Mid Year Check In
By kaden • Jun 14th, 2010 • Category: Daily Shots, Posts to RememberI remember that many of us had specific goals at the beginning of the year. I would love to hear where each one of us is in achieving those goals as we got to the end of May and June is here. In my case while I am on track on some of my priorities, it appears that my focus has temporarily shifted… Maybe it is time to reflect and incorporate old and new goals.
kaden
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hi kaden. this is interesting as i was thinking along these lines myself.
well, let’s see. year in, year out, it has always been about trying to achieve something or maybe perhaps find ways to make our hobby just a wee bit more significant to those other than ourselves. i don’t set goals. but i do try and look for something that’s going to give some sort of an emotional return that is a wee bit better than getting a “nice photo” comment. egotistical, no doubt. hahaha!!!
to this end, i usually just have a quota of one. and hopefully, it’s going to be enough to last me the whole year although admittedly it does get a bit depressing once you have attained it in the first half of the year. it’s usually through contests or some meaningful activity that goes beyond the borders of the internet.
for this year, i have reaped more than what i expected.
to start things off, i had fun doing a one-hour talk for photoworld asia 2010 last january. i touched on the zen of photography and how to make it a bit more meaningful to the hobbyist. i was the only amateur there. it was a local who’s who with no less than our very own pbase friend manny librodo taking center stage for portraiture (a 3-hour talk). so i was in pretty good company and was able to go beyond my usual stuttering self. i got one fan mail from that talk and he said it was the best part of that week-long convention. it’s just one. but a very gratifying one.
then i was the main feature in Digital Photographer Philippines (local franchise of the UK mag). 12 pages. i didn’t realize i was the main story until i got my copy. my friend told me that it was a big deal because the main feature is what sells a magazine. so i’m thinking that, hey, our LiF pov sells, eh?
this month, i get a text message from a friend in Beijing telling me that I won 2nd place overall, first place for Nudes, and an honorable mention for Abstracts all under the Fine Art category of PX3 Paris. the guy who won as best new emerging talent was the first placer from the Fine Art category. i was just a sneeze away! the most gratifying part of that win was the photograph itself. i had posted it here. so there you go. Viva LiF!
lastly, i am able to help my company (i work in broadcast and entertainment) by conducting photography lectures to our production staff responsible for securing filming locations and such. i am scheduled to do a 3rd run so i guess i have to be doing something beneficial for these guys. i get free coffee from starbucks but that’s ok. i’m happy enough that we’re able to share stuff with others.
so now i’m faced with the next six months of not knowing how to sustain this slew of personal achievements.
maybe it’s time i go back to capturing that one kick ass image for the year. which isn’t such a bad goal after all :)
i do have one more goal for this year but i don’t want to jinx it so i’ll keep it to myself for now.
sorry if it’s a bit egotistical but i do try to check myself.
maybe next year, i’ll target surpassing you, Kaden. hahaha!!! that will be the fucking day.
Hey Raul,
Really good to read about your achievements this year so far. Sounds like a real honour regarding the magazine and it also seems like you got a lot out of the talk, which sounds like an interesting subject. Congrats on the 2nd place too – which photo is it? Could you post a link so I can take a look?
S.
I wasn’t here on LIF at the start of the year and didn’t really set any goals anyway, apart from general thoughts to get more ‘project-based’. But to be honest as the year progresses I find myself getting clearer and clearer in realising where the enjoyment lies in my own photography – and that’s on the street with a camera. I’m still spending as much time on the internet (it distracts me), buying photography books etc, but the longer I go on the more I realise that for me any lasting worthwhile pleasure only exists when I’m out and about taking photographs.
I’ve gradually shifted from digital to film this year too. Although most of what I’ve been posting online has been digital (and will be for the near future too), it’s only because I’ve finally been trawling through a mass of jpegs on my hard drive. I haven’t actually picked up a digital camera for months now, and have instead been carrying film cameras (specifically an old pentax asahi, which has started to feel like a part of me in a way my digital SLR has never done). I have a lot of films to get developed (maybe not on the scale of some of you but for me it’s a lot!) so hope to share the results at some point. The main difference now is that the whole basic process of buying film/loading it/winding it/setting shutter speeds/apeture etc. is now slowly becoming familiar.
