• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

DIGITAL PHOTO MENTOR

Photography tips, tutorials and guides for Beginner and Intermediate Photographers.

  • Start Here
  • Photography Basics
    • Beginner Photography Tutorials
    • Free Photography Basics for Beginners Course
  • Photography Articles
    • Beginner Photography Tutorials
    • Intermediate Photography
    • Photography Challenges
    • Photography Tips
      • Portrait Photography
        • Flash Photography
      • Night Photography
      • Street Photography
      • Travel Photography
      • Photo Editing
      • Landscape Photography
      • Macro Photography
      • Photoshop Tutorials
      • Photography Equipment
  • Online Courses
    • Beginner Photography Course
    • Portrait Photography Fundamentals Course
  • Private Tutoring
  • Workshops
    • Landscape Photography Workshop in Scotland
    • 5 Day Wine & Photography Workshop – Okanagan valley, BC
    • Weekend Photography Workshop in Southern Alberta, Canada
    • All our workshops
  • Login
  • Photography Basics
    • Beginner Photography Tutorials
    • Free Photography Basics for Beginners Course
  • Photography Challenges
    • Photography Challenges E-Book
    • 5-Day Photo Editing Challenge
    • All Our Photography Challenges
  • Photography Tips
    • Portrait Photography
      • Free Portrait Photography Key Concepts Course
      • Flash Photography
    • Night Photography
    • Street Photography
    • Travel Photography
    • Landscape Photography
    • Macro Photography
    • Photography Equipment
    • Advanced Photography
  • Photo Editing
    • Luminar
    • Learn Lightroom
    • Photoshop Tutorials
  • Gallery
  • Resources
    • Free Basics for Beginners Course
    • Free Portrait Photography for Beginners Course
    • Lightroom Presets
    • Texture Pack for Photoshop, Luminar
    • Webinars
    • YouTube Channel
  • Shop
    • E Learning Course
    • Private Tutoring
    • Photography Classes
    • Sky Replacements
    • Texture Packs
    • Shop our entire product line
Home » Photography Tips » 2020 Year-End Review and Goal Setting
2020 Year-End Review and Goal Setting

2020 Year-End Review and Goal Setting

by Darlene Hildebrandt | Last Updated: December 30, 2020

Share62
Tweet
Pin2
WhatsApp
Email
64 Shares

In this article, we’re going to look back over the last 12 months, do a year-end review in regards to our photography and set goals for 2021. Let’s look forward with a positive note towards the coming year.

To say 2020 has been a strange year would be the understatement of the century. But can we still look back and find something positive or perhaps inspirational that happened this year?

I’ll give you some questions to think about to help you get started and will share my own answers as well.

List three things you achieved or experienced in 2020

Think about what you got to photograph this year. Did you hit any milestones? Master a new technique that has previously had you stumped? Did you get to shoot or experience anything exciting or new (even if it was in your own backyard)?

Here are my three things that I achieved in 2020.

#1 – Lead my 4th photo tour to Cuba

I got to lead a fabulous tour to Cuba in January with my good friend Daniel. My husband Rob was able to join us at the end and Dan and I met up with another of our DPM tour guides, Kav, prior to the tour as well.

Kav, me, and Daniel having a cocktail in Havana.

We had a great group of people with us in Cuba, which might very well end up being our last tour for a long while. We even dealt with an accident and a broken foot and I have to give a shout out to Karen for being such a trouper and carrying on without any complaints!

So I’m grateful for that experience with those people, many of whom have traveled with us before and have become not just clients, but friends (Anne, Lynn, Peter, and Ron in the group below).

Our tour group to Cuba, January 2020. As you can see we didn’t have any fun – NOT!

This was also the year I finally made it all the way to the east end of the island. We stopped in Camagüey, Santiago de Cuba, and Baracoa, all new places for me.

We all loved Baracoa and I want to go back there again soon! It’s such an undiscovered area with hardly any tourists, it’s the epitome of real Cuba. The countryside is rugged and beautiful but as always, it’s the people that I remember the most. They’re warm and friendly and welcoming.

Sunset, Santiago de Cuba
We also photographed professional ballerinas with the Cuban National Ballet in an old mansion in Havana. WAY COOL!
Dan and I hired this girl, Anna (follow her in IG), to come back and pose for us again and we shot for two hours all over the streets of Havana. This was taken on the balcony of the Casa where we were staying.

#2 – I got to check off a bucket list item

I was honored to be co-instructor of Ugo’s Cei’s Venice Carnival photo workshop in February. I’m so grateful to have been invited to be a part of the workshop and to hang out with Ugo.

