Musings on Photography Goals

A modified narrative of some musings in my nature journal written on January 1, 2019...

Sometimes it is good to reflect upon our goals; upon why we do what we do. We are often more motivated and get things done more efficiently when we set clearly defined goals for our lives, our jobs, or our photography.

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 19396142 - Red-bellied Woodpecker; Clarke County, Georgia. January 1, 2019.

In 2018 I downloaded the eBird app in my iPhone. As soon as that happened, my goal was to list and photograph birds like mad… and I did! (Thankfully my Nikon D500 could bluetooth connect to the phone!) In 2019 I tried to get a photograph of every bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian I had listed on my life list. And I came quite close. My goal for 2020 was to go through hundreds of field notes and photographs from several years in the Okefenokee Swamp and turn them into the Okefenokee Photography Project blog at www.okefenokee.photography. So what about now? Do I keep shooting like crazy? Do I keep all those lower quality photos, or just the really good ones that qualify for portfolio and stock images? I think the answer is: yes to all!

Although I do strive to produce quality photographs, my nature photography isn’t necessarily about the quality of the photograph, but about the subject. It is that individual bird, snake or plant that deserves the attention, not my photography. I’m not as interested in producing high quality photographs as I am in just photo journaling all the awesome creatures that I encounter.

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 19396141 - Turkey Vulture; Clarke County, Georgia. January 1, 2019.

But on the other hand, my hard drive and blogs are filling with thousands of images. To edit and blog them all can really take some time. If I'm not careful, my hobby can morph into work and create a feeling of stress when I fall behind. So how about just keeping the quality images or the rare animal finds in order to lighten the workload? I can talk myself back-and-forth depending upon my mood!

In the end, who cares! I’ll do what I want to do on that day. Why set some “rule” that I’m bound to? I’m just going to keep getting outside, shooting what I want to shoot, posting what I want to post and enjoying God’s creation that He has so generously given us a time to enjoy!

Life is short. Get outdoors!

Publicado el febrero 23, 2022 04:09 TARDE por williamwisephoto