My 2022 Photography Goals

Well, we finally reached the end of 2021, and 2022 has arrived.  What does the new year have in store?  I don’t know, but I’d like to think even better days are ahead.  To quote the fictional Colonel Sherman T. Potter from the television show M*A*S*H “Here’s to the New Year. May she be a damn sight better than the old one. . .”. I couldn’t agree more with that sentiment.

I always find the start of a new year to be a good time to develop goals for what I want to accomplish for the upcoming year, so here are my photographic goals for 2022.

 

2022 Goal #1:  Continue to follow my photographic rules with the objective of making them something I do without thinking about it

When 2021 started, I came up with four rules I was going to follow to help me consistently create high quality, artistic photographs:  enjoy the trip; no pressure on myself; slow down; and, when all else fails, remember to enjoy the trip.

These four rules seemed pretty simple, but they weren’t always the easiest rules for me to follow.  From time to time, I would still fall back into my old habit of putting pressure on myself to create as many photographs as I could to justify my time and effort of being out.  This approach backfired nearly every time.  Yes, I get a lot of pictures.  And, yes, some were decent.  But, the vast majority of them just weren’t very good and would never see the light of day, which left me wondering why I even bothered.

On those occasions when I remembered to follow my rules, things usually turned out much better.  I felt more relaxed and open to trying different things.  I was not only enjoying being outdoors but also enjoying the photographic process.  I may not have taken as many pictures using this approach, and sometimes I hardly took any at all.  But, that was just fine because the ones I did take were often of much better artistic quality, and that was the whole point.

So, for 2022, I will continue to follow my four rules, but I will work on following them every time I go out, not just when I remember them.  I want them to become second nature, and the only way to do that is to consistently follow them.

2022 Goal #2:  Slow down and focus on quality, not quantity

Yes, I know slowing down is one of my four rules.  But, for me, slowing down is one of the hardest things to do, so a little repetition is definitely in order.  Why should I slow down?  To focus on the quality of my images, not the quantity. 

My general photographic process is to arrive at a location, find things I want to photograph, set up my camera, get the shots, and move on.  This is a great process if the goal is simply to take a lot of pictures.

But, my goal has always been to create high quality images that don’t look like snapshots, and, if I’m being completely honest with myself, my process just does not lend itself to creating the kind of high quality images I want.  Yes, some of the pictures I get will be. . .ok, but most will never see the light of day.  So, it is apparent that something about my process needs to be changed.

I’ve watched numerous Youtube videos by landscape photographers Simon Baxter, Nigel Danson, and Thomas Heaton.  One of the things I have noticed about their approach to photography is how much time they spend thinking about the shot in terms of lighting and composition, setting it up, and finally capturing it.  They don’t photograph everything they see; they don’t say to themselves “This subject isn’t that impressive, but I’ll go ahead and photograph it and see how it looks later.”  If it doesn’t inspire them in the field, they move on.  They focus on quality, not quantity.  If that means they get only a handful of shots on a particular outing, they are fine with that because they know those one or two images are of outstanding quality.

So, for 2022, I will work to implement their approach and focus on the quality of the images I take, not on the quantity of pictures I come back with.

2022 Goal #3:  Stop waiting for “ideal” conditions to go out and photograph

As I looked back over the past year, I discovered something else that is limiting my photographic opportunities.  I often plan my outings based on the likelihood of there being ideal conditions for photography:  an overcast sky, no wind, and no rain.  My reason for this is simple.  Overcast days eliminate the issue of extreme contrast and make exposure relatively easy; no wind means nothing will be blurred in the images; and no rain means I don’t get soaking wet.  But waiting for the perfect photographic conditions is limiting my photographic opportunities.

Going back to the videos by Simon Baxter, Nigel Danson, and Thomas Heaton, they will go out in the rain, the cold, whatever the conditions are if they think they will be able to capture an incredible picture.  Yes, they pay attention to the weather and know what is being forecast, but they don’t let poor weather stop them from going out and trying to capture amazing photographs.

So, for 2022, I will start going out whenever I have the chance, and I will not let less than “ideal” conditions stop me from getting wonderful images.

Those are my three photographic goals for 2022.  Accomplishing these goals does not depend on anything but myself, so I can’t wait to see how I progress toward achieving them.