Ugo in costume with his 4×5 film camera.

We even recorded an episode of Ugo’s podcast, The Traveling Image Makers, right in San Marco Square in Venice. That was fun and it was freezing cold at 7 am, just after I had finished shooting at sunrise.

This is the image I talked about in the podcast (video above) that happened because of serendipity.
I even got to ride in a gondola with two masked characters (and we didn’t die Fritz!).
Masked, costumed character in San Marco Square, Venice at blue hour.

I got to make some iconic images that I had envisioned in my head, connected with another past tour member, and got to work with Ugo and grow our friendship.

Sunset on the Grand Canal, Venice. Does it get any more iconic?
A masked character at Venice Carnival. Perhaps a bit too much foreshadowing of the year to come.

#3 – I was able to use my photography skills to help others. Over the summer and fall, I photographed six human rights events in Edmonton. That included rallies, marches, a vigil, and a couple of organized protests.

Ribbon Skirt Walk to educate people about the significance and importance of the skirts in Cree culture.
Me with some of my new friends: April, Chevi, Rhea, Char and Catherine. I’m the short one in the middle!

Through those events, I met some amazing people, especially several in the local Indigenous community, many of whom have become friends. It’s also helped me increase my awareness and understanding of some of the issues they’ve faced historically and still face currently.

I feel that I am a better human being and citizen, and I continue to work with a few groups to help however I can.

My mom even came with me to one event and we wore ribbon skirts in solidarity.

#3b – Bonus – several of the ladies I met at the events formed a new charity in Edmonton to help the most vulnerable and unhoused people in the city. Through meeting them and learning about this new group, I quickly stepped up and become a volunteer with Water Warriors YEG as well.

Since October, I’ve participated in a clothing drive, done donation pick-ups, and went out several times with their Street Team to hand out water, food, and warm clothing to people living on the streets.

Clothing drive in Edmonton where we collected about 20+ bags of warm clothes as donations. More of my new friends: Claire, Ashleigh, Tierra and Julia (I’m on the right).
The street team about to head out, I’m the one in the unicorn onesie! Yes, it was cold, but seeing people on the street in bare feet, wearing shorts and no jackets helped motivate us to do it each week.

So while that isn’t directly photography related, I got there by doing photography at the events and making connections with people on Facebook through my images.

Being a volunteer has given me something to be passionate about to be able to keep going when times have been the toughest this year. For me, a little perspective goes a long way to help me realize I have nothing really to complain about.

Learn more about Water Warriors YEG and donate here.

Favorite 20 images of 2020 challenge

Next, is a challenge. I want you to go through your image archives and look at everything you’ve shot this year. Make an Album (Luminar) or a Collection (if you use Lightroom) and add your favorites.

Then narrow it down to your favorite 20 images from 2020. They don’t have to be your best images, but your favorites. So think about the meaning of the images as well as the technical aspects.

Perhaps that slightly blurry image of the rare bird you got might trump a perfectly sharp but ordinary flower photo!

This was shot with my Samsung S9 and it isn’t the best quality image, but it means a lot to me because of the experience it represents.

They don’t even have to be taken with your “regular” camera. Look through the gallery of your cell phone images as well. A special memory at lower quality has more value than a high-res one without meaning.

Here are my favorite 20 images from 2020

I originally was going to say to pick your top 10 but I couldn’t do it myself, so I won’t subject you to that kind of torture. 20 it is!

These are not necessarily my best photos of the year, but they are some of my favorite images. Play it full screen for the best viewing experience.

If you want to peruse the images a bit slower and see my comments and camera settings for each image, CLICK HERE to head over to the gallery on Smugmug.

Name three photography things you learned this year

Never stop learning! The day you stop learning you stop growing and expanding. So continue on your photography education even when you think you know all there is to know.

I am constantly still learning new things, even after doing photography for over 30 years. Anyone can pick up a tip here and there that helps you take better photos, improve your workflow, etc.

Light painting in Venice using Light Painting Brushes.

This is what I picked up:

  1. I got a few good Lightroom tips by doing a webinar with Piet Van den Eynde.
  2. Picked up a few ideas and techniques from Jason Page who is the master of light painting (see my image above)!
  3. I learned about how to shoot and process infrared photography with my Fuji XT1 that I got converted to IR.
A couple variations of IR photography. Thanks for the WB tip Fritz!
More infrared b/w images. I had a lot of fun with this.

So what did you learn? Was it something about your camera, like a button or setting you didn’t know about before? Did you learn a new technique such as long exposure photography or light painting?

