What are your goals of photography?

[Pea-n-Me]

I sometimes wonder about this as I'm reading threads here, and I thought it might be fun (and informative) to hear what it is we're all looking to accomplish.

My goals are and always have been, actually, quite simple.

1) to learn the craft, and

2) to improve my, and ulitimately get, good pictures (and by good, I mean ones I like).

For newbies to photography: I think it's important to keep in mind when you read threads here and probably feel bombarded with technical information and friendly debates about camera brands and such, what it is you want out of buying a dSLR or launching into a study of photography, etc.

Sure it can happen as you grow as a photographer, but not everyone aspires to be a "professional" photographer. Some simply want better pictures, and may never aspire to more than that! Of course, there are lots of folks somewhere in between, as well. One of the nice things about photography is that it can be whatever suits you.

[MinnieForMe]

I'm a newbie (DSLR since June) with a ton to learn.

1. Clean, sharp, focused pictures
2. Ability to Post Process so my pictures look like portraits not snapshots(NEVER want to be a PRO) but only in Photoshop Elements. I do not want to learn the real Photoshop package.

Right now:
1. to understand the triangle well enough to shoot in manual with comfort!

[spinetnglr]

Photography for me is an ever changing learning experience. Yes, its a hobby and what I spend most of my time doing when not working at what pays the bills, but its a hobby that streches my brain and my creativity. I love all forms of photography and try to learn new things when the opportunity arises. I seem to do more nature/outdoor/landscape photography because that is what is readily available to me. One thing that really interests me is cityscapes and street photography but I have limited opportunity for it. Work pretty much keeps me close to home and I live in a fairly rural area so my opportunities for learning and shooting street photography are also limited. I hope to make a few trips this spring and summer to the Philadelphia area where my son lives and spend time around the city just shooting.

Last year I started working part time for a company doing youth sports photography but that is pretty much I show up and they hand me the camera on the settings they want and I shoot the posed shots. I do sometimes get scheduled for action shoots which gives me a little more flexibility with camera settings and what and how I shoot within some guidelines of course. Even at that I do enjoy the interaction with kids, coaches and parents and it has been a good experience. I am looking forward to the start of the spring season next month. And the paychecks go towards either photo gear or a trip to somewhere new to shoot.

I dont think I really have ever defined any goals for myself I just love getting out with the camera and shooting what I see and sharing the results with family and friends. I have had people, who have liked my photos, ask me to take specific photos for them but have no aspirations to do it full time. Recently I was asked by a friend to photograph some of their champion alpacas so they could get some banners made for a show booth. I did the shoot posted the pictures and they were thrilled with the results. I didnt charge for it but they insisted I take something for my time. Any $$ I get from those situations gets added to the paychecks from the sports job to buy either gear or a few days somewhere new.

This board has been a huge part of my learning .... things I read and see here spark me to look into different aspects of photography that I may have otherwise not explored. I have found this forum and the people here to be truly inspriational and I think as a result of hanging out here not only has my knowledge grown but also the quality of my photography has improved, at least in my opinion.

At the end of the day I guess the accomplishment I am looking for is to find within the hobby a satisfaction inside. Even if I come home without any particular shots that have a wow factor ... just the getting out with the camera and shooting was enough.

[SrisonS]

I'd say my goal is to totally kick butt. I'm definitely not trying to say that in an egotisical kind of way; but seeing the work of others inspires me to constantly tweak my craft. And trust me, I know I'm not the best thing out there. I'm a big fan of a lot of the work out there. They just push me to get to that level, and hopefully beyond.... Although that level is never really specified.

I have no intentions of trying to go Pro. But it would be cool to get to a point where someone frequently uses my 'fun' pictures for a special purpose.

But all in all, this is just something I love to do. I just really enjoy trying to create captivating images. Of course there are plenty of misses, and lots of trial and error. But I feel it truly satisfying to learn from those mistakes. And I wish I felt that same way about other mistakes... non-photography related. ;)

[PrincessInOz]

My goals?

1. To have fun. I aspire to be a better photographer but I want to make sure that I have fun along the way.
2. To take awesome shots that I am happy to show family and friends; and to share on the Dis Photo of the Day threads.
3. I intend to take photography courses this year.....still have the brochures; need to sign-up on-line..:rolleyes1

I'm a beginner and I'm really enjoying the learning I'm getting from this sub-forum. Thanks everyone!

princess::upsidedow

[Pea-n-Me]

Enjoyed all of your responses! Interesting to see what goals others have for themselves.

I'm not too familiar with MinnieForMe (yet) but have, through your work, watched the rest of you grow (and I'll include myself in that as well) and it's been really great to watch.

I forgot to add Having Fun as a goal for myself as well.

Let's hear some others.

[photo_chick]

My goals.. nail down a distinctive style (I've been floundering there), get my portfolio ready to apply for grad school next winter, and figure out just what want to do with it all because I've learned what I don't want to do but have yet to really figure out where to go from here.

[m-tinkerbelle]

A week ago I was saying that all I wanted was to take nice family and vacation pictures. with nice I meant... photos I personally like.

But since I got my camera, I've been learning to shoot in manual mode (I'm still bad at it, but I'm learning) and I've been watching some courses on DVD and I'm COMPLETELY falling in love with photography. It's too bad that it's an expensive hobby, because otherwise I could see myself getting more serious into this. My DH and the small Jiminy Cricket in my head are convincing me to keep my feet on the ground :lmao: . Maybe one day I'll take it more seriously.

