Here Comes 2015 ..... Let's Beat That Drum ..... !

Tribal - A continuing project

I have been sharing my personal photographic projects plan on this Blog now for a considerable number of years, and although this is a photo tips blog to encourage readers to have their own personal goals. I find doing this really helps set out my own stall, because by making this plan public, it means I give it some serious thought and seldom deviate from it.

However at the end of 2011, against a very ambitious plan which I didn't achieve more than 40% of, I made the mistake of rolling over my goals into the following year, without any real review of where I should be best directing my creative efforts. The result of which, was to have to reassess my direction half way through 2012, and try and get things back on track, which fortunately I did manage to do.

So as well as regular reviews of my goals over the year, I now also really look back over the last 12 months before setting the next.  This year I have certainly achieved a good 75% of my goals,building on existing projects and exhibiting some finished work resulting in image sales. The one area I didn't really develop in the way I had planned, was my macro photography. Nevertheless at the end of this year in readiness for 2015, I did some very different macro work, which I believe compensated well for what I missed and has also given me some commercial mileage.

I think my main focus for 2015 has to be to firstly bring some areas of my work to a conclusion, to have at least one new publishable body of work at the end of it. Whilst also allowing for some flexibility to the year as planned changes in the studio environment will significantly change the way I work midway through 2015. I have also  said in the previous Blog article that equipment changes have made a difference to the way I have been working and will continue to work during 2015.

Another significant factor that started in 2014 and will continue to grow in 2015, is a much stronger crossover of my personal work with what I  offer commercially. My personal project work has always had some "cross pollination"  with my paid work, but especially with bringing my photographic workshops in line with a lot of my personal projects, this is now more the case than ever. In 2014 many photographers had the opportunity to attend my workshops not only at my own studios, but also across the UK. via the Calumet Academy allowing them to experience: Ultra Violet & Lightpainting, Tribal, Fashion & Beauty, and 1950's Pin-Up to name but a few of the subjects that we have covered so far.

Some rather spooky Ultra Violet & Lightpainting for Halloween.

Calumet Academy - Fashion & Beauty

A good example  of the crossover of personal project work into my commercial work with the coloured gel hair fashion photo shoot.

For 2015 I am also planning to start a portraiture project, again closely linked to my commercial work but just pushing those boundaries beyond commissioned work. With what at the moment I am calling "serious" portraiture, for want of a better way of describing it.

Portraiture Project

The macro work that I ended 2014 with I will also start 2015 with, this will also be inconjuction with a workshop, and this will be with a company providing a range of exotic animals;

The wild up close !!

I have always liked street photography and have done it as a matter of course when I have been out and about, especially with other photographers on days out. This has resulted resulted in having many years worth of these  images archived away. I therefore think that 2015 should be an analysis of these images and set a serious direction of where this can fit into my plans for 2015 and beyond.

Street Photography - Manchester's Christmas Markets

I really would encourage you to set your own goals for your personal work for 2015, there is a tendency among most photographers to have a lot of work in progress and simply go from one thing to another, and the only way to finish these has to be to give them some direction.

Have a very Happy & Creative 2015 ...!!

Marc;-)