Photography Goals for 2013

My goal in 2012 was to get good enough at taking pictures to go pro. But by the end of 2012 I realized that I had no desire to go into business. I love photography but I hate business. I came to the conclusion that viewing my photography through the "lens" of trying to start a business was making photography a chore and I hated it.

So this year I am getting back into what I love about photography. Capturing real moments. Documenting our story.

I still want to improve my technique. I still want to read tutorials, try new things and buy new gear (much to the chagrin of my husband). But I mostly want to enjoy my photography this year. I want to take the pictures that really matter. I want to capture true emotion.

So with those ideas in mind I have a few plans for this year.

1. Take my real camera with me more. Now that I have an iPhone I have been relying on it too much. I want to haul around my "real" camera more  and take more pictures of my life with my family.
This of course requires the purchase of a bigger bag that I can use as a diaper/camera bag.

2. Print some of those darn pictures! I have so many pictures on my computer and hardly any I can touch. This year I am going to print albums with my favorite pictures of the year. Right now I am thinking of either using Blurb.com or Mypublisher.com to print album books.

3. Master white balance - to do that I need to make 3 purchases. a. An expodisc which helps you set custom white balance in camera. b. A calibrator to make sure I am seeing true colors on my monitor. and c. take a raw processing class with the Photoshop master, Damien Symonds.

4. Get really good at "seeing and finding good light" and becoming more creative with my composition.  To do this I am going to take a few courses from clickinmoms and just practice, practice, practice.

5. Share more of my pictures on this blog and on my private family blog.