Setting Some Goals

Photo of the Day

Today I thought that I would post some goals that I have been working on for the past few days. I normally don’t get too involved in this kind of thing, but the photo 365 project really taught me that structure sometimes helps you go a little extra to get some good pictures. I will have more on that later. Before I do that though let’s talk about this picture. I took this in 2007 as the Notre Dame Hockey team was playing South Alabama in Grand Rapids. This was my first time watching the college hockey playoffs. I had a good time, but had some trouble believing that Notre Dame could get beat by a team from South Alabama. I really wanted to shoot some hockey, but I was not allowed to bring my 75-300mm lens into the arena. It was under the 6″ requirement that they have, but the person at the door turned me away. Now I would just try another entrance, but back then I was much less crafty. Today I would have that lens in the arena. I did capture some decent images with my 18-55mm lens through. This was probably the best of the day. This is not a great shot by any means, but it does tell a story.

Technical Data

Of course since this is a sports shot I applied the Lightroom sports preset, but this time I took the strong version of it. It really added some grit to this scene. I love hockey, and I wanted something that would show the toughness of the sport. It might be a bit over the top, but I like how it looks.

2013 Goals

I thought that I would set some goals for the year. That way I can have some things to shoot for (pun intended). Some of them will be easy to check off, but they are things that I need to do. Here are some things that I hope to accomplish this year.

• Make pictures in thirteen different states. This is not to say that I will just pull over and snap a picture. This means that I will have something meaningful from these thirteen states. This is a goal that may not be easy, but has the possibility of not being too hard. Counting my surrounding states and a couple that I know I will be in this year gets me to nine. That means that I will have to go out of my way to make pictures in four states. I think that this will make things a bit interesting as I find something meaningful to shoot in these states. Of course Indiana is already checked off the list so I just have twelve to go.
• Shoot new sports to me. Last year I shot volleyball and soccer. I had shot a volleyball match once before, but that had been a few years ago. Last year was my first soccer match. I did alright without knowing the sport, but I would like to get good at showing up and making good pictures. I would like to try some olympic sports that this campus nearby will allow me to attend.
• On the subject of sports I would like to shoot some games at the college level this year. If that means shooting at a Division II or III school than so be it. I would love to shoot at the Division I level though. Sports like baseball here at Purdue give me access, but I want the access to football and basketball. I have a year to get that done.
• Finish my photo books. I have started a couple photo books from vacations and my photo 365 project. I would like to finish those as well as making one new one with a topic to be announced later.
• Make more personal pictures. I have been getting better at this lately, but life goes by quickly. I need to make more pictures just for me rather than pictures to be published on this site.
• Quality over quantity. When I first thought of this list I had thought about making a goal for pictures taken this upcoming year. I was trying to think of a number that would be appropriate. As I was thinking about that though I wondered what would happen if I fell short of that goal. Would I just shoot to shoot? I have been doing very well so far this year just making the pictures that I know that I can. I have taken trips that resulted in no pictures at all because things did not fall into place. Last Friday was a good example. I went way out of the way to see some windmills east of Tipton. When I found them though I really did not have a good shot. The sky was grey, the ground was snow covered, and the windmills were white as well. Where would my contrast be? I simply just kept driving. In the past I would have tried many different things to make something out of nothing.
• Show only the best. I have a tendency to post pictures that probably shouldn’t be posted simply because they mean something to me. If the point of this is to show how much I have learned why then do I post a bad shot from five years ago? I still like the idea of the throwback pictures and iPhone shots, but I will try not to post any bad dSLR pictures after the one that you see above.
• Ready, set, hike! Some of my favorite photo experiences last year were the ones that saw me go for a long walk to get my shots. The easy shots are by the road. Anyone can take those. To get out of the car and search for the tough shot is a goal that I will set here today. I ventured into the potholes last year, but I would like to explore them as well as some of the other wonders of Indiana a little more this year.
• Make some money off of my pictures. For some reason in the past I was a snob about my pictures. I would not sell them to anyone, because I was doing it for fun. Well the equipment is getting more and more expensive so I think that it is time to start selling these things. I will get my SmugMug site up and running so that if anyone likes something that they see here they can purchase it.
• Come up with a mission statement. Part of my problem with photography is that I kind of go all over the place with it. I started out as a sports photographer, and then for some reason drifted away. I have started to get serious about it once again, but I think that a statement to myself on what I hope to accomplish will help keep me on task. The small sidestep into other forms did not hurt though as it brought a new outlook into the sports shots for me. I now try and capture moments instead of just getting the big play in 1/1000th of a second. Sometimes I turn away from the action to see what else of interest is going on.
• Start some portraiture and start using flash more. One of the only good things about the closing of Berry’s Camera Shop was that I picked up some equipment to get started taking portraits. In a couple of days I will have everything that I need to get started down this road. I really need to take the time to learn to use what I have to that I can take these shots that I love. I have some big ideas, but I have to master the equipment to get this done.
• Get out and shoot! l I am not going to get any of these goals done sitting here! This list may evolve over time. As I grow I may add to it. I will try and keep updates coming as things slowly start to get crossed off the list.