A new year

So this is the first anniversary of the blog, its been a pretty full year, I started it with 12 resolutions It has to be said that I haven't managed to keep many of them, but the ones I have kept have been worth it.

Number one on the list was to take a photo every day, unfortunately my camera broke down a few days into new year and without my digital crutch, I lost momentum. Never mind, I shall try again this year.

Closely related was resolution number 2. Take a portrait every week. That was totally unrealistic, I simply didn't have the guts to get people off the streets and shoot them. So this year I shall tone it down and just resolve to take more portraits

Third on the list was to run photography sessions every month at work. Well that never happened. The closest I got to that was to do the company Christmas card with a couple of assistants. I did do a few strobist meets and I assisted at a photogym for the London Photography Meetup Group but that was about it. For this year,I'll be little less ambitious and resolve to assist on another photogym and do at least one session at work.

My fourth resolution was to photograph bands at my local bar. I did photograph one band but didn't make a regular thing of it. To be honest I don't think I'll be taking this up again this year.

Probably the best in terms of encouraging me to take photographs was number 5 on my list: Walk London at Lunchtime. A can't recommend this enough to you. If you live in a big safe city, take a full hour for lunch and go for a walk, try and be systematic about it and visit every street within walking distance of your workplace, you are bound to find lots of interesting things to shoot and you may find other benefits like really knowing where you are. I will be revisiting some of the most interesting spots and will also be looking a little further afield.

Number 6 was to use my Hasselblad more often. Ironically the demise of my Minolta helped me along with this. I did manage to trash a load of film by loading it back to front, which put the nail in the coffin of my 366 project, but I did use it more often. Now all I need to do is get around to developing the film.

Seventh on the list was to complete a project. Though not quite what I had in mind, shooting the ballet was a great little project. I hope to do it again this year.

Submit a story to JPEG Magazine, was number eight on the list. But I was s busy with the blog that I didn't even think of it. I would consider it again, but JPEG is no more.

My ninth resolution was to re-read all my photography books. Not only did I do this, but I also bought quite a few new ones. What a great resolution that was.

Ten was to re-read Light Science and Magic and treat it like an exercise book. That never happened. I did do few photos based on ideas from the book, but this was probably a bit too structured an approach for me. I could revive this resolution but I think I'll already have enough on my plate.

The next on the list was to try an organise a big shoot with a MUA and stylist, I came close to doing it a couple of times, but didn't quite get it off the ground. Better luck this year I guess.

My final resolution for the year was to do some assisting. I did assist on one shoot and through that I made a good friend. I had also asked commercial photographer to consider me if anything good came up. He gave me a call in August and told me he was dong a shoot in a film studio, they were going to do big singing in the rain number. The only problem was that I was on Holiday at the time. Maybe next time I'll get a chance to do more.

Having the resolutions has been great, its really encouraged me to take more photos and to get out more. Its even improved my health. This year I'll make an effort to get more done.