For now (and for the rest of the current year) my goals are:
- to learn to shoot in manual mode in daylight and nighttime situations with both steady and moving subjects, applying all composition rules and knowing my camera controls really well
- to learn to use Lightroom (just using camera in JPG mode for now)
- build up a basic set of skills to put in practice when we go on our next holidays, and to come back with well exposed, nicely focused pictures :rotfl2:

And hopefully, I'll finish this year with a nice trip report full of pictures (I don't know where we'll be going yet haha :rotfl:)

You were all right, learning the basics of photography does make such a huge improvement! it takes time to learn and practice but the results can be so rewarding!

I see things in a completely different way now... I'm into drawing and painting (I have a small digital artist inside of me haha) but this is so much fun! I'm learning a lot from reading the posts here and watching the courses. I still have to take the Nikon School basic course. But the camera and me are no strangers anymore :goodvibes .

[YesDear]

My goal is to spend all my money and have the coolest most up to date toys there are in photography.....

At least that is what my wife thinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:lmao:

[Daisy14'sDH]

I'd say my goal is to totally kick butt. I'm definitely not trying to say that in an egotisical kind of way; but seeing the work of others inspires me to constantly tweak my craft. And trust me, I know I'm not the best thing out there. I'm a big fan of a lot of the work out there. They just push me to get to that level, and hopefully beyond.... Although that level is never really specified.

I have no intentions of trying to go Pro. But it would be cool to get to a point where someone frequently uses my 'fun' pictures for a special purpose.

But all in all, this is just something I love to do. I just really enjoy trying to create captivating images. Of course there are plenty of misses, and lots of trial and error. But I feel it truly satisfying to learn from those mistakes. And I wish I felt that same way about other mistakes... non-photography related. ;)

We are on the same page. I guess I am a little bit competitive and yearn to brinog out the best I can be in everything I do. Photography is new to me, in the DSLR world anyway. I love looking at and reading about everyones experiences with their cameras, it really pushes me to try my best!

To my DW, who may or may not read this, Thank you for putting up with my current zealous nature in this new hobby! Without your support it would all be meaningless... :hippie:

[JoeDif]

My goal is to spend all my money and have the coolest most up to date toys there are in photography.....

At least that is what my wife thinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:lmao:

:thumbsup2

[AndrewWG]

My goal is rather (in some respects) I think. All I want to do is get REALLY good at portraits and eventually shoot that one portrait that just WOWS everyone, including myself. I want to do this and actually know how I did it too. No more "geez, I wonder how I did that?" moments.

[Pea-n-Me]

nail down a distinctive style (I've been floundering there), get my portfolio ready to apply for grad school next winter, and figure out just what want to do with it all because I've learned what I don't want to do but have yet to really figure out where to go from here.
Will you be studying photography in grad school? Can you expand on your thoughts about distinctive style? (You shoot professionally, don't you?)

m-tinkerbelle - have fun over the next year or two!

And the rest of you - :thumbsup2

eventually shoot that one portrait that just WOWS everyone, including myself
I don't know if I told you this before but I met a professional photographer of 30 years who told me that, in his opinion, in our lifetimes we only get a handful of shots like that. Agree or disagree?

I love looking at and reading about everyones experiences with their cameras
Me too!

[AndrewWG]

I don't know if I told you this before but I met a professional photographer of 30 years who told me that, in his opinion, in our lifetimes we only get a handful of shots like that. Agree or disagree?




I am betting that this is true. That's what makes it my goal. haha. Mainly I just want to impress myself, which is the hardest thing to do in my opinion.

[JoeDif]

My current goal (ever changing :goodvibes) is to get involved in more people oriented photography, street photography, portraits, etc. I also want to get more involved in the lighting aspect, mostly using the strobist method.

[SrisonS]

I am betting that this is true. That's what makes it my goal. haha. Mainly I just want to impress myself, which is the hardest thing to do in my opinion.

We are definitely our worse critics. It seems like others are Wow'd by our work before we are; sometimes anyway. There have been times where I'd post a photo to Flickr that I thought was pretty decent. Then the picture would get quite the overwhelming response. And on the flipside, I'd really be impressed with a shot, then others wouldn't be too impressed.

[Pooh2]

Just got Lightroom 3 yesterday and clueless about getting started with it! I ordered the LR Scott Kelby book so my goal is to learn a bit about post processing.

[m-tinkerbelle]

m-tinkerbelle - have fun over the next year or two!



thank you! I must have taken more pictures in just 7 days than I did in my whole life :rotfl2: DH is starting to get bored to see a nikon d3100 instead of my face

I'm getting the hang of manual mode and basic exposure :cloud9: (even when the histogram graph disagrees with me 80% of the time)

I'm thrilled! now I just need the rain to stop, it's been raining absolutely every day since I got my camera :scared1: I want to go out and take pictures and see how I can handle natural light throughout the day without any fancy filters or huge amounts of "photoshopping" :lmao: I'm thankful that I'm very familiar with it

I'm starting to shoot in raw mode, but since I didn't get Lightroom yet it's kind of useless :goodvibes

[tlcmommyx4]

I just wish to get shots that when people see them they get taken in by the shot.
There are so many shots that I look at on the thread and they take me to that place or make me want to see in person. I think that says alot about a great shot. That may no make sense but that's my goal.
I do think that most people do only get a handful of those shots, maybe one day I will get some keepers like that!

[SrisonS]

Just got Lightroom 3 yesterday and clueless about getting started with it! I ordered the LR Scott Kelby book so my goal is to learn a bit about post processing.

That's an excellent book to learn all about LR3. For me, I found the most confusing part about starting out in LR was figuring out about importing/exporting pics. Also, the need to synchronize folders was totally new to me.

I was used to Canon's DPP software, where all folders were accessible. And they were all instantly updated.

But good luck in learning Lightroom. It's a great program.