2024 wrap-up and what's on tap for 2025
As I said in a previous blog entry, 2024 was prolific for me. I had many outings and trips with photography as the main goal. To say I was pleased would be an understatement as I am prone to photography slumps. I had work trips to Kauai, Chincoteague Island, Virginia, and White Sands, New Mexico in which I took my photography kit and spent every bit of off-time exploring with my camera. Then I had a true photography centered vacation to Scotland and the Lake District recently. In between all of that, I had many outings to the river, downtown, and the wildlife refuge to photograph birds. And that many, or more, in my backyard for birds. There were many other local outings too, and I'm excited to keep that up.
With that being said, I didn't achieve all of my goals for 2024, but I'm not terribly upset. The biggest fail was the reduction of gear. I said I wanted to sell off filters, a tripod, and some lenses. The tripod has been turned into my birding tripod with a gimbal head attached and it has been perfect for that. The EF 100-400 lens will stay as it has a scuff on the glass and I would have to give it away to get it sold, I have been using it with a 1.4x and 2x extender for birding with great success so there is no need to move on from it. The filters will get sold eventually, they're not exactly a hot ticket item these days. So, yeah, I love gear and love to use it.
The next big goal I set was to do a photography book. I was considering compiling one from a recent trip. I didn't achieve that in 2024, but I researched them and have a pretty good idea of what to expect and how much work I am looking at. It's on my to do list for 2025.
I will try to get out of the house a few more times this month for some photo sessions. The sandhill cranes are returning to the area which makes for a fun day of photography. And if we'd get some rain, some of the local waterfalls would be nice to photograph. But for now, the biggest priority is to revamp the website. I think the galleries will go away, and keep the photo uploads to blog entries and the portfolio, which also needs to be updated.
For 2025, I have a photography workshop scheduled for March in the badlands of Utah. I think it'll be lots of night/Astro, but not entirely sure. Work has me returning to Colorado Springs and White Sands, and potentially one or two more places. I'd still like to get my dream Texas desert vacation under my belt, but I will have to see how work travel goes this year.
Past that, I just want to keep this prolific streak going. And to keep improving with my skills out in the field, and in the office. There's so much I would like to improve upon with my editing, yet I feel so close to be proficient. And I will continue to enter the local club's photography competitions as well as many others I find. I feel as if they're making me better, definitely better at putting my art out there and sharing.
Ok, this entry become long winded and I must end it here before I go much further. If you've stuck around this long, please keep and eye out for some much needed updates to the website, and what I hope to be weekly blog posts. And if I don't post again this month, thank you for reading along and following my photography journey. Happy Holidays!
