5 New Year’s Goals for Photographers
Happy New Year! As we all start pondering what 2024 will bring and setting goals, take a moment to reflect on your photography journey and what goals to set for the new year!
Whether you have a photo business or a passion for photography, check out these 5 New Year’s Goals for Photographers for 2024.
Image by Mitra Amirzadeh
Edited with Quest 33 Trouvaille
1. Expand your skill set & knowledge
Photography technology changes constantly and there’s always more to learn! One of the biggest investments you can make for yourself this year is learning more about your craft.
Try new techniques! Challenge yourself and evolve as a photographer by learning a new skill like off-camera flash, low-light photography and editing, or upping your posing game.
Attend in-person or online workshops! Whether you want to learn more about photographing, editing, or the business side of things, there is no better way to learn than by taking a workshop!
Learn from the Archipelago team by watching videos on our YouTube channel! We have shot-form 10 and 60 Second Edit videos, longer form editing sessions for our presets or by theme, Editroom and Lighthouse tutorials, and more!
2. Give personal projects some attention
If you’re in the business of photography, you might have lost a bit of that “spark” and feel burned out after the busy season. Personal creative projects can help reignite creativity and give your passion a bit of a push! Plus, they are great for skills practice and adding to your portfolio. Some personal project ideas are:
365 Project: Give yourself a challenge to create a finished photograph every day of the year
52 Week Project: Like a 365 project, but weekly! Try to create a new finished image each week.
Themed series: Pick a theme and create work that fits the theme. Sometimes all it takes to jump-start the creative mind is giving it a box to think outside of!
Document a personal journey: We’re often so busy photographing milestones for others, we forget about our own. Photograph your family, pets, friends, or personal journey for yourself!
Image by Danielle Lindenlaub Photography
Edited with Quest 32 Zalea
3. Work on your online presence
It feels like slogging through mud to get your work seen on social media lately, right? Try focusing your time and energy on other ways to be present online that are longer-lasting and less algorithm-driven.
Update your online portfolio on your website, or update your website in general! It’s a new year, get new photos on there and be sure your info is all correct and updated.
Speaking of websites— work on your SEO! Search Engine Optimization is so important for getting found on Google by potential clients or viewers. Add image alt tags and descriptions to help make your website more accessible.
The Archipelago Collective group is a vibrant international community of photographers! Join and share your Archipelago and Quest edits with us there!
Image by Catarina Inácio
Edited with Quest 30 Autumnal
Image by Dan Cook
Edited with Quest 32 Zalea
4. Experiment with a new genre & niche down
If you mainly photograph people, spend some time this year photographing landscapes, still lifes, or parts of life that don’t include people to hone your skills! You never know when that will come in handy, and it ALWAYS helps to have experience across different genres (even if you never “advertise” it)!
Niche down your professional offerings to only the ones that bring you joy— for example, if photographing families fills your creative cup, focus on that genre in what you post online on your website and social media.
5. Create a sustainable workflow
If you’re in the business of photography (and even if you’re doing it as a hobby), simplifying and streamlining your workflow is so important!
Organize your files! Create folders in your hard drive or external hard drive and organize your photos by year, session, or whatever system works best for you. In Lightroom, add keywords to your images in the Library tab under the Keyword module to help you find them faster. You can add location, session info, what preset you edited them with, etc!
Automate your communications! If you find yourself saying the same things via email or DM to your potential clients or folks who reach out to you, save those responses as templates and only customize what you need to!
Work/Life balance: Decide what days and hours you want to work and communicate that. If you have a Google listing or Facebook business page, edit your hours. Add a line to your contact info on your website about when people can expect a response from you (for example: weekdays before 5pm, etc)— THEN STICK TO YOUR HOURS! Turn off notifications and enjoy your free time!
Image by Wertán Botond
Edited with Quest 29 Altitude
What are some of your photo-related goals for 2024? Let us know in the comments!