As 2011 approaches it’s getting to be time for resolutions. Each year I try to find something to refocus on, and this year I thought about looking at photo taking and photo creating (doing something with the photos) as places to get inspired.

On the photo taking front, I’ve got a couple of ideas:

• Learn more about my camera – I have a DSLR and shoot on ‘auto’ mode 95% of the time. I want to learn more about how to use all the features of my camera and have actually signed up for a workshop that will help me do that
• Encourage my passion in my children – One daughter has a point and shoot and the other has a camera phone and both occasionally will borrow the camera I bring along. I want to encourage their photo taking and documenting into what I hope will become a life-long passion.
• Get out from behind the camera – I want to make sure I get some shots with me as well as my family. Handing over my camera to a friend or stranger for that shot is something I want to remember to do more

On the creation front, here are some additional thoughts I had:

• It all starts with sharing – I take a lot of photos documenting school and sports activity. I want to make sure I share those memories with the audience of parents who care. Setting up and maintaining Share sites ^[1] for these groups is the easiest way to do it
• Don’t get caught up in perfection – I can get weighted down by the expectation of perfection when it relates to my creation. Do I have the perfect idea for how to tell the story? Are my pictures good enough for a book? I have to remember that having something to look at is always better than nothing. And with Simple Path ^[2], the story can be laid out for me which is a huge boost so all I have to do is crop some images and add my memories as captions
• Don’t wait for 20 pictures – I love photo books ^[3], but I don’t always have 20 or more photos to tell a story. Greeting cards ^[4] are another favorite way to share memories. I will also frame enlargements ^[5] of a favorite photo and find a place to display it, or find a fun photo gift ^[6] to adorn with a special image. All of these ideas make quick and easy gifts to share with others

Do you have resolutions that could fall into either of these areas? I’d love to hear what your thoughts are.

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