What Are Your Photography New Year's Resolutions?

The best New Year’s resolutions are 1) fun, 2) easy to follow, and 3) photographic! A few years ago, I listed an even dozen photographic resolutions that I may or may not have followed successfully. Our B&H Photography Podcast addressed the subject here, and Bjorn Petersen talked about shooting film for a year. Now, it is time to hear what your Photographic New Year’s resolutions are. And, to get things started, we asked photographers here at B&H, our affiliates, and members of the B&H Creative team what their resolutions are.

Alexandra Cossack, B&H Creative — @alliebeth.c

“Like most of us, I’ve had to explore much closer to home the last two years, and my love for history drew me to the lesser-known historic sites around New York. I entered 2021 with the goal of using some of these locations to create lifestyle photos with subtle nods to the fashions of the past. This summer, I had the absolute honor to bring some of these ideas to life at Historic Richmondtown, in Staten Island, in the Guyon Lake Tysen House, which dates back to the 18th century. As the world slowly opens up again, I can’t wait to continue discovering the history of my home state ( and beyond) and creating art that respects and celebrates the history of each space.”

Brent Eysler, B&H — @brent_eysler

“The ‘365’ is the ultimate Photographers New Year’s Resolution and probably one of the best things I’ve ever done for my photography. If you decide to do one, I recommend posting it somewhere―back when I did the two of mine, it was Flickr and Facebook. If I was going to do another one today, I’d probably create a side Instagram account, but mainly it’s to make sure you’re being held accountable, so unlike that gym membership, you don’t decide, ‘I’m too tired, I’ll do it tomorrow,’ and never come back. You have to keep your standards up, don’t take a photo, create one… have an idea, make a theme… Try something new one night like macro, astrophotography, off-camera flash… get out of your comfort zone. My friend Alex completely recreated himself as a photographer after discovering water drops during his 365, he now manages to do that commercially! But most of all, have fun.”

Derek Fahsbender, B&H — @likeamacheen

“Taking more photos in portrait orientation, instead of being too lazy to turn my camera and just cropping in post.”

Jill Waterman, B&H — @nightpix

“This is an easy one... when it comes to photography, my favorite New Year’s resolution has been to document New Year’s Eve celebrations in cities around the world annually since December 1983, when I was an expat living in Paris, France. It was the cusp of the year that George Orwell made famous in his novel 1984, and with no set plans for the evening, I grew curious about what this passage of time would look like in my newly adopted home. Grabbing my trusty Nikon FM, a tiny flash, and a handful of Kodak Tri-X film, I headed out with a friend to scour the city as the celebration unfolded—from waiting for midnight on the Champs-Élysées to late-night shenanigans on the Boulevard St. Michel. I so enjoyed my adventures that an impulsive decision quickly became a firmly entrenched resolution to photograph this global holiday in a different city every year thereafter. Thirty-seven years later, I am still at it, having now photographed this event in cities spanning the continents of North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

“Much has changed about photo gear since the analog era, but my growing archive of black-and-white negatives inspires me to keep to my basic tools—currently a Nikon F3 HP with a Sunpak 522 Auto Thyristor flash, Quantum Turbo SC Battery Pack, and Ilford HP5, FP4, Delta 400 or Delta 100 films—adding a Sony RX-100 VII camera over one shoulder for occasional color shots.

“From urban centers to locations off the beaten track, my pictures celebrate ordinary people filled with the spirit of an extraordinary night. Most significant in all my encounters is the palpable buzz of anticipation that marks this holiday as a global milestone—an annual passage of time common to all people, who set aside the burdens of daily living for this brief period in hopeful anticipation of what the future will bring.

“To ring in 2022 with pictures, I’m heading to Nashville, Tennessee, where I’ll be soaking up the sights and sounds of Music City—from the Honky Tonks of Broadway to the Jack Daniel’s New Year’s Eve Live Big Bash.”

Joshua Fischer, B&H — @joshuamfischer

“I don’t do resolutions. Well, I do, but not annually. Shoot B/W for a year? I had a friend who did that.”

Levi Tenenbaum, B&H — @ibelevi

“A photo a day keeps the glums away.

“A 365 project every year. Or, four 12-week projects every year. Or six 2-month projects. Or twelve 1-month projects. Whatever you can manage.”

Sapna Reddy, B&H Creative — @sapnareddy

“‘The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.’ This quote from Albert Einstein rings true for me. Having spent 10 years in the pursuit of photography, I sometimes feel that there is an alarming increase in the number of things I don't know. So, for my New Year's Resolution a couple of years back I made the resolution to learn one new thing every week. It may be as simple as a single post-processing step, a new feature in my camera, a new app that helps me to track the weather, or a new content-creating trend on social media, etc. I decided to start maintaining a list of the things I learned. Since it was only one a week it did not feel overwhelming. Some tasks, like learning how to fly a drone would, of course, take longer, but then I would break that into little pieces and try to achieve the steps toward the larger goal. In retrospect this was an important resolution for me. It made me seek out new opportunities for learning and to keep myself on the track of self-improvement.”

Thomas Simms, B&H

“A resolution to do things quickly.

“I think we have all been through a lot of the usual photographer’s resolutions like ‘shoot more images,’ ‘shoot fewer images,’ ‘carry a camera more,’ ‘carry a camera less,’ ‘go back to analog,’ or ‘forget film and embrace digital.’ All those are about finding a balance, I think. Now, I want to find the art in photography. See it with fresh eyes and see myself in it. Recognize and understand those subconscious things I do when shooting, as much as I can. Embrace those cues, and believe they are valuable, perhaps more valuable than the subject itself. Of course, having said that, I do need to shoot more images, shoot less of virtually the same image, carry a camera more places, spend time engaging without a camera, shoot some film, and get to love my digital camera as much as my film cameras.

“Other resolution: Stop using the phrase ‘I think’ so much.”

Share Yours

What are your now and past photographic New Year’s resolutions and, if they are from New Year’s past, how did they go? Please let us know in the Comments section, below!

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