I probably should have started much sooner than the last day of the year to formulate a 'best of' post. Now I'm sitting here trying to shove a bunch of favorite images into one entry. Of course that won't happen though. No one needs that type of sensory overload. Additionally, it wouldn't be fair for me to rank my favorites and have some folks thinking I didn't like their session as much as someone else's. No one needs to end the year on that type of drama either.
As I look back, I see that 2017 was a bit slower than the previous year. Both in TF shoots and definitely in standard client sessions. I realize I didn't market myself as much as I should have or even could have for that matter. Must remember to turn that around in 2018. It may require more networking on my part. That's fine as that should have been done before as well.
Once again it became clear that senior photos were my forte this year. I've always been okay with that. I like being able to capture that portion of a young adult's life. It always serves as a type of self-redemption as I think back on the senior photos that I had done. I always wished they were better. I never want any of my senior clients wishing the same thing when we shoot. Hopefully, the same will hold true for those in 2018.
I hit my one wedding a year quota in 2017. It's strange that it always works out that way. Folks are getting married everywhere constantly and yet I only manage to score one wedding gig a year. Again, I'm sure some of it is lack of marketing on my part. Hoping that word of mouth from the last wedding will get me business clearly is not the way to go. However, I do make sure that when my average is only one a year that that I do go all out for that one wedding. I would venture to say mission accomplished again this year for that objective.
My fashion/glamour shoots shined brightly this year. That would easily be the one area where i took a huge leap forward. That will be a hard area to crack into on a professional level with all the competition out there. Yes I still have a sense that my improvements in that genre allowed me to make a little ground. Even if it was very little. But every little bit counts. Just have to keep on grinding and hopefully the recognition will follow.
The one significant lesson I learned photography wise this year was how cutthroat the industry/business can be. Especially in this north Texas market. It seems like the better your work product, the more people you thought were your peers want to besmirch you. I can't honestly say if it happens to all photogs, but I know it happened to me this year. That's easily the one factor that caused my networking to suffer. Being sociable was the last thing I wanted to as it just seemed the best way to avoid more unnecessary drama. Admittedly, trimming the contacts on social media did help alleviate some of that so it should be smoother sailing going forward.
I have seen folks saying that 2017 has been the worst year ever. That they can't wait for it to come to an end so they can get a fresh start in 2108. I know exactly how they feel because that's how 2016 was for me. I don't know what they may have went through this year, but losing my Mom and grandmother within a couple of months of each other in 2016 cemented that Worst Year Ever title for me. I knew it would be extremely difficult for 2017 to be worse than that. It wasn't. Although it wasn't a banner year by an means, at least it was an improvement. That's what I foresee for 2018 as well. So here's looking forward to bigger and bigger things come 12:00AM.
Happy New Year to you and yours!