My 2021 Goals as a Fashion Photographer
This feels like a very self indulgent post to write as I tend to keep this blog more about you guys, and less about me… but I’ve seen quite a few other bloggers write posts like this, and I’ve really enjoyed reading them…so maybe you will as well?! Let me know if you do, and I can try to post some more personal blogs in amongst the more education focused ones.
Let’s chat about 2021 shall we? Cause let’s face it, 2020 has been a RIDE, and as I type this, its only the 6th of January and oh my goodness, things are already going mental. On Monday night, the UK government announced a 3rd national lockdown due to COVID-19. This time, it’s long - we’re expected to be in this lockdown until at least mid February. So that’s quite a long period of time for things to be on shutdown!
However, photographers who shoot business to business can still work, so I’m very thankful that it looks like I should be able to continue to shoot.
So, with all of this craziness in mind, what are my goals for this coming year?
To Take Things As They Come
I think that if anything, 2020 taught us most of all that we are not in control of anything. We can make all the plans in the world, but in the end, we have to let go of those plans and go with the flow. I wasn’t very good at this before. In fact, I was what you’d call a control freak. I used to always have my months mapped out perfectly in my calendar. I hated not knowing what I’d be doing at least two weeks in advance - I found it all very stressful.
However, when the pandemic came along, plans changed constantly. There was absolutely no way of being able to map my whole week out, let alone my whole month! So I’ve had to learn to take things as they come, accept that things will probably change at the last minute, and become much, much, much more flexible. And you know what? I think it’s a good thing. In fashion photography, things are often very last minute. So I’m grateful to this stressful, scary, pandemic for making me chill out, and go with the flow.
Less Is More
For years and years, I’ve done small model tests here and there. Shoots that last an hour or two, a chance to meet someone, and shoot some imagery. However, after 12 years behind the camera, I’m realising that my time is much better served shooting fewer small shoots, and focusing me time on bigger projects, but less of them. What I mean by that is that any test shoots in future will probably centre around shooting an editorial for a publication, or serve a much greater purpose. I just don’t need to test quite as often as I was, so this year I may shoot a bit less than I’m used to, but when I do, it will most definitely be thoroughly planned out, and the images will be amazing.
Shoot More Memories
During the Christmas break, I spent a lot of time looking through the old photo albums at my boyfriends’ parents house. I’ve always loved looking through photo albums - if I see one out on a coffee table, it’s always the first thing that I grab. I LOVE looking through old memories, yet I’ve hardly made the effort to shoot more of my own. You see, before we had digital cameras attached to us 24/7, taking a photo was special. It was how you kept hold of memories. And in the early 1900’s, having your photo taken was a HUGE deal. People got dressed up, wore their best clothes, did their hair, and made the most of it, because it was such a rarity.
These days, taking a photo isn’t quite as special as it once was. But I’m trying my best to capture the more mundane moments as well. I want to be able to look back in 20 years through photo albums and remember the inbetween moments just as much as the special moments. To me, that looks like walking around with my point and shoot film camera, and snapping images more often. It looks like making the effort to get the images on my iPhone printed, and stuck in an album. And it looks like not worrying if every image I take is a masterpiece.
Create A New Course / Group Coaching Program
I adore helping you all, and so many of you have taken both of my courses now (thank you, I’m honestly always so grateful), but they’ve been around for over two years now, and I’m ready to bring something new out. I’ve learnt a lot since I wrote those courses, and I’ve got new topics that I’m interested in sharing with you. I’m in the early stages of one of my new courses which will be all about how storytelling can elevate your work, and I hope to have that available very shortly!
I’m also hoping to host a small group coaching program at some point this year. My hope is that it can be a place where a small group of photographers can come together, and not only learn from me and my experiences, but help one another, and create a sense of community. I’m still working out how that will look, but if you’re interested in joining something like that, make sure that you’re signed up to my newsletter, as that will be the place it’s announced first!
So there you go! Obviously I have many more goals, some of which are very specific, so I can’t share them quite so publicly, but I hope that this little insight into my plans for this year will be inspiring to you.
If you want help in setting your own goals for this year, I can highly recommend working through my best friend Anna’s framework. You can download it totally free here!
