2014 was a year of growth, both personally and professionally. My family went through some periods of pretty major transition that pushed me to take the business side of photography much more seriously than I had in the past. I spent a lot of time and head space trying to figure out how to make this outlet that I love profitable and not just the financial sense. To that end I made a few goals, both for and business and for shooting. One of those was to start shooting more film, which I did. I attended the Film is Not Dead (FIND) workshop with the incredibly talented Jonathan Canlas in September. I picked up a lot of technical information about film stocks, cameras, and f-stops. At the same time I learned probably just as much about running a successful photography business. By far the most poignant take-away, however, and the one thing that impacts all the others, was the concept that with every single frame you are saying something. The best way to grow as a photographer is to find your voice. Know what you want to say and how to say it. All the technical stuff just gives you tools to serve this purpose: to say it–whatever it is–more effectively.
As I reviewed the pictures I’ve created over the year to compile this post, I realized that my work does speak. It comes through in my personal work and in my client work. It comes through whether it’s film or digital.
My goal this year is to say even more. Thanks for listening.