've cleaned my screen before I took this picture! :)

•  I got my own phone for Christmas!  That may not seem like a "praise" concerning my photography, but it is.  You see, I couldn't get a business card until I had my own phone.  :)  So, now I've got a phone and I can get business cards! :)

Now, I'm sure I missed many praises from this past year, but that's what came off the top of my head!  My main prayer for this year's photography endeavors is as follows:

• To glorify and magnify God even more through my photography.  I could never bring too much glory to God and, I say, the more the better! :)  I want my clients to know how much I love the Lord and that He is the sole reason for anything good that comes out of me.
   

Well, time for my 2012 photography goals!  I've got a quite a list!

• Get a TON better at my photography!  This may seem like an obvious goal but I really, really want to improve.  I want to look back at this year and be shocked at how much better the pictures were than in 2011. 
• Post to this blog at least once a week.  I'm excited about this goal!  I already have ideas of what to write up each week I don't have any pictures to share! :)  It will be a challenge to consistently post to this blog (and my family blog) weekly, but I'm going for it!  I'm going to post personal stuff, photography info that's helped me, recent/random pictures I've taken, etc.  It's going to be great. :)
• Get a website and design my logo, colors, fonts, etc.  This will probably be the hardest goal to complete this year.  First off, I wish I could design my own website but I just don't have the time right now.  So, I'm looking for a designer...but I'm picky.  The designer needs to be a Christian and I want him/her to like what I like because that will make things easier! :)  So, if any of you know of any great, kind, Christian (inexpensive is always nice too :) web/blog designers, please let me know about him/her!
• Get business cards.  I was going to wait until I got my website and "look" down before I got business cards (that way everything would match) but Daddy's encouraging me to get them now...because who knows when I'll actually get the website?  Plus, he wants to be able to pass them out to his customers and such...so, hopefully I'll be getting business cards really soon!  (I'll be sure to show them off on this blog when I do!)
• Get professional C.D. packaging.  This goal goes along with  my website goal...I can't get more professional packaging until I know what colors, fonts, graphics, etc. match me, my photography, and my website.  Right now I'm using these tacky, colored jewel cases to hold my C.D.'s.  I've been adding some scrapbook paper and layers to the front of the C.D. but I still don't like it.  I want to give my clients (sounds so weird to say that...) something so much better!
• Discover new poses and find ways to articulate how to "do the pose" to my customers.  I often find myself brain-dead (concerning new poses) in the middle of photo shoots and I hate it.  I want to have ideas, know what I'm doing, and not stand around looking like I'm lost.  It's terrible, and I'm determined to fix it.  :)  [Watch out, siblings, I'm sensing that I'll be using you as models soon! ;)]
•  Make every photo shoot look different.  This means that I'm going to strive to do at least one new pose for every photo shoot.   I have the same 4-6 poses I use and then, once-again, I go brain-dead and my creativity flies far, far away and my clients sit there, uncomfortable, waiting for their slow photographer to suggest something! :)
• Give my clients a better experience, whether it be during the actual photo shoot, emailing, or giving them their pictures.   (This whole idea comes from one of my favorite photographers, Katelyn James.)  I tend to be on the shy, quiet side when I don't know someone really well and that is a terrible personality to have when you're a photographer!  Most people are already nervous about having their picture taken and when their photographer timidly suggests something it doesn't calm their fears at all (I've observed this myself...).  I need to know what I want, ask for it kindly and with authority (in a fun way), and, as they're figuring out the pose, encourage them!  I don't want my photography shoots to be an uncomfortable experience for anyone at anytime.  I really want them to enjoy themselves during the time I have with them!  I also want to improve my clients experience by being up-front with everything (prices, locations, advice, etc.), so they don't have to wonder how this or that works.  From the time they first email me I want everything to go smoothly and with zero confusion.  I also want to bless my clients more and I plan to do this with my C.D. packaging.  I have some fun ideas but I can't share them with you until I actually do it! :)

All in all, I'm really excited about the upcoming year!  I've got a lot I need to work on but I already know it's going to be a great one!

By the way, it seems so weird to me, to refer to the people I took pictures of this year, as "clients".  I really don't like that term.  My "clients" are now my friends and I'd much rather call them as such.  It's amazing how close you get to people you take pictures for!  For example, a girl at church (whose family I photographed last year), excitedly waves at me whenever she sees me...and then she comes over and gives me a  big hug and asks me how I'm doing.  (She also calls me Miss Kimber...I don't think I'll ever get used to someone calling me "Miss"! :) I don't know if I ever talked to this particular girl before the photo shoot, and now, she treats me like I'm her best friend!  It's great!

Ever since I was young I've never thought that I was a "people person"...you know, the type of person that loves talking to anyone and everyone about anything?  I've actually prayed, many times, that God would give me a greater heart for people and I think, through photography, He's answered that prayer.  I've found that I really enjoy getting to know families and their stories...I love hearing how engaged people met and how the proposal went...I love following around little toddlers and capturing their sweet smiles and personalities...I love holding little babies and freezing time, through a picture, of their tiny fingers and feet...I love capturing the love between a newly engaged couple, or between seasoned pros!  I love it all. Every season in a person's life, from their first breaths to their last few years of life, is beautiful to me.  

What a joy it is to get to capture all these things!

Thank you, Jesus!

Kimber :)