Summer Goals

So, it’s here. Summer, that is.

While I consider Memorial Day weekend the “unofficial” start of summer, the calendar hit a milepost earlier this week.

On Monday, we had the Summer Solstice, aka The Longest Day Of The Year.

Frankly, I didn’t celebrate it the way I wanted to. My plan was to hike out to a lake near us.See, across the street from us is forest. Not too far in – but no real path either – is a small-to-medium size lake. In the winter, when the underbrush isn’t so thick, me and the kids go to it. I wanted to do it as evening was falling, with flashlights, to see what we could see.

Alas, it didn’t happen. The kids have evening bible school this week, so I “celebrated” the longest day of the year by trimming shrubs and reading Esquire Classic on my patio (I bought myself a subscription for Father’s Day.)

No matter. We’ll make the hike some other time, I’m sure. But it got me to thinking, while I sat there with my seltzer and lemon cold drink…what are my photography goals for the summer. I know most of us set goals at the beginning of the year, and many of them are all well and good. But sometimes it’s good to either take a look at those goals, and reevaluate them, or change midstream to focus on something else. Personally, I like making short-term goals, on the microlevel, not on a yearly level. Too long, too far, too much can happen.

So, my goals for this summer include:

1). Fill The Frame

You know my mantra: “Entire-To-Detail”. I like to tell the whole story with my photographs.

Set the scene, wide-screen style, then come into for the detail.

I like the close-up. So, I’m going to shoot more of them.

2) Travel

Someone asked me what my “travel essentials” are, so I quickly pulled this image together.

• A good pair of boots / sneakers (I hate flipflops, so they are a no-go)
• A watch that lights up, for when you’re on a plane or a strange hotel room and you need to know the time in the middle of the night. I hate bedside digital clocks and always cover them/turn them off, but I always wear a watch that I can press a button to see the time. (I hate alarm clocks too, and haven’t used an alarm in years. My body just wakes up.)
• My camera. Goes without saying.
• I forgot to put my sunglasses in the image, but I’d put that on the list too.

Now, when I say “travel” I don’t necessarily mean jump on a plane someplace. I mean just get off your beaten path. While, yes, I’ll take numerous trips to the Jersey Shore this summer, as well as to Pennsylvania, New York, and North Carolina, I’ll also “travel” by taking a different route to work. Something as simple of that can open your eyes to new places and things.

3) Keep My Eyes Open

Last weekend, we were down in Spring Lake for a few hours. Took the kids to a playground there. I looked ever at one point and saw this cool old car. It was quick, and I took some quick snaps. Unfortunately, my Fuji X100T settings were messed up and the images were terribly overexposed. I couldn’t even really pull them back in post-processing.

However…now I kinda like the end result here. It reminds me of an old postcard, or something from LIFE magazine, you know, those old photos that look more like paintings than actual pictures.

So, sometimes – often, actually – you have to make lemonade out of lemons, as the old saying goes. And keep your eyes open.

Those are a few of my goals for the next three months. What are yours?

(c)Mark Krajnak | JerseyStyle Photography | 2016

 

 

 

 

Tags: Beautiful Light, fill the frame, Fuji X100T, goals, New Jersey, New Jersey Photographers, summer, Summer 2016, Travel

• June 23, 2016
• Advice
• 4 Comments