I’m not a believer in New Year’s resolutions as I feel that if I find something I want to change I generally prefer to start then instead of waiting until the next time the calendar year flips over. Still I do admit that the combination of the calendar changing and the somewhat quiet moments that pass after Christmas and before New Year’s Day do much to make it almost impossible not to reflect for a bit.
As a photographer 2012 brought much good and some bad. I made some advances, but felt frustrations in my work more than once. I hit a bit of a wall this year, especially late in the year, and am not completely sure I’ve moved past it yet. I enjoyed working with many wonderful models this year including a number of new ones. Though it actually came out in 2011 and most of the work was done that year, I still think of the book as part of my 2012 work. It turned out to be an interesting experiment, one which at least was useful to a few people based on feedback I’ve gotten so I feel it was worth the time and effort.
In my personal life I completed my Master’s degree which had been a major investment of my time and energy over the last three plus years and now leaves me with a lot of free time moving forward into 2013. I dealt with a serious family emergency late this year that took a lot of my time and energy, especially as it combined with the wrapping up of that degree. While the situation in the family is well settled now, and better than I could have hoped for, it was still a major energy drain the last few months of the year and has left me somewhat behind. And I’ve managed to get my health into a vastly different place for the better and am now down to a weight I’ve not been since college. Before warmer weather returns for spring, I should at a normal weight again for the first time since my early college days. Even still carrying a bit of extra weight I’m likely in the best health and shape of my life right now.
Looking forward in the next year I’m going to continue to look more at landscape work in addition to my nude work. I’ve always had a love of landscapes. I shot those long before I used anything near professional equipment and before I’d taken one photo of a model. I’ve always enjoyed combining the nude and landscapes, but will move more toward more of nature on its own too. I don’t plan to shoot any fewer nudes or fewer combinations of the two, but increase my landscape only work.
I’m also planning to travel more in the coming year. I’m already working on planning one trip back to the southwest for late spring and will post more of that when it settles in. I’m looking forward to 2013 and what it brings.
