General planning

There is a suggestion that I should plan for each individual assignment rather than make a general plan. I am not sure how practical this given that opportunities for relevant images occur when you are not necessarily pursuing that particular assignment. Let us suppose for the purpose of discussion that I have decided to become a professional photographer and that I have been extraordinarily lucky to have secured 4 commissions to be completed over the next 10 months. In discussion with my Accountant I have discovered that one of the major running costs I experience, and which have a large impact upon the bottom line, is 'Travelling'. There is a need to control these costs if the business is to remain viable. To this end I have to look at the commissions I have been offered to see if there is a way in combining them without losing the priority that each subject matter should be given in order to meet the agreed deadlines.

The four commissions are:

1.       Portraiture - target date early January 2014

2.       Architecture - target date early March 2014

3.       Abstract - target date early May 2014

4.       East Anglian Land and Seascapes - target date early July 2014

Although formal portraiture can be dealt with in-house and initial thinking, pending discussion, indicates that this may well also be the case for 'Abstract'; the informal portraiture may well require travel and it is certain that the other two will require considerable travel. Without compromising the integrity of either commission it should be possible to include some elements of the 4th assignment whilst working on the 2nd assignment. For example if I was to use religious buildings through the Centuries in the 2nd assignment there are many opportunities within East Anglia to find the right material. Whilst travelling to these sites there would be no insurmountable difficulties in photographing landscapes or seascapes.

There is also the reality that any photographer should be alert to opportunities that present themselves for capturing the photograph even when it does not directly relate to the subject matter being pursued that day. There is no point in thinking that you will come back another day and catch that magic light as a shower passes across the landscape through which you are passing. It is a trite but true saying that "some of the best photographs are the ones we never took."

I assume that there is no requirement to list all the pre-trip preparation such as checking batteries are fully charged and all necessary equipment is available. What I need to do is have a plan, albeit flexible,  for  each assignment to decide how I can meet the requirements of the overall aim so that I can plan, through the many types of sources such as the Internet, my work. I propose to deal with these separately recording them in this blog as I move forward. I will also use the blog to review the work that I have done and reflect upon how the actuality differed from the original plan and whether the result was what I thought would be the outcome.