With three months gone out of 2013, I thought I would report on highlights.
January saw more purchases of equipment – mainly lenses and lens accessories. I also continued my self tutorial on learning the Canon 5D III with treks into the park!
February was what I am going to call – the break through month! I found a friend to discuss photography with and went on a photo trek into the park with them. During the third week of the month, I watched a CreativeLIVE workshop on the fundamentals of photography which refreshed prior learning and added new learning! I really dove into my camera settings after the workshop. This also motivated me to set my standard higher which means that I need to continue to upgrade my hardware and software in an effort to meet industry standards for professional photography.
March was a somewhat slow month for photography, other than a few minor equipment purchases – mainly camera accessories. The main highlight for March was finding a few more local photographers and attempting to shoot Comet PanSTARRS! After about a week long struggle to even spot the comet due to terrain and weather, we finally succeeded to photograph the comet on March 19th!
That brings me to now. You may have noticed a reduction in project life 365 posts over the last month. I decided that I no longer want to participate in the photo-a-day challenge for a few reasons. I want to focus on landscape, wildlife and wildflower photography. Many of the themes [although can be ambiguous] have nothing to do with landscapes, wildlife and wildflowers. The project is geared more toward a different style of photography; that is the best way to put it. The galleries of photos are still up, but they aren’t highlighted on the main header of the gallery page anymore.
On another note, photography is not my only business endeavor. I am also still keeping up with aviation topics and have been able to refer information to a few friends and individuals who have expressed interest! Being that photography is a somewhat new venture [in business], I am also doing a couple of other part time things as a contractor and sub-contractor. My time gets filled surprisingly fast!
A few things that I am looking forward to in the next few months include more opportunities to take pictures. I am also looking to add a few more pieces of equipment – including: a few more lenses, a tripod, tripod mounts and brackets, and a faster computer with more current software. I am also thinking about making some changes to my online store – which may include: price changes, availability of products and possibly a more focused or re-organized set of categories. I am also going to work on marketing and advertising within the local community which can actually lead to a wider audience and more opportunities! As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am intrigued with a longer term goal of purchasing a photo printer to do in house printing.
I have yet to make a photo sale. The feedback continues to be positive, and I am thankful for everyone that has looked at my photos and left comments! I am going to continue to learn my equipment and strive to take better photos. It is fun to find ways to challenge my creativity! Luckily, with all of my endeavors, things are looking good for 2013!