Standing in the cusp between the changing of years, and the official start of work, I feel compelled to set a tradition on this blog. 2011 zoomed past with frightening speed and although I had been busy with many projects, sometimes so many I didn’t have a chance to breathe, I felt as though I have not learnt much, which scares me.

 

It was only through looking back at the year (almost like timeline) did I manage to find things to give thanks for. It has been a helpful process that leads to looking forward, making new goals, and hopefully 2012 will bring on a growth spurt. And as much as I had never been a believer of making resolutions, for it may sometimes appear to be making promises to yourself that you can’t keep, but reasonable goal-making has its merits.

 

 

Looking Back

 

Finally getting the website up

I’ve had the domain for a good three years and after all the ding-donging back and forth I had some invaluable help with getting the site live. Procrastination has always been my weakness but having the blog up is a great motivational factor!

 

An increased volume of bookings

2011 was the year I did my very first corporate shoot! I find it quite amazing and I have friends and contacts to thank for that. It was nerve-wrecking because the mood for the shoot was so different from weddings or bridals, but it was one heckuvan experience. I also posted a shout-out on my facebook page saying how I was available for bookings and there have been responds! I thank those who responded for the support, it means so much to me.

 

Invitation to Basically

Basically is a collective of individuals who come together to create avenues in which they can support local artists from a large variety of disciplines. They may be new on the scene but that’s the exciting bit as there will be endless possibilities of how we can begin to take this. Yes, we. I was invited to join the organising committee so you’d be able to see what comes out of that in the very near future.

 

Making my  hobby self-sustaining

I’d say it’s quite an achievement in the short amount of time I have been shooting, but I’m really proud to say that my hobby is finally able to pay for itself! What that means is that I am to get upgrades, lenses and business related purchases without having to use my day job salary to support it. I have been able to book enough jobs and earn enough to finance all that! (Yay me!!!)

 

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Going Forth

 

Regular updating

I am not the most disciplined of people. Blogs take much commitment which I had not been able to supply in the past, I tend to get all motivated in the beginning, but the energy will die off when things get busy. So, this is where I will have to make an effort to not let this blog suffer the same fate. We will see at the end of this year =P

 

Being wise with time

That means not making too many promises to too many people. It might seem selfish at first, but in 2011 I was at a high risk of getting burned out. Taking your time to enjoy what you are doing is very important, and woe be the day I start to loathe what I do.

 

Build a sustainable business

Suffering for your passion is one thing, but I’d like to move towards  doing something I love for a living. I’m not even sure how long it’d take before things stabilise, but it doesn’t hurt to hope that by the end of the year I can see myself earning a substantial side income from this.

 

Not limiting myself

It’s very easy to get into fangirl mode when I look at other photographers’ works. The danger of that would be to use that as a benchmark and tell myself that one day, I’d create images like that, or be as successful as them. Or there would be days I’d feel like I cannot compete in that arena. But there has to be some truth in the old adage “shoot for the moon and even if you miss you will end up amongst the stars”. There’s nothing wrong with a little ambition, so I will continue to tell myself that I CAN do better.

 

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So I guess that kind of wraps up 2011 and gives a glimpse of 2012. There’s going to be some long haul traveling and shooting on the cards, which sounds really exciting but there is certain apprehension there when I think of the workload, but I’m just going to remind myself to take deep breaths and keep the faith at every step of the way.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

 

 

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