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2023 is almost here! And you may or may not have followed through on your new year’s resolutions this year, but a new year means that it’s time to reflect on all that you’ve achieved in the past year and make a new set of goals for the upcoming year. As a professional photographer, one of the things that remains constant throughout your career is learning. It could be acquiring new photography skills or learning to take it slow and making time for doing things that you love - either way, this could be a great time to manifest all of that and work on your new year’s resolution for wedding photographers. And if you can’t think of any ideas to add to your list right now, this blog offers some that can be beneficial for you and your business for years to come.

New Year's Resolution For Wedding Photographers - Your 2023 Plan

1. Network, Network, Network

Networking with other vendors, going to events where you can find potential clients, and attending other photography-related networking events are some of the ways you can connect (share your contact and email address) and meet with potential clients as well as vendors who could also boost your business. If you are more introverted and the thought of networking just sends you running in the other direction, perhaps you could consider this new year’s resolution as a challenge. Also, who says you have to attend allll the events? Just attend a few networking events and conferences, and once you start getting comfortable with the flow of things, make it a weekly/monthly thing! 

2. Experiment With New Gear + Photography Techniques

As a wedding photographer, were you eyeing new lighting equipment or a new camera throughout the year but never got around to actually trying it out? Well, here’s a new year’s resolution for you. You don’t necessarily have to buy new gear; just rent whatever you’ve been looking at and see whether it works for you. And if it does actually help you shoot better and give your clients a better experience, then go ahead and make that investment for yourself and your business. 

Additionally, you may already have a specific photography technique or style that you have honed over the years and market as a service, but experimenting with new styles and techniques could also be helpful for wedding portrait photographers when it comes to evolving as a creative professional. Do your research or talk to other photographers or your photographer friends and find some time to try out something different from what you usually do, aka take a step out of your comfort zone. If you weren’t motivated or committed enough to do this before, perhaps considering it a new year’s resolution for wedding photographers might do the trick. 

Suggested Read: Wedding Photography Styles: ShootDotEdit’s Favorites

3. Learn Something New 

Learning something new doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to learn something that boosts your business or adds to your skill set as a wedding or portrait photographer. If you have the will and time to learn something that helps in your personal development, then we highly recommend going for that too. And if you want to learn about different marketing efforts to scale your business better, how to price your wedding photography packages, or how to design stunning albums for your clients – that’s a great new year’s resolution to add to your list too. Whether you go with a business skill or decide to learn a new language, try to focus on what you will enjoy the most. That way, you might just end up taking it into the next year.

Suggested Read: How To Set Wedding Photography Prices For Profitability

4. Lessen Your Workload With Outsourcing

We understand that this might be making it to your new year’s resolution for wedding photographers list for the past several years, but this time, we are here to tell you that this might actually be easier said than done. We are not telling you to stop taking bookings or say no to potential clients, but simply follow the motto ‘work smarter, not harder’. One way to do this is by creating a list of tasks that require your attention and can’t be done by anyone else. Then, from the essential tasks that are left, consider outsourcing the ones that take too much of your time or that you just don’t like doing. For example, blogging, photo editing, and bookkeeping are some of the tasks that you could consider outsourcing to an expert. 

Suggested Read: Top 5 Things Successful Wedding Photographers Outsource

5. Take Care Of Yourself

This might seem a little obvious, but in the middle of managing a photography business and ensuring that your clients get the best experience, taking care of yourself might not always make it to your TDLs. Therefore, this is one of those resolutions that deserves to be on your new year’s resolution for wedding photographers list every year. Taking care of yourself can be different for everyone. So whether it’s unwinding with a skincare routine every night or taking out 1 hour each day to exercise, or going to therapy – in 2023, try to make sure that you do a little something for yourself each day. This way, you avoid wedding photography burnout, and you also nurture yourself. So, protect your mental and physical health if you really want to give your clients an unforgettable experience.

Suggested Read: Rangefinder Is Not Just A Resource For Photographers, It’s A Community Too: Jacqueline Tobin, Editor-In-Chief

Now, whether you want to eat healthier or want to start booking high-end brides, or want to get better at taking wedding portraits in 2023, what you put in that list of resolutions is completely up to you. For those of you who already have a list of new year’s resolution for wedding photographers but find it challenging to stick to them, we would strongly recommend focusing on doing things that you enjoy or at least finding ways to enjoy the things you want to do next year. Whether you are doing something for your photography business or something that helps with your personal growth, the trick to sticking with it is to enjoy the journey. You might get to where you want to be in a week or month, or years, but if you take a deep dive into it just for the sake of doing it, we can’t guarantee that you’d be sticking with that resolution for long. Wishing everybody a Happy New Year and a wonderful journey ahead!