Neesh Photography in 2025: Ideas & Goals for the New Year

Happy New Year to all that celebrate!

2024 was a big year for Neesh Photography. I had the privilege of meeting a bunch of people for a vast range of shoot types. The Cancer Council’s Stars of Nowra was a huge night, and so fun. Capturing cute cats at Animal Welfare League was an unexpected and delightful job. Some of my friends graduated and got engaged, and I was lucky enough to be there, camera in hand. I got to try my hand in photojournalism with The Illawarra Flame, which is something I’ve wanted to do since childhood.

P.S. I should work on going on Facebook more often, so don’t be afraid to like my Facebook page.

I went to conferences, galleries, book launches, charity fundraising events and even a wedding. All of this happened with fairly minimal effort from me, to be honest. I didn’t run on a marketing plan or a mailing list. I relied on the helpful people around me, which is great. But this year I am a graduate, and I have more work to do than ever. 2025 is already looking like a busy year for me, but I want to make the concerted effort over the next 12 months to grow my business. If I’ve come this far on luck and good faith, I’d love to find out how much further I can go with a plan.

This year, I’m looking to put a plan in place to give Neesh Photography the best shot at success that I can – not that I am not happy with how the business has gone over the last few years. I am so grateful for all the wonderful experiences I’ve had through photography and all the generous people who’ve supported me along the way. That said, I’ve compiled a wishlist of sorts. Some of my business goals are a personal mindset and skill-based developments, and some are just projects that could be fun! By taking the earnest approach and putting these goals down on paper (a WordPress draft), I’m hoping to help push them along into eventual fruition. I’ll check the stats at the end of the year and see how we went.

Anyway, the checklist is as follows:

Market Stall

There are plenty of local markets around the Illawarra, and I hadn’t particularly thought about photography as something to sell from a table in a showground. But prints/mini sessions are a possible selling point. If not, it’s a great opportunity for a plain old good chat with people in the area. Obviously, there may be applications and printing to sort out for this idea – but all in due time!

Gallery

Last year I saw a few different art exhibitions – most had a photography section, and I thought ‘how hard could it be?’. This year, I hope I find out. I imagine it would be so fun!

Competitions

There are a heap of photography competitions you can enter online, and a lot of them involve prize money. It’s a good idea to enter some pictures to competitions with the relevant themes, and get some passive income. Plus, the possible satisfaction of winning would be awesome. Regardless, it will push me to take different photos for different reasons.

More regular photography jobs

For the past few years, work and university have filled my time. It’s hard to say if I’ll actually have more time to spend on photography endeavours coming into 2025 – but at least I have the space to prioritise it without assignments breathing down my neck. I definitely took a bunch of photos last year, but mostly for The Illawarra Flame. Delivering family photos to clients is quite different to my usual work for them, although I enjoy that work. I loved capturing Alex and Alana’s engagement last year, and a few other heartfelt jobs – and I’d love to do more of those pretty shoots this year, alongside more commercial/event jobs. Regardless, I’ll go in with a month-by-month plan and make sure that I follow up with anyone who’s shown interest in the past.

More Volunteer Photography Jobs

I offer free photography jobs for good, charitable causes – and this has been extremely fun for me in past years. I really enjoy lending a helping hand where I can, but I’d like to make a more concerted effort to seek volunteering opportunities where possible.

Marketing

I should put my brand new media degree to work this year. I have given little thought to digital and physical marketing materials in the past – and I’m excited to see how I can improve.

Flash Photography

Using a flash on DLSR cameras, and doing it well, is a bit more tricky than you’d expect. Hence, I’ve avoided it so far. There’s a bit of learning and spending involved, but I think it’s about time I get around to it.

Prioritise Fun

I’ve definitely mentioned this before – but sometimes it is hard to upkeep passion in the wake of business. Obviously, I love to take pictures regardless of who they’re for, but I could make some purposeful time to take pictures for no other reason than I had an idea, and I wanted to. I can’t leave it up to chance, I have to schedule in time to experiment.

Anyway, that’s all from me. I’ll get back to regular posting soon. I can’t wait to see how the year goes for myself and everyone else.

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