A year in review for my photography journey and personal well being

2023 was a slack year for me for photography. I bought a fixer upper house, and I’m spending a ton of time fixing it up. I also bought more gear than I needed. I started with more gear than I needed if I’m being honest.

I look back at my Lightroom library and I notice that I shot way less than I did in 2022. About 30% less! Since I only jumped back into photography in late 2021, I don’t have much to compare except 2022. I don’t know what is normal for people. Nor do I really know exactly how much I shot, since I delete the garbage shots.

Maybe it was because it was all still so new. Or that I actually made time to go shoot. Or more likely, since I purchased my house in May, I haven’t had as much free time since I’m working on the house. Almost all my free time has gone to my house and I’m taking photo walks quite a bit less.

This year, I’m choosing to have more balance. I’m making a solid schedule for myself. I’m allowing myself to have 2-3 gym days per week. I’m scheduling a photowalk once per week. I’ll travel for a photowalk somewhere drivable at least once a month and make it a point to go for a photo walk locally at least once a week.

Admittedly, I’m starting the year off rather horribly. I won’t be in a routine the first week out of the year, I’ll be traveling. I’ll be wine tasting and drinking, and eating. I’ll likely not be hitting a gym of any kind whilst traveling. Luckily, the trip will be short and I’ll be back at the beginning of the second week of the year. But to make up for the crappy eating and unhealthy lifestyle, I will be taking an inordinate amount of pictures. I guess there is that.

I want slim down my camera collection. I have far too many cameras, and sometimes it’s analysis paralysis when I want to go out and shoot. I just bought another camera because I’ve been eyeing it for awhile because I liked the form factor. But what I really need to do is slim down. I might keep a few collectible ones that I like to shoot occasionally, like my Leica IIIf and my Olympus OM-1, but I want to get rid of a bunch.

I need to be honest about what I really need for gear. I don’t shoot professionally. There really isn’t a need to have all the gear I do. I know I should sell more of it. I rarely use quite a bit of it, and sometimes it’s forced in order to justify my ownership. Worse than that, I can’t even decide what to take with me sometimes.

Aside from slimming down my gear, I want to cure my GAS. My Gear Acquisition Syndrome has been pretty bad. I need to limit how fast I acquire things. Institute a rule; sell one first, then buy one. Sometimes I’m selling gear that I barely had a chance to use.

I want to stick to one camera for at least a month or two. Or at least have certain cameras for certain situations. If I’m doing some work for other people, like taking some portraits or family photos for friends and family, I’ll have a particular type of kit. Generally my Sony, because the autofocus and I have a bunch of E-mount lenses that will suit that need.

In order to focus more, I need to give myself more restraints. This means less equipment. I shouldn’t be overwhelmed with the sheer amount of photography equipment I have. I have trouble finding things when I want to go shoot. Especially video equipment. Some of this is due to my move and still unpacking into a temporary office only to pack it back up to move into another office. It’s wearing on me.

When I want to go on an intentional photo walk, I want to bring the GoPro with me and possibly a bluetooth mic and camera to shoot video. But I either cannot find it or it’s not charged when I do find it. I need to find simplicity.

I hope to be more regular in my photography. I want to challenge myself. I want to build a portfolio. I want to start (and finish) small photo challenges.

• Shoot something everyday. At least 1 picture for 30 days.
• x days of still life photography
• 30 days of monochrome
• 4 rolls of film in 4 weeks
• 2 weeks of medium format
• panorama only for a week
• 85mm for 2 weeks
• and the list goes on

The challenge doesn’t matter so much as it’s not something I currently do, and will make me get out of my comfort zone. All this is just to improve myself and improve my photography. It’s the reason I started this blog. I wanted to get my thoughts out, and maybe help someone in the process.

I’m looking forward to 2024. Not that I needed a new year to start any of this. I didn’t. I started making larger changes last year to my habits, and this will be a continuation of that. Just more purposeful and with better planning.

What goals do you have for the new year?