14 goals for Lyndsay Curtis Photography in 2014
1. Attend a photography workshop. GPP in Dubai is pretty high on my list of dream workshops, but not likely going to happen this coming year. I’d love to attend a workshop somewhere in Europe. It would give me a great new learning experience, plus a chance to travel some more. Win. Win.
2. Photograph as many of my 2013 clients as possible in 2014! Due to the nature of our military life… constant moves and deployments, it makes this one pretty tricky! But nothing makes me happier than seeing an email from a past client saying that they want me to photograph them again.
3. Book seven high school seniors. Seniors are one of my favorite types of sessions to do. These kids are crazy fun and it’s amazing photographing them as individuals.
4. Read all of those photography books sitting on my bookshelf. I have several books that i’ve thumbed through or haven’t even cracked open. This year I’m setting out to read them all and soak up that knowledge!
5. Book ten couples sessions. Just couples. No kids, just amazing couples in love. Dating. Engaged. Newly weds. Married for 30 years. I don’t care. I love love and want to photograph it!
6. Have a steady flow of business throughout the year. Photography is a seasonal business and comes in waves… really, really big waves! During an “off” month like January, it’s chilly outside, everyone just had their family photos in the fall and may be wearing a little extra winter weight, so most people aren’t dead set on booking a session… but then come spring time it’s packed with couples sessions, prepping for wedding season and then we ride that wave out a big, slow up for a few months and we’re all the way back to the fall when it’s a big wave of family sessions for the holidays.
7. Blog consistently. This one goes hand in hand with booking consistent sessions, but also requires some creativity. I currently blog client sessions, travel photos and business stories. What else would you all like to see on blog days? More personal stories from me? More of Tony Tuesdays featuring my husband and business partner Tony? Tell me your thoughts!
8. Book three births. I did two this past year and would love to shoot a few more this coming year! (Please email me if you’d like to take part in this amazing experience! I have some sweet deals for moms interested in booking belly, birth and baby photos)
9. Order more of my custom designed branding pieces. This year I designed and purchased all new business cards, a new website, custom print packaging and a few other awesome little trinkets, but I’m still missing a few items. I’ve already designed my custom thank you’s and labels, I just need to purchase and start using them!
10. Pay off all of my business debt. This year I upgraded three of my lenses, one light and a handful of other things. Plus I’m in the process of upgrading my camera! These things add up. Big time! By the end of 2014 I’ll be happy to own it all outright with zero owed on any of my gear and all of those other expenses that come along with owning a business.
11. Photograph one wedding. I’ve dabbled here and there in wedding photography. I can’t think of a more beautiful place to be married than Italy. If you know an engaged couple please send them my way!
12. Be hired to photograph my clients all around Europe! I’d love to combine two of my favorite things (photography and travel) in an amazing way by traveling the globe with my clients to get truly unique portraits of them.
13. Find the beauty in my immediate area. I’m having a little trouble settling into the area that I just moved to. I’m surrounded by farm land as far as my eyes can see. There definitely is some beauty here, but I have to work really hard to make myself like it and want to shoot here. I look forward to the day when I’m excited to just walk out my front door and be happy to photograph what I see there.
14. Learn Photoshop. Period. I stink at Photoshop! I’ve never taken the time to sit down and really learn this expansive program, but there are definitely situations in which I think “darn if I could just change this one little thing…” and in my mind I KNOW there’s a way to do it in Photoshop… I just don’t know how to use it! So that’s a big goal on my list this year. To become comfortable enough to open up photoshop and fully edit my images in there, rather than using Lightroom and other programs like I currently do!
Wish me luck for a successful 2014 packed with growth and knowledge! If you’d like to help me meet some of those goals by booking a session with me, feel free to email or call and set up your next session.
//Lyndsay.
