Discussion topic - where do you spend your time?

At the beginning of this year, I set up photography goals for myself. I've kept up with them about 80% of the time. These were:

1). Learn something about photography every day even if it's only a few minutes.
2). Browse over a photographer/artist and their work every few days.
3). Take an image everyday and post online even if no one cares about it.
4). Create a short video of those POTDs (photos of the days) at the end of every week and post on Youtube - again, even if no one cares about them.

Goal 1: I achieved by just whatever came my way - a problem with my camera, a settings issue, a wondering about something - whatever it is, I look up articles or watch videos or ask questions on a forum. I even spent a few weeks reading through my camera manual and trying out all the settings.

Goal 2: This goal started a few months into the year because I found the The Photographic Eye Youtube channel where the host looks at photographers and their work. I moved out on my own search now and have a list of 22 bookmarked so far that I go back to and study. Still adding to the list when I get a chance.

Goal 3: I've done a pretty good job taking an image everyday which has really, really helped me in all sorts of ways. I just use my kit lens and normally just images from my neighborhood during walks. That has been a challenge because once all the exciting things had been photographed, I was left with becoming more observant and creative on the not so glamorous things around me. I also always take my camera bag with me on trips to family gatherings or wherever just in case. I post the POTD on my socials everyday.

Goal 4: I must've done pretty well because I have 50 videos on there so that's going to cover the whole year by the end of this month.The videos are only about a minute and a half.

In the new year, I'm hoping to go through Marc Levoy's free 18 lecture videos on Youtube about digital photography. They were from his Stanford courses (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7ddpXYvFXspUN0N-gObF1GXoCA-DA-7i). Other than that, I'm in the process of developing goals for the new year.

Looking forward to hearing what others are doing. Thanks for posting this, Alan. I appreciate it. Hope you are all having a great end of the year and holiday season!

I'm not a professional. I don't take photos every day. To me, photography is recording the cool (and sometimes not so cool) stuff that life can offer. My thing is capturing accurately the amazing compositions and colors that are out there. This photo is never going to make the "best of" anything and I don't care - well, not much. But for me, the incredible subtlety of the amazing colors - which I couldn't really capture here - was great.

I really don't care much to spend too much time editing. Again, I just do adjustments to try to get as close to what I saw. I don't like over-enhancements. I would much rather be out taking the photos and then seeing how they came out on the computer.

Recently retired so I have plenty of time to Think. As you may have noticed, this leads me to wonder what can I do with my camera.

I think of myself as a serious hobbyist and I subscribe to plenty of Landscape Photography YouTube channels. I think I started with Thomas Heaton, which lead to Brendan van Son, Greg Snell, Adam Gibbs, Nick Page, Mads Peter Iverson, and more.

Recently, I actually had a print made of one of my photographs in a 12"x36" (attached).

My most recent experiment is working with pinhole photography and I think I found a niche no one has tried before....New post to follow soon.

Outside of photography I am an avid reader and listen to audiobooks. I have a degree in English, Network Administration and Cybersecurity.

Until the Covid pandemic, I liked to drive around on my "Pennsylvania Project." Before my strokes, I did this by myself. Then my wife had to drive. Those trips stopped when my wife decided it was too risky to stay in motels or eat at indoor restaurants due to the Covid pandemic. Since Covid is still mutating and even a low percentage of vaccinated people still get sick, her concern, perhaps somewhat excessive, is understandable.

Post-Covid, I was for practical purposes limited to taking pictures while walking Harry The Rescue Dog daily through the neighborhood. Since there are variations on only three building designs, and there is nothing unique about these designs, I have worked to find personality in decorations, fences, and other individual changes that seem to make statements about the people living here. There are a lot of flags and in-season political signage. There is plenty of Christian imagery. There are signs promoting their children's accomplishments. There are seasonal changes. Since our development adjoins a county perk which is undeveloped wetlands, we see deer in our yards almost daily, along with the occasional fox, hawk, groundhog, and even a coyote (I've never seen him, but neighbors have.)

As you might expect, I've taken the same pictures many times as the lighting and weather change with the calendar. And, with some very gentle prodding and encouragement from this group, the latest variants include multiple exposure, HDR, and fancy borders -- all the stuff I used to consider artsy-fartsy. To be fair, no small reason for this attitude was that I was not able to do much of this in a conventional darkroom back in the day. Photoshop makes it much easier (and less expensive) to experiment, and now I have the time.

I tend to spend most of my time planning and taking pictures, but as my small business begins to take off, I have found myself spending more time on the administrative side of things I guess.

For example, this week I've spent about 7 hours taking pictures between my small business/personal shots and a photography company I work with, probably 1-hour editing, and close to 4 hours working on ads, my website, pricing, outreach, etc. for my small business. While this week had more admin work than normal because I've just been putting everything off, this is beginning to look more like a reality for my 'photo-time'. As my business grows and my skills grow, I need more time to keep everything updated.

As far as my time spent taking pictures, most of this week (6 hours actually) I spent on basketball games while only an hour this week was reserved for me to go out and do some nature/wildlife pictures.

I try to spend time learning more and playing with different techniques via YouTube, Fstoppers, or my peers, but being a full-time student and working two jobs outside my business makes it hard to find time to learn.

Also, it's great to be back on Fstoppers as a LONG break.

This past year I didn't get out all too-too much but managed to get some wildlife bangers. The past few months I have been exploring Generative Art... and starting to explore traditional painting. I did finish getting all the bits for my in-the-field macro setup; though mushroom season was extremely short this Autumn, unfortunately.

This next year I want to get out more, that is the main goal anyway. Currently in "stick season", meaning end of Autumn, and with most of the US hit by a massive snow storm, I ended up with just a little rain; so no snow yet to photograph. Soon though, I'm sure. Might try some frozen bubbles.