Happy 2023 everyone! (I took most of January off.)
I have a habit, and it's not a good one. I am all about community over competition. However, because I am me and I am competitive with myself, I compare my success to other people's success. And not just other people in general, but people who have many more years of experience than I do as photographers and artists. But Kes, why would you do that? That's so bad for you! Everyone moves at different paces and no one is on the same timeline - I know. I know all of those things. I know that no one's business ventures are the same just like no two people are the same.
However, because of this, I thought that my photography business didn't do well at all in 2022. Not compared to the people that I was "competing" against. I set business goals for myself at the beginning of the year. I wanted to reach a certain number of shoots each month, reach a certain number of weddings for the year, have my book draft done by the end of this year, be fully self sustaining, etc. What I didn't realize about setting these types of goals was that those goals weren't realistic for me. They were realistic for the people that I was working to be on the same timeline as.
My business did pretty well in 2022. I had doubled my number of shoots from the year before. I'm full time now and I made some good jumps in establishing myself. My business social medias gained a lot of traction, my website got a little bit of a facelift, and I did some rebranding that fits much more to who I am now. I'm currently working on gaining more education in my field, whether that be by getting my master's degree or by taking individual classes. I did have to put a little bit of pause on my book related to my Capstone, but I'm putting together other projects in the meantime. Not too shabby, right?
2022 was my first year of being in business. Actually, not even all of 2022. I started going full time in April of 2022. So, with my perfectionism, my anxiety, and my internal competition with no one, I had convinced myself that I was going to be right where I thought I should be in the amount of time that I had allotted myself. This is where I tell you that if you are trying to do anything for the first time, please don't do what I did and what I'm still working on. It's not fair to you and your wellbeing, much less your art and your business. Take the time that you need to do your best, not your fastest.
On a side note, I will say that outside of the business side of things and strictly into the art side, my photography got better in 2022. In my opinion, it got so much better. I was updating this lovely website you are on, and I was rearranging my client work and my personal work. I realized that I have so much less personal work on my website at the moment, because a lot of my older personal work doesn't align with my style or my techniques anymore. Just in this last year, I believe that I have grown into my style and become so much more confident in my skillset than I ever have before.
I recently had a meeting with an old professor of mine. I was feeling really stuck and like I wasn't going in the direction I needed to to get where I wanted to be. I told her my ideas and my dreams and how I was feeling with my work and my confusion. She was basically my therapist for 45 minutes. She made me feel so much better about where I am in my career. She reminded me that I am doing good and I am taking the right steps. She also reminded me to keep showing the work I am making, which is something I am working on getting better at.
My goals look a little different this year because of what I have learned. This year I plan to get into an MFA program. If not, I will take classes that build on my skillsets. I plan to work more on putting my writing with my images in some format. I'm passionate about writing the way I am about photography, yet I'm really nervous about showing my writing. But, my professor said to keep showing the work I'm making, so that's exactly what I intent to do. I plan to shift my work more into the documentary and photojournalism realm, because that is my dream. I'll still make fine art work as that is something I love doing, but I'm going to put more effort forth into my career as a documentary photographer. I will also still be offering my services for portraiture and small weddings until I say otherwise. I plan to be more present on social media in the ways that I want to be. Social media use has never been a strong skill of mine and social media can be really intimidating. I plan to show more of my art, personal and professional, as well as more of my personality.
None of my plans have a fixed end date nor any competitive intentions. I know that these plans are stated as being for 2023, but these goals work at a pace that is realistic for me to grow as an artist. I'm done trying to run a race against myself. I have dubbed 2023 to be my Year of Actions. Simply doing and making on my schedule. No need to fit onto someone else's timeline.
I think this will be a good year. I hope you stick around to experience it with me.
- Kes
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