© Camilla Rutherford for this award winning image from her series 'Once were Farmers', made on one of my programs in Vietnam last year.

Feel like chucking everything out and starting again?

9 January, 2025

Have you ever felt like chucking out everything you’ve made and starting again?

Maybe you’re sick of shooting fashion, or you think you might get more work if you focus on still life instead of lifestyle, or vice versa.

At this time of year it’s easy to default to ‘I’ll just start over’.

New year, new beginnings and resolutions can make you bold and brave, but wait! Please don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Start by asking yourself why you want a change.

Is it because you’re not getting the assignments, clients or income you want?

If so, you might find changing genre does not get you better results.(It might even be worse because you’re potentially choosing work you enjoy less).

Same strategy (whatever the genre) = same results.

What a waste of time and energy.

If you want a fresh start because you genuinely want to move into a new industry, such as switching from fashion to advertising, consider all the incredible skills you’ve developed which you can bring with you and will make you sought after.

Fashion photographers often move very comfortably into the ad world with their interesting eye and ability to direct talent, understand colour and styling, and work fast. Why abandon all that?

Likewise I’ve seen incredible results when studio photographers move to location work. Why not continue to share your incredible lighting work?

Everything you’ve made up to this point has brought you to this place of wisdom and experience, and given you the income you’ve made. It’s not to be sneezed at and neither is that archive you’ve built.

New beginnings are wonderful and motivation at this time of year is high, but use it wisely and start by getting clarity about what will really float your boat.

Then look at what you can bring with you, and make sure you have a marketing strategy which works.

If you want some help with this now’s the time to book in a free call with me. I’ll help you get some clarity and we’ll discuss ways in which you can move forward whilst harnessing all your experience.