1 Take more photos

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My number one advice for anyone wanting to improve their photography is to simply take more photos. It’s like anything, the more you practice something the better you will become. So whether you are a landscape photographer, travel photographer, wildlife photographer or even if you enjoy taking portraits, try to set time aside regularly to just focus on your photography. Or if you find it difficult to do so when you are home because of everyday life, why not book to go away for a few days to just concentrate on photography? You’ll be amazed at how much your work improves over time by simply taking more photos.

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2 Do something with your photos

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There is no doubt that the positives of digital photography (as opposed to film photography) far outweigh the negatives (excuse the pun). However, I think one of the big negatives of digital photography, is that for many photographers, their photos just end up sitting on their hard drives forever.

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So, this year, why not plan to do “something” with your photos? You can of course look to sell them through Picfair. Or you can just get into the habit of posting regularly on social media. For those who have a bit more time on their hands, you can even create a photo book of your best photos. Not only do these kinds of things help promote you and your work, but it’s also great to just have your work out there rather than on a hard drive.

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3 Learn something new

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Photography is like any other hobby or profession, in that there are always elements that you can improve at. At the start of each year, I set myself a goal of learning something new that is related to my profession or business. For example, a few years ago I purchased a drone and learned how to use that for aerial photography. Another year, I taught myself all about SEO. Last year I learned how to create reels for social media.

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Learning something new can be incredibly rewarding not to mention help improve your photography. For example, you may be someone who has never used a flash but want to or you may struggle with photographing in low light conditions. Or maybe you are not hugely confident in using editing software. So think about what you would like to learn and spend the next 12 months working toward learning or improving whatever that may be.

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4 Set yourself a goal

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As well as learning a new skill, another great New Year resolution is to set yourself a professional goal. In other words, something that you would like to achieve. This could be anything from shooting something you have always wanted to shoot, like or example, this might be an event, a place or even a type of photo that you have always wanted to capture.

Or your goal could be more business-driven like having a photo published in a magazine or newspaper. You could even set yourself a goal of winning a photography competition and spend time actually trying to capture photos that are going to have the best chance of winning. It’s OK if you don’t achieve your goal. This is about giving you something to focus on.

5 Look through your old photos

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I’m sure like me, there have been times when you have looked through your old catalogue of photos and found a few great photos that you missed when you were editing. In fact, there have been so many times when I have found photos from past shoots that have gone on to sell very well. So, if you have time, it is always worth having a look through your old collection of photos and possibly even re-editing some photos to see if you can find some hidden gems that you missed.

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Remember that photos that are sitting on your hard drive, will never sell. But if they are on your Picfair Store or out in the world, they might. You never know.

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6 Join a local camera club

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Photography can be a lonely hobby or profession most of the time. You generally work by yourself and may not get the opportunity to bounce ideas off other people. Joining a local camera club is a great way to improve your photography by sharing your photos and getting feedback from fellow photographers. Camera clubs often also put on competitions which are again great for focusing you on something specific.

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And there are of course often talks by professional photographers which can be very helpful in giving you tips and advice on a whole range of different topics.

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7 Work on a personal project

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I think that even if you are a seasoned pro, it is always very useful to have a personal project on the go that you can work on. This can be a great way to escape the everyday mundane aspects of being a photographer and allow you to do something that you love or are passionate about. Or it could just be a photography technique that you want to experiment with like light painting or macro photography.

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Try to think of a project that you are so passionate about that it won’t feel like work. But rather something that you can spend months working on without any hesitation.

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8 Update/refresh your website

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All of us photographers (me included) are guilty of neglecting our websites. It’s just one of those tasks that often fall at the bottom of the list. But your website is incredibly important as it showcases you to the world. So set aside a day or two to go through and update your website accordingly.

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Make sure that you have added any new work that you have done or had published. Shout about your achievements, update your contact details and most important of all, make sure that your website is optimised so that it doesn’t take ages to load. Trust me, as someone who regularly commissions photographers, nothing is more frustrating for an editor than having to wait for each page or image to load.

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You may of course have your own new year’s resolutions, but the above will not only make you a better photographer but might also make you a more successful one too.