Ultimately it’s arguably worthless if I’m not happy with the photos, but for the time being I feel like I’m on the way to reaching a goal without actually having set it. That kind of makes sense to me.
thanks, stu. here’s the link http://www.px3.fr/winners/winners.php?compName=PX3+2010
just click on the fine art category, non professional :)
btw, i’m with you re: film. and i checked out your site and your style really suits that medium. i haven’t maximized my rangefinder yet. i only probably have shot 20 rolls total over a one year period that i’ve had it with me… yes, i’m still clumsy loading film!!!
Thanks for the responses Raul and Stu. I am so happy to see everyone so involved and doing wonderful.
PS. Raul no need to wait for next year and no maybes about it. In my book you rule as it stands. I on the
other hand, could only wish to become Raul.
Thanks for the link – great photograph, recognition well deserved I think! I had seen it before on here.
ah you’re too kind kaden. we know how all these contest and what not go… here today, gone tomorrow. but you really have something going with your black arts, man. that’s way cool stuff. and the reason why some of us here look up to you in this regard is that i think some wouldn’t really have the patience or inclination to go dive into it the way you do. the passion to do it is very strong and that totally deserves a whole lot of respect.
have you guys tried exploring BW magazine? i’m a total noob but the few times that i’ve read that mag, i get this snooty feel… “palladium print, blah blah blah”… i mean that in a good way, btw. just curious if the likes of Kaden and co. have been featured there. i get this vibe that it’s some exotic, collector type magazine.
sorry, might have been Off topic :)
Wow, congrats, Raul! Love that photo.. You seem to have achieved a great deal so far.
My biggest achievement (or dream of achieving) is to leave the newspaper by October or the end of October. I complain heartily about how I hate it and eventually came to the conclusion that I had to do something to make actually LEAVING happen. As of today, I’ve paid off a bunch of bills and will be paying off one of our cars as soon as I get done with this post! Getting our expenses down will leaving the paper a reality as I’d finally be able to afford to quit and spend time on selling my photographs.
And truthfully, I do fairly well for it being a “part time” gig – selling in galleries, boutiques and online, so if I do it full time I think I could make a living out of it. I hope the gods are listening..lol
Doing more art fairs, also I have set goals for myself to do a certain amount of photographs per month only because I find I get so busy with work, etc, that I will work on old photos (which is fine, too) but don’t take any new ones.
I’ve put a bulletin board up above my computer so I can put good things on there to look at when I look up. Instead of things that have been making me very anxious and stressed this past year, I want to see achievements I’ve made and kind things that people have written to me.
These all might seem like little things, but they are the goals I have this year so that NEXT year, I will get closer to the goal I’ve had in mind for a long time:
world art domination!
heh
Hey Raul, thanks for the kind words. I posted here a little while ago a list of magazines that I purchase on regular basis and it included “BW”. I suggest you check out the links posted. There are other mags that I admire a whole lot more than BW. Here is an example of a mag that just got started:
http://onetwelvepublishing.com/
http://www.alternativephotography.com/books/diffusion_1.html
There also are other magazines that support the Alternative Photography Community.
I have not submitted any work for posting with the BW mag, because It maybe the wrong mag to submit the kind of images I am into, even though I too like palladium/bromide/other interesting processes prints. They tend to concentrate on certain type of artistic images with a specific look. Once a year they do a portfolio with a variety of artists and indeed it gets more in the neighborhood of what I like. I can remember at least 3 Pbasers being included, all of which were on my fave lists.
The main reason for not making submissions for printing rested solely on the fact that I am experimenting at the moment and once I find a process or a variation of processes I really like and I have it fine tuned, I then intend to specialize and create a body of work that has some consistency and then aggressively seek get printed.
I have also been in the midst of a variety of shows ongoing, which is consuming all my attention and time. My salted negative print was just selected to exhibit on a juried exhibit at Rayko in SF (a premier venue for alternative photography) called (Por)trait Revealed. Here: http://raykophoto.com/?page_id=38
The gallery Director for Rayko is Ann Jatrab and she does an awesome job. The exhibits I have seen there are just amazing. http://www.mainemedia.edu/instructors/photo/ann-jastrab
I and a few other LIF members are participating in an exhibit in October in France. Personally I am sending 5 Selenium toned Gelatin Prints, 5 C-Prints and one Tintype, and those are the immediate ones while I wait response for a few more more shows and I get prepared.
