Thanks
First, and most importantly, a huge thanks to everyone who subscribed to the website since its launch in mid-November. I was also humbled to receive over thirty spontaneous, unsolicited and generous comments of support which not only gave me great feedback and ideas, but also provided additional motivation to continuously improve my photographic skills out in the field. Here’s a selection of those comments which I hope might even tempt you to revisit some of your favourite images…
“The pictures are fantastic. I'm very impressed, and actually quite inspired.”
“Every one of your photographs has a calming element and transports you to somewhere else.”
“I have been looking at your pictures. They are staggeringly good!”
“Not only are the pictures fantastic but the stories behind them excellent.”
“Thank-you for sharing these amazing images.”
“Brilliant - stunning images, great stories behind them, wonderful detail - WELL DONE YOU!!”
“Beautiful photographs, Mike. I love your idea of creating a community of photographers and look forward to seeing more of your wonderful work.”
“I have very much enjoyed looking at the images and reading about them, what they mean to you, and your critique of selected pictures.”
“Wow, I have really enjoyed looking at your website and photographs. I particularly liked the landscapes and the way you capture the essence of place.”
“Beautiful, Mike, at so many levels. What a wonderful creation.”
Successes
2019 was a turning point in my photographic career. It felt rather like a fledgling butterfly emerging from the chrysalis. My passion for all things photographic - and landscapes in particular - was rekindled through many YouTube vieos, following two landscape photographers’ VLOGs, revisiting my past portfolio and hatching the idea of sharing this passion with others through a new website, Instagram account and by hopefully evolving a community of like-minded people. Having reflected on the major milestones of the year, here are my main achievements:
Creating ten monthly projects with different subjects - some planned, some opportunistic
Conceiving, designing, developing, launching and regularly updating the website, achieving 19 subscribers to date
Opening my Instagram account mikepalmercreativity to promote my work. To date I’ve posted 64 daily images and have 18 followers from the UK, Austria, Greece, Spain, Denmark and Brazil, one of which has become a subscriber
Joining Fstoppers, an online community of 1.5m members educating and inspiring photographers
Joining Mid-Somerset Camera Club for a trial year
Goals
Having established the foundations of my new practice and developed a number of new processes for improved efficiency and discipline (without going mad!), I’ve been considering my objectives for 2020. These are serious intentions and aren’t intended to be a straitjacket - this is still only a hobby - not a business! However, it’s good to have some specific ideas of what I’d like to achieve over the next 12 months, so here’s my starter for ten, which may well change and develop through the year:
Continue the monthly projects, centred now around my preferred genre of landscapes and focusing on practice, practice, practice in different environments
Start a blog as part of the website (this is it!) which will be the ongoing means of regular communication with subscribers and Instagram followers, showcasing monthly projects and writing occasional pieces drawn from my experiences that may be of interest to others
Continue to grow my Instagram account for a wider on-line presence and to steer people to my website
Start to regularly post images to Fstoppers and actively contribute to specialised groups
Investigate and launch a community of like-minded people through the website to share images and learn together
Invest in a new piece of equipment - probably a high quality carbon fibre tripod
Review my membership of Mid Somerset Camera Club