Happy Tuesday to all! As we wind down the Year of the Tiger (2010 was the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese Calendar), I find myself, as always, looking at the events of the past 365 days, and wonder to myself what I’ve done. Have I accomplished my goals? Did I challenge myself in new ways? What have I learned? All of these questions are ones we should ask ourselves periodically.
While I answered yes to many of the questions, I did have to admit that I had not devoted as much time to the learning side of things. After spending time on writing blog posts, taking pictures, going on shoots, recording podcasts, talking to vendors, and the whole schmear, I had only attended 1 workshop! While the workshop was a phenomenal one (David Ziser’s Captured By The Light tour), it’s just one aspect of photography.
So, 2011 will hopefully be a year of learning. I know it seems odd that the host of the Learning Digital Photography podcast and author of Canon Blogger is endeavoring to learn more, but that brings up a very good point that bears mentioning – we never stop learning! I had a colleague say something to me recently after we had several discussions about various aspects of the craft. His words went something like “I could learn a lot from you about licensing and copyright.” It reminded me that no matter who we are, or where we think we are in our craft, there is always going to be someone out there that knows more than us about something. Whether it’s licensing, printing, composition, or any other topic – there is always more to learn. And you can learn from anywhere!
With that in mind, one of my priorities in 2011 is to attend more workshops and seminars From my perspective, when you stop learning, you’ve stagnated, and creativity begins to subside. What a great opportunity to move forward with in 2011! And it all came from a little introspection, and looking at my goals for 2010..it gave me motivation, desire, and a resolution for 2011!
As always, let’s turn the question out for the reading/listening audience. What were your goals for 2010? Did you reach your goals? Are you happy with what you’ve done? What about 2011? Any photography goals for the year? Share your thoughts, views, visions and dreams in the comments or via email. Don’t forget to keep on shooting! We’ll see you back here again tomorrow for more photography goodness!