Love your spirit Jude and the courage to take that next leap. I’ll look forward to see the creative explosion coming after October.
Wow – impressive achievements – well done to everyone! My own objectives are somewhat amateurish and pale in comparison, mainly I set out to improve, improve and improve. Sometimes I am happy with achievements which have focused extending myself and my views, reading and applying myself better. Other times I blow cold and wonder what an earth I am doing surrounding myself with books, frustrating myself and asking whether Ill ever be any good to warrant continuing :-) (yeah i hear those violins).
That said I have managed 2 LIF Guest Posts, and have perhaps 3-4 images that I am proud of although they are completely adhoc. I have learnt about myself, my mindset and generally have better conviction in identifying, taking and processing a shot – but still have a way to go. An experimental scratchpad has been massively worthwhile helping me to identify that B&W is a good starting point and i seem to favour a portrait orientation which I perhaps need to break away from!
All this has at least equipped me well enough to commiting myself to some projects ideas 1 of which I have started and the other having focus on my local citys architecture and a 3rd consideration with a British theme in a reportage style (maybe).
As ever always motivated by LIF – it continues to be a key source of inspiration and aspiration for me. ;-)
Couple of my favourites here http://www.pbase.com/96spec/image/122807785 and here http://www.pbase.com/96spec/image/122852117
Organics Project – http://www.pbase.com/96spec/organicsproject
It is fantastic to hear from you Ben. Happy to hear of your advancements. :))
Earlier this year I had a chance to finally see the film, The Five Obstructions. What intrigued me about this film was the imposed artistic obstructions that Jorgen Leth had to meet for creating different versions of The Perfect Human. So considering my personal obstacles from this perspective of obstructions, I was able to reframe how I viewed my challenges. I was able to find humor in my process by thinking, “Okay, which obstacle is this?” or “Okay, 2 obstacles down, 3 to go.” lol
The New Year has been fraught with unexpected obstacles as I worked towards completing a task I’d set for myself. Initially things had proceeded along rather effortlessly but then various hurdles began to appear along the course. Some of these were daunting and I often felt that I would not be able to meet a particular deadline. Yet each time the conditions which would allow me to proceed to the next step arrived in the final hour.
The end result was mixed. I successfully completed my task but the conditions needed to progress to the next step did not appear at the final hour. Is it coincidence that you asked your questions and posted this on Monday, June 14–the same day I had to send an email declining the opportunity which I’d spent months trying to create?
As I reflect upon what has happened here, I can’t help but wonder why. From my current vantage point, it seems that perhaps completing my task was not the outcome that I thought it was. In other words, it really wasn’t the goal but rather it was the process that was the goal.
Interesting observations Silvia. :)
I’ve been a little dissapointed with this year so far. I’ve made some good images, but I’ve also suffered a bit of a creative rut. I was also hopping to make more progress in terms of print sales – this is something I’d like to focus more attention on for the remainder of the year.
Those are worthy goals Jeff. I hope you get afflicted with a massive overdose of creativity. :)
I loved this thread… in fact it’s what made me get off my ass and start posting here after a mini break. Both the reminder that we’re halfway through the year and Raul / Kaden’s long list of accomplishments conspired to kick me into gear.
As for me, here were my original goals:
* Shoot more with Medium Format
* Take fewer pictures
* Take better pictures
* Finally get around to entering some competitions (and winning a few)
* Continue to write on this blog and expand Lost In Focus
I’ll go through them quickly:
* Shoot more with Medium Format
Yes! This worked out great .It seems such a trivial goal now but moving to film was a big deal for me, and then stepping up to MF (losing portability, flexibility and 25 shots per roll) was even harder. Once I did it though, I’ve not looked back. 35mm film has now become “point and shoot” – i love medium format. I originally started out with the Hasselblad that i had in my collection, and soon ended up purchasing a Pentax 67ii. Since I bought that, I can honestly (really, truly) say that I’ve not had a desire to buy another camera since. It is without question the best camera I’ve ever shot with and will never ever sell it (more likely, i’ll buy another one for backup). The great thing about medium format is that when I scan the negatives in my fairly low end Epson v700 at 3200 DPI, i get a huge, sharp, awesome 50 megapixel file. This allows me to crop at will or not crop and know that I’ll be able to print the size of a house should the occasion ever call for it.
