5 Tasks to Complete Before Starting Your Year

2020 is underway, and there are a few tasks you should look at doing before you really get into the year. These jobs will save you time and give you a great starting point for the year.

In this vlog, I go through five of the things I do at the start of each year or anytime I have a holiday and need to get back to it. January is always a great time to get those pesky tasks out of the way. I also got a new coffee machine for Christmas (hence the intro).

I have never been a fan of the "new year, new me" mentality, nor the "my morning routine" mentality, but I must admit that a hard stop and start can be great for all creatives, if not to refresh mentally and physically, at least to start sorting out the logistics of your work and life. The best task that I completed this January was setting up an hourly working schedule; this may sound obvious to many, but it's something I was always too busy to do. Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to do a recap video on these to see if I was able to stick to some and if the prep work paid off, especially to see if my desk remains visible and doesn't vanish under a sea of paper, cables, and memory cards.

How do you like to start your year of photography?

Scott Choucino's picture

Food Photographer from the UK. Not at all tech savvy and knows very little about gear news and rumours.

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25 Comments

Sorry Dad. Spit polish and buzz cut by Monday haha

I think your beard is OK dude

I'm not popular; indeed, I'm a bit of an asshole; and I'm telling you that you have pushed it too far.

Do you think food photographers stand over peoeple's meals, asshole?

Also your "studio". LOL

You got this wrong from the start. Scott put bits of humor in his video to bring up some interest in a topic that's not that easy to illustrate. Don't panic, establish a clientele and when it's slow, do that maintenance and update that's needed. Slow time is healthy especially when you know it's coming in a cycles. Just don't panic.
Remember, people come for your work and to make theirs easier, especially if their boss is a pain. They don't come for you. I've told many clients, come in jeans, shorts, even flip flop or what ever you feel, just be comfortable because in the end, we have only one goal and it is to achieve what you need to have done. You are not at an office but a place where improvisation rules. Believe me you don't want that tie and suit when you do food, it's awkward you'll stain it and it will bring stress on everyone. Food shoots can take hours to prepare shop for... and you have often very little time to shoot it. One things goes wrong, no one looking like a big shot will bring anything to help in that situation. You want relaxed people who all know how it's played and clearly understand it's not office work, yet it is still work. At my place, you can bring your dog if you want to, but I don't do much food anymore.

Sorry, I assumed you were being sarcastic haha.

In my line of work jeans, t shirt, un polished boots are fine, although they do get polished weekly, it's just working in a huge warehouse on my hands and knees most days isn't kind to them.

I am shooting ad campaigns for creative agencies. I look the same as pretty much everyone else who shoots at my level. Wearing a shirt and jacket like I use to doesn't really come across very well at the level I am currently at, prior to this it worked, and maybe again in the future it will be a uniform I adopt, but it seems too try hard and that perhaps you need to impress with your looks rather than your work, or makes you look out of your depth rather than comfortable.

I am UK based though so this may be different in the States.

Jesus Trafford, way to be a real dick about it.

The beard is GREAT, and you vacuum out your bags and clean your cameras after jobs because nobody likes using gross gear.

ok boomer

You couldn't be more of a cliche if you tried.

I wouldn't expect that you do; you worthless anachronism.

I don't think the word "Boomer" means what you think it means. Also, it is vaguely amusing that you believe I lost my temper; I am simply prepared to say what others are thinking.

*sigh*

baby boomer

noun

INFORMAL

noun: baby boomer; plural noun: baby boomers; noun: babyboomer; plural noun: babyboomers

a person born in the years following the Second World War, when there was a temporary marked increase in the birth rate.

***

1. "Boomer" is a demographic classification.

2. 'OK Boomer' is pejorative.

3. I'm gen X.

4. I have more tertiary education and professional qualifications than I care to admit.

5. You really are quite dull.

The only question at this point is whether you really are that stupid.

What a wonderfully inspirational, thought-provoking article. Thank you.

No matter what you post on this page there is always and ass clown leaving something negative in the comments section.

It seems to be the nature of the profession doesn’t it? My daily driver and hobby is a BMW and I get the same feeling when I go to the BMW forums except it’s the newbies over there that are so critical. Scott, I enjoy your videos and we seem to be living similar lives. Keep up the great work.

Clean up, reconnects, taxes, filing... I really slow down mid to end of January until later in February when the year is already started, so I often don't get to follow my plan. I'm definitely not as critical regarding how I keep my bag and cases, in fact I have bought a new case about 6 month ago that I haven't used yet. Changes at the studio are definitely something coming this year next month.