At the beginning of the year I like to look ahead at the new year. I love being intentional and strongly believe that it makes life more fun! Of course I realize not all your plans become reality, but still: aim at nothing and you are sure to hit it!
[Read what I thought of 2016 (Dutch)]

Above the clouds

The picture illustrates what I want to do in this post. I made this photo on the last day of 2016. I am standing on a mountain (Le Saleve) just outside Geneva, and the clouds are actually below me. You can see the trees sticking through. In this post I want to ‘rise above the clouds’ and give a long-distance view of the year.

A photographer’s vision for 2017

So what will 2017 bring? I am curious! The economy is looking up, but Trump will be president soon, and it seems by all accounts his impatience and grandstanding and narcissism might just get the world in to trouble. But those are the things I have no influence over. Let me concentrate on what I CAN influence. Here are my plans for 2017:

1. I am going to concentrate on beauty! I am making the study of aesthetics (=beauty) my project for the year!
2. Learning better retouching techniques. I believe the quality of my images can be improved.
3. I am going to make time for this by spending less time on Social Media.
4. More energy on networking.
5. Double my newsletter list. Wanna sign up?
6. Further develop my portraiture skills. I could concentrate on my things, but this will be my focus. I want to make better and more interesting portraits.
7. Do a monthly creativity project to challenge me in terms of skills and variety.
8. Less spending and more saving. Last year was a year in which I invested a lot. This year I am going to focus on saving.
9. Better book keeping! I want more control and accuracy, and lower cost.

All these things I am writing down here so I can refer back to them regularly. Feel free to ask me about them. As always I will do an evaluation at the end of the year.

Projects

There are a couple of exciting plans and projects on the agenda already. I will be doing a two-week trip to Nepal in March with a group of photographers. I am really excited about that! I am scheduled to photograph a major event in a big city abroad in May (destination is secret). Sophie and I will be vacationing on the english coast this year. I am scheduled to photograph a trade show in Paris in the second part of the year.

Good plans, wouldn’t you agree? Provided Trump doesn’t blow up the world, it should be a good year!