I have never been one to think in terms of goals.  This year I’m going to change that, I’m going to set some goals for myself, some within my reach with a little work, and some rather lofty goals that are going to take A LOT of work.  Here they are, in no particular order:

Improve!

Yes it’s a little vague.   Here’s how I plan to do it:

I will attend at least one workshop in person, and another online.  I have a couple in mind, Unleashed and Paw Print Divas are two of my top choices.  They both take place outside of Connecticut so that will mean I will have to travel away from my family (which I have not done since my son was born).   They both have great reviews with some fabulous photographers and I’m excited to attend either one.

Help!

I love being a part of HeARTs Speak and volunteering my time to local animal shelters and rescues.  It’s great to go there and meet the animals and take photos of them for Petfinder, shelter websites and facebook pages.  But I want to do more.  I have something in the works that I think is going to be great.  I am partnering with some great local businesses to do more to help animals get adopted.  Watch for the announcement in January!

I’ve already committed to doing some fundraisers for 2MillionDogs.org in February and November.  I’m looking forward to that!

Blog!

I am knocking the dust off this blog and I’m actually going to use it!  I have been working to change the look of the blog (I’d love to hear what you think of it!) and refresh some of the images with recent work.  I have joined up with some fabulous photographers for 2013 and will be doing a 52 week project.  52 on Friday will be posted every Friday morning!  Each week there is a different theme, with a link to someone else’s work who you may not have seen yet.  In addition to the weekly post, I hope to be posting more often on other topics, tutorials, client shoots, and even some personal photos here and there.

Practice!

Maybe this should go under the Improve category.  I need to practice more.  I usually do pick up my camera every day, but some days it’s simply to grab a snapshot of Colin.  I need to practice on really getting it right.  Work on my composition, make sure I get tack sharp focus, I need to improve my keeper ratio on action shots.  All of this comes with practice.

Build Relationships!

As a newcomer to the Connecticut Shoreline, I need to reach out to more people and businesses in the industry.  I’d like to do more collaborative projects with local businesses and organizations.

Get Published!

Online or in print, I want to have a session featured and published this year!

I’m looking forward to a fantastic 2013!