A Mixed Bag for 2023

Things got a little crazy for me in 2023 photography-wise, and that is reflected in my top ten pictures from this year. Last year, my top ten were all black and white landscape or street photographs. This year, my pictures are all over the place, but the pictures are also a bit more personal, which is a net positive.

It’s been a year of struggles for me to maintain any kind of consistency with my photography. At the end of 2022, I made a list of commandments that I was going to follow for 2023. I’ll list them below, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t follow a single one:

1. Social media is not the focus. Only the best photos go up on social media. If that means 1 picture every 6 weeks, then so be it.

2. A blog post will be written once a week

3. A newsletter will be released each month

4. A YouTube video will be released once a month

5. All pictures will be taken with the Leica Monochrom

6. Making money is the last priority of the year

7. The goal is to enjoy the process

8. The camera goes with me EVERYWHERE

I’ll take these one at a time.

“Social Media is not the focus” - Well, I have a mixed grade on this one. I started (and then deleted) a couple of IG accounts. Started and then deleted a couple of X (Twitter) accounts. Posted on Vero, joined Foto, restarted my Facebook page, etc. Truth be told, I’m not a big fan of social media, yet, that is a big way photographers communicate in this day and age.

“A blog post will be written once per week” - Yeah, not even close. I published 7 blog posts. Nowhere near the planned 52.

“A newsletter will be released each month” - The last newsletter I sent out was from February. Enough said.

“A YouTube video will be released once a month” - See newsletter above. I haven’t posted a YouTube video since June.

“All pictures will be taken with the Leica Monochrom” - This is the funniest one of all. By the end of January I had purchased a Sony A7RIV and a macro lens and started a two month long obsession with flower macro photography.

“Making money is the last priority of the year” - Laughable. All I did was worry about how to make money with photography. It really is a detriment to my creativity.

“The goal is to enjoy the process” - A mixed bag on this one. I definitely expanded my photographic repertoire this year, but I think I’m still focused on the final results more than the journey.

“The camera goes with me EVERYWHERE” - The second most laughable one. I’ve been meaning to have the perfect camera in order to make this happen for years now, but even when I did (hello Ricoh GRIII, I’m looking at you), I still didn’t take my camera everywhere. This one I’m not too sad about. Sometimes I just want to experience life and not always worry about photographing it.

Looking Ahead to 2024

So, now that I’ve shared my goals and complete and utter failure to meet any of them, what’s next for me in 2024? Truth be told, as I write this, I have no idea. But let’s shoot from the hip and give it a go, shall we?

1. Be more active on YouTube. I think this is the best platform to build a community upon.

2. Embrace my lifelong proclivity to try different things. I always wanted to be someone who does one type of photography well, but I lose interest and then I just walk away from the camera because I couldn’t stick with it, and get down on myself. Perhaps this year, I will just accept my nature and learn to roll with it?

3. Write more blogs. You’re a writer and a teacher. Write more blogs that can help and inspire others. This should be the lowest hanging fruit.

4. Shoot more street photography. No matter what tangents I veer off into, I always seem to float back to street photography. I’ve had some unpleasant interactions with other photographers in this genre this year, and it killed it for me for the rest of 2023. Time to get back in the saddle and listen only to myself and a trusted few.

5. Create a photo book. I took a two-day workshop with Gus Powell to learn how to do it, so I might as well put what I learned to use.

I think that will complete the list off the top of my head. If I think of any more, I will update this post.

2023 has been a mixed bag, here’s hoping to a more positive 2024!