At the start of a new year (not all but most. . .well. . .at least some 😉), I like to set some goals for my photography that I would like to achieve throughout the year. Sometimes, those goals are easy to meet (get out more and photograph more often). Other goals are challenging (make one-third of my images at times other than early morning). Sometimes, those goals may be too subjective and too result-oriented to really be of any value (create images that are more artistic rather than just pretty pictures).
So, here we are at the beginning of 2025, and it’s time for me to once again establish the goals I want to strive to meet this year.
Goal #1: Slow down
Yes, that’s been a goal of mine, whether stated or unstated, for quite some time, and I’ve never really been able to accomplish it. But, in the last few weeks, I finally figured out why slowing down has been so difficult for me to do – I really didn’t have any idea of what it meant to slow down or how to implement a slower, more thoughtful approach to my photography.
Well, a YouTube video by Alister Benn (How to be MORE CREATIVE – with this one MAGIC TIP) started to give me an answer. In the video, he discussed the concept of “noting.” It’s a really simple technique in which, once arriving at a location, you sit down for a few minutes, pull out a small notebook, and write down everything you notice about the area on one side of the page and how you feel on the other side. Once you’ve done that, then you pull out your camera and photograph the things you noted. Ok, but, really, who has time to do that?
A couple of weeks ago, I purchased photographer Sarah Marino’s ebook Beyond the Grand Landscape: A Guide to Photographing Nature’s Small Scenes. In the book, she wrote essentially the same thing: when you arrive at a location, spend at least 15 minutes noticing the details around you and generating ideas for photos. Don’t actually do any photography during that time, just observe what’s around you.
So, this year, I am going to strive to incorporate Alister’s and Sarah’s advice. When I get somewhere, I am going to spend at least 15 minutes just observing what’s around me and note anything that catches my eye. Once that time is over, only then will I pull out the camera and photograph the things I have noted. As photographer Adam Karnacz says in his video The Biggest Myths in Photography, “We’re not taking snapshots. We’re being intentional and crafting and creating artwork.”
Cracks formed in dried mud, Buffalo National River, Arkansas
Goal #2: Don’t wait until next time
“In my experience, if you start questioning a scene, questioning a composition, then just flippin’ have a word with yourself. Get your camera out and just take the shot.”
This came from a video from photographer Thomas Heaton (Is Wind The Enemy of Landscape Photography?), and it resonated with me because I have a bad habit of coming up with all sorts of reasons why I should not photograph something that has caught my attention: it’s too boring, the light isn’t very good, it’s too windy, the list goes on and on. I invariably listen to those doubts then get home and, more often than not, kick myself for having done so.
But, Thomas is right. If something catches my eye, then I need to photograph it then because there is no guarantee that I will get a second chance. If I get home and don’t like the image, well, that’s what the delete key is for.
Goal #3: Get out and photograph
The only way to get better at something is to do it, so I’m bringing this goal forward from 2024. It provided me with excellent motivation when I wasn’t feeling inspired to just get out there. So, just as I did last year, I will get out at least 25 days in total with at least one day every month to focus solely on my photography.
Goal #4: 1,000 images during the year with at least 20% of them worthy of processing
| Year | Total Images | Processed Images | Processing Rate |
| 2020 | 1,032 | 27 | 3% |
| 2021 | 1,002 | 23 | 2% |
| 2022 | 249 | 22 | 9% |
| 2023 | 192 | 33 | 17% |
| 2024 | 279 | 66 | 24% |
I have produced far fewer photographs in 2022, 2023, and 2024 combined than I did in either 2020 or 2021. Now, this was by design because I was trying to increase the number of images I thought were worth processing, and the best way I could think of to do that was to be more thoughtful in my approach, which led to fewer photographs. Overall, the strategy seemed to have worked, but I’m not sure I had quite as much fun as when I photographed more.
So, for 2025, my goal is to get at least 1,000 total images during the year, excluding extra images for HDR, panos, and focus stacking and frames that are just complete junk. In addition, I want at least 20% of them to be what I consider to be at least 3-star images that are images I will process and are likely to be shown publicly in some manner.
If I achieve my goal of 25 outings during the year and average 40 images per outing, then I really shouldn’t have a problem meeting that part of the goal. The challenge will be to maintain a high level of quality to meet the processing piece of the goal, but, then again, if a goal isn’t challenging, it probably isn’t much of a goal.
Goal #5: Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good
I have a tendency to be extremely critical with myself. I can get a picture that has great lighting, strong composition, just very well executed. Most anyone who looks at it will think it’s a great photograph. But, if it has even one blurred blade of grass or some other tiny, tiny flaw that no one else would ever notice, it’s not perfect; therefore, I likely won’t ever process it, and it will likely never see the light of day.
Oak trees dressed in their Autumn colors, Arkansas
The image of these trees adorned in their Autumn colors is an example of what I’m talking about. When I first set up this composition, I liked the grouping of trees on the sides, the way the branches seemed to be reaching out from one group to the other and trying to intertwine with each other, and, of course, the colors of the leaves. When I got home and opened the file, I still thought it was a fine picture. . .until I zoomed in and saw that the wind had caused some of the leaves to blur. I was about to send this one to “never to be seen again” file and move on when I realized those wind-blown leaves were a natural part of the environment I was in that day and I was being overly critical.
In the search for perfection, the only thing I’ve consistently found is frustration and disappointment. Those are not the results I’m striving to achieve. Over the last two years, and last year in particular, I’ve tried to be more mindful of that. But, I’m going make it one of my stated goals for this year. I know it’s bit vague and subjective, but I think listing it as a specific goal will help me keep the concept top of mind.
Those are my 2025 goals for my photography. I’d love to hear in the comments what your goals are this year.
Well that saying about perfect being the enemy of the good is one many of us can relate to. I’ve been tempted to do similar goal setting, but always chicken out. 🙂 So I end up just “winging it” for the most part, let inspiration come as it does, try to recognize when it does, and just try to be present. I know there are more formal ways to create productive goals (S.M.A.R.T. comes to mind), but it always seemed like adding more work on top. haha.
Hopefully you will be successful in accomplishing all of these!
I’m thinking about going back through all the images I never processed and see if there are any that I “rejected” because of some small inconsequential flaw that only I would probably even notice. I’m sure there are at least a few there to develop. As to goal setting, I’m not really a big fan of setting them either because, yes, it can be work trying to figure out what I would like to accomplish over the next year. But, I also know that if I don’t try to hold myself accountable in some way then I won’t accomplish a whole lot of anything, at least most of the time. 😉