* Take fewer pictures
This is working out well too. If I ignore the shots I take for dog rehoming / charity (which are mostly digital for convenience sake), then I’ve probably taken about 300 – 500 shots this year so far. This is about 10x less than I would normally have taken. For example, on my yellowstone trip I took about 150 images over 5 days. The two other photographers who had a 5D Mark II and a D3 between them, took roughly 3,000 each. But the point of this goal was not to shoot less often – but to shoot more deliberately. It was a means unto an end, rather than the end itself. The point was that I was supposed to be shooting better images. So – this brings me to my next goal
* Take better pictures
This is an interesting one and I can’t say right now whether i’ve accomplished this or not. I will say I’m taking better pictures more often – the benefit of slowing down and becoming more deliberate is definitely helping and I’m surprised to find that my keeper rate is increasing every time I put a new roll of film in the camera. I never expected that. I’ll also think that I’m on track to surpass my images from last year. But it’s still only halfway through 2010 and I have more travel and a lot more shooting to do yet. So the jury’s still out but things are looking good.
* Finally get around to entering some competitions (and winning a few)
OK so i ended up entering only one contest – the Sony World Photography Awards and I got an honorable mention. However, I’m going to change this goal. I always wonder why I never can motivate myself to enter more competitions and I think, deep down, it’s because I really don’t care. Instead I’m going to change this goal to another – and its related much more to the philosophical aspects of photography and what it means to and does for my life. I need more space to expand on this though so I’ll save that for my next post.
* Continue to write on this blog and expand Lost In Focus
Well, Lost in focus has definitely been expanding and doing great – with the addition of 4 new member this year (including Kaden who I now wonder how this site ever lived without :), and also some guest postings. I cant’ really take any credit here though as it’s you guys who keep doing the amazing things. I do want to write more about photography though and need to spend more time on this goal. It might not be till towards the end of the year but hopefully it’ll be worth the wait.
OK that’s all for now. Great idea Kaden posting this topic.
Really good post this Kaden and although I arrive so late that we’re a month into the second half of the year, it’s been a pleasure to read of the other LIFers photography experiences.
Generally I have had a quiet first half of the year and looking back to the turn of the year where we stated our hopes/objective, it seems my focus was to do with things that were going to happen following my move back to the West…vHowever, I have had a good six months and although I haven’t shot a great deal have worked hard to improve aspects of my picture taking. Personal success include…
• Heightening my understanding of portrait photography using more traditional methods: combining rolleiflex and studio lights and the use of close up lenses
• I visited India!
• Set up personal website which has highlighted factors necessary to move my photography on, namely to improve editing and developing narrative sequences.
• Started a blog which I hope to update regularly this year
• I’ve been involved in an interesting story – The Saphan Lek record industry which hopefully will be published in Wax Poetic as well as appear in the liner notes of a couple of compilations.
• I am about to start series of darkroom lessons!
• Have had quite a bit of interest in people wanting to purchase my work
• Have had night sequences photography recognized on a Russian photography site – strange and ourt of the blue!
• Have Rolleiflex work recognized and published on an Australian media groups ‘masters of photography’ site along with some true masters. Link to follow!
• Picture published in pbase magazine and just today have been contacted by jpg magazine about issue 22 publication
• Been invited to take part in my first photo exhibition with five prints sent to Dijon France – Thanks Kaden!
So now it’s on to achieve some of the things I listed at the beginning of the year.
Really awesome to see Lawrence back and posting. Cool achievements and beautifully articulated. I would concur that your images are simply stunning and deserving of plenty of recognition. They have a unique feeling of focus and subject matter that remains compelling.
Wow, you go David. Happy to also see your excitement and the wonderful images you are posting. I’ll look forward to seeing your link and posting(s) in the JPG Mag. I am all smiles just to think that you are in for your first group exhibit and in France nonetheless. Btw, it is Langres. :)