Time for some inspiration

Who doesn’t like to look at great images? I know that I get inspired when I see a great shot. Use the internet to browse photography sites and just view the images with no other agenda except enjoyment.

See if you can reverse engineer some and figure out how they were shot. Or try and duplicate some of the images yourself. Learn by doing.

Here are a few sites full of winning images to get you motivated.

  • The World’s Best Photos of #Work2020
  • 50 Photographs From Nature 2020 Competition
  • Professional Winners From the 2020 International Photography Awards
  • Sony World Photography Awards

Remember NOT to compare yourself to other photographers or your work to others, especially ones more advanced than yourself. Look at your images today compared to a year or two ago and if you see even marginal improvement – keep going, you’re headed in the right direction!

Photography goals for 2021

Now it’s time to look forward. How will you use your time in 2021 to take your photography to the next level?

Set at least ONE big goal for the coming year, and share it in the comment area below. Perhaps other DPM readers want to do the same thing and you can help each other out as well, or maybe it’s something I can write about..

My goal for 2021 is to do more photography for myself and photos of my family and niece and nephew. As well I want to sort through and process the images from many of my past trips, so this is a good time to catch up!

I may share some of my images and processing tips as the year progresses.

Your turn

Now it’s over to you. I want you to do the following:

  1. List at least 3 things you achieved, accomplished or experienced in 2020.
  2. Find your 20 favorite images of the year.
  3. List at least 3 things you learned in regards to photography in 2020.
  4. Set at least one big goal for your photography in 2021.

Please share your images (or a link to them), your lists and your goals below in the comment area. I’d love to see your answers and images.

Cheers,
Darlene Hildebrandt photographer DPM
Share62
Tweet
Pin2
WhatsApp
Email
64 Shares

About Darlene Hildebrandt

Darlene is an educator who teaches aspiring amateurs and hobbyists how to improve their skills through her articles here on Digital Photo Mentor, her beginner photography course, and private tutoring lessons. To help you at whatever level you're at she has two email mini-courses. Sign up for her free beginner OR portrait photography email mini-course. Or get both, no charge!

Luminar AI - Order now

Order your copy of the new Luminar AI photo editing software. Use our discount code DIGITALPHOTOMENTOR during checkout to save some money on your purchase.

Digital Photo Mentor is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate Digital Photo Mentor earns from qualifying purchases.

Luminar AI Now Available

Luminar AI photo editing banner

Order your copy of the new Luminar AI photo editing software, now available. Use our discount code DIGITALPHOTOMENTOR when you checkout.

Photography Tutoring

Get 60 minutes of private photography tutoring for only $75.

Top Beginner Articles

  • Avoid these 9 beginner photography mistakes
  • 7 Tips for Beginner Photographers
  • Top 15 Photography Accessories under $25
  • How to choose the best digital camera for you
  • 5 Photography Ideas for When There's Nothing Interesting to Shoot
  • 5 mistakes beginner photographers make while using a wide angle lens and how to avoid them
  • 9 Tripod Mistakes Ruining Your Images and Putting Your Camera at Risk
  • Long Exposure Photography

Top Intermediate Articles

  • 10 Camera Settings and Equipment Tips for Portrait Photography
  • Best Photo Editing Software Reviewed
  • Lightroom Alternative: Is Luminar the answer?
  • Top 15 Photography Accessories under $25
  • How to Use a Gray Card for Custom White Balance and Metering
  • Night Photography Settings – Guide to Getting the Best Exposure

Learn Photography Basics

Yes, you can learn to take better photos! It’s my passion to help you learn the photography basics and take better pictures. It’s also the same reason I teach workshops, do photo travel tours, and have online photography courses available.

Enroll in our free photography basics for beginners course, or 12-part portrait photography course, also free.

Recent Photography Articles

  • 6 Tips for Taking Stunning Close-Up Photos
  • Photography Challenge – Create an Image that Represents a Song
  • 8 Photography Myths Debunked
  • Quick Tips and Tricks with Luminar AI Photo Editing Software
  • How to Edit Your Street Photography That Wasn’t Quite Right in Camera

Useful Links

  • Beginner Photography
  • Intermediate Photography
  • Photography Challenges
  • Photography Tips
  • Photo Editing
  • Resources
  • Recommended Amazon Products
  • Course Login
  • Workshops
  • Webinars
  • Contact
  • Write for Us

Copyright © 2021 Digital Photo Mentor · Privacy Policy · Cookie Policy · Disclaimer