Click Pro

Click Pro: An association of professional photographers pursuing advanced artistic and business development while amplifying the voice of women worldwide. Membership to Click Pro is application-based. An invitation to join is extended on the basis of a 150 image portfolio review.

Click Pro has been on my radar for a couple of years now. For a long time it felt like an unattainable goal. Yet as I have grown as a photographer it started to feel like something I could achieve - someday. In April I made the decision: I would build my portfolio and apply sometime this year. I added it to my 2020 poster of goals for the year and set to work.

The application process is rigorous. 150 images is a lot. The portfolio needs to flow one image to the next and feel cohesive as a whole. It is graded on a rubric that includes seven categories, each with a possible score of 6 points. The minimum score for admittance is 32.  These are the categories:

Exposure

Use of Light

Color & White Balance

Composition

Processing & Cohesion

Technical Basics

Creativity & Intention

I joined a prep group with women who were also in the process of curating portfolios to apply. Over the summer we have given feedback to help each other get closer to the goal. Closely examining the work of others - measured against the Click Pro standards - really helped me fine-tune my own portfolio. Four women in my group applied before me: two were accepted and two were rejected. I was both intimated and encouraged by the feedback they received. 

I have worked so hard this summer. It has definitely been frustrating at times, as I have striven to conform to the strict standards of this organization. But I have learned a great deal and I am a better photographer for having gone through the process. I don't think I have ever been more delighted to receive an email than receiving my Click Pro acceptance letter.

Here is a link to my accepted portfolio:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/188189745@N08/albums/72157714054071586/with/49822519508/

Here are the scores I received:

• Exposure Triangle: 5

• Use of Light: 5

• Color & White Balance: 5

• Composition: 5

• Processing & Cohesion: 3

• Technical Basics: 4

• Creativity & Intention: 5

I am scraping in with the minimum acceptable score but I'll take it! I am thrilled. I honestly expected to be lower in the color & white balance category as that is something I have really struggled with - but also what I have worked hardest to improve this summer. I was bummed to be docked so much on my processing score as I generally feel like editing is one of my strengths but they cited specific photos and I could definitely see the weak spots they were talking about. They were very complimentary about my composition and creativity, and cited my use of color as my greatest strength. That made me happy! I've been asked what benefits I receive as a member of Click Pro. Because I am not in business there are some I'll miss out on - listing in their directory and business opportunities. I do gain access to members-only learning resources, and I'm excited about the continuing education there, as well as feature and mentoring opportunities. But honestly for me the biggest benefit at the moment is being recognized. I have friends and family who admire my photography but it's incredibly validating to have an unbiased, professional voice say "yes, you are a great photographer." And I have a badge to prove it. =)

Looking back on 2019, and looking forward to 2020.

Happy New Year!

It is time for one of our favorite traditions: our new year's poster. Each year we create a poster board with our goals for the coming year. The goals must be quantifiable, so that we can check them off as they are completed, and they must be achievable within the calendar year. At this time we like to assess how we did in the previous year, and look forward to the new goals that we have set for ourselves. 

Family Goals

This past year we did very well on our family/couple goals:

• Successfully move to Colorado: Knocked this one out of the park.
• Family camping trip: We went to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in September, and it was amaaaaaazing.
• Go stargazing: We planned our trip to Black Canyon specifically to accomplish this goal. It's a "certified dark sky" area because of the lack of light pollution. The star gazing there is breathtaking.
• Find a new martial arts school: The week after we moved in we joined Academy of Self Defense here in Grand Junction, and we've been enjoying learning Shorin-ryu.
• Trip to Tennessee: We ended up visiting twice this year, in March and December.
• Create a family budget: We did this over the summer and it's been going pretty well.
• Attend the temple twice: We made it three times this year.
• Weekly "Come Follow Me" family study: This goal evolved over the year. We'd been doing something different for our family scripture study at the beginning of the year, so we set the goal to study from CFM once a week. But at some point we dropped our other schedule and moved to CFM daily with the children. All in all we feel we've been doing well with our family scripture study.
• Weekly date night: Sometimes it's with kids in tow, sometimes it's at home after they're in bed, and sometimes it's kid-free. But each and every week this year we have planned and gone on a date. This is a goal we will probably set each year forever!

And our family goals for 2020:

• Attend the temple twice: Two times a year seems the most practical right now, though we wish we could go more. We are assigned to the Monticello Temple, which is about 3 hours from home. 
• Visit Canyonlands National Park: Never been, but this year is the time!
• Invite new friends to our home: We decided we need to be more social. 
• Take Grandma and Grandpa to Black Canyon of the Gunnison: We loved it so much, we want to share!
• Visit Tennessee: We're going in the summer this time, because we want to see all those trees green! And go swimming. =)
• Visit Twin Lakes: This summer we were driving home from Denver when there was a mudslide near Glenwood Springs. We ended up on this horribly long detour (our 4 hour trip ended up being 9 hours!) But there was a bright side, because we ended up going through this incredibly beautiful area up in the mountains. We decided then and there that we had to come back.
• Weekly date night
• Monthly Family Home Evening: We've never really done FHE, but decided we wanted to set aside time for a formal family home evening each month: lesson, activity, treats and all.

James

It's been a long and busy year for both me and our whole family. I got a new job, we moved to Grand Junction, Colorado, and we've all grown a bit older and (hopefully) wiser. However, let's see how that translated into completing my New Year's goals for 2019.

• Daily Spanish study: I count this one as achieved. I didn't quite do it every single day, but I was really aiming for consistency, and I achieved that. I'd guess I only missed a handful of days across the entire year, and it shows. I can now at least mostly understand written Spanish and I can engage in basic communication.
• Daily reading/audiobook: I didn't achieve this one, but I'm chalking this up to a bad goal (for me). It turns out I don't really do well in forcing myself to read everyday. Instead, I do much better when I can find a good book and tear through it over the course of a few days/weeks. This is reflected in my goal for 2020. 
• Settle finances: This was too vague a goal, but I feel that we mostly accomplished it. We set out a rough budget, have mostly kept to it, and have ideas for how to improve it in this coming year.
• Create and follow a personal exercise plan: This was a resounding success. I've been doing Karate pretty consistently since we started shortly after moving here, and I've also started calorie counting with Valerie (turns out it's a lot easier doing it with someone than by myself). I've lost over 15 pounds this year, and I still have a ways to go for my ultimate weight goal.
• Weekly video journal: This, on the other hand, didn't go too well at all. Out of the possible 52, I only got maybe a quarter of those. I'm reemphasizing this for 2020 and will set myself up to do better. I really feel that this is important for me.
• Bake 12 new recipes: I blew past this one only halfway through the year. The ones I have listed on the board that I made are the following: Bloomer loaf, glazed doughnuts, filled doughnuts, maneesh, banoffee pie, sourdough, eclairs, cast-iron pizza, pesto star bread, lemon cheesecake, sourdough focaccia, and cinnamon star bread.

That done, let's look at my goals for the coming year.

• Daily Spanish study: This one just follows on my previous goal. I'm going to continue in Duolingo for this year, but I'll probably have to shift to something else by the time 2021 rolls around
• Read 12 new books: As noted above, I think this suits my reading style a lot more. It will also give me a bit of a challenge and encourage me to find books I like as opposed to books that I can read every day. I'm most excited for Rhythm of War (hopefully it comes out this year)!
• Ace boot camp: Every new attorney in the Colorado Public Defender must do what's called a boot camp after they've completed basic training. What I need to do is find a complex, real felony case and prep it for trial. I then spend a week at this boot camp being grilled on and testing out each aspect of my trial prep. I'm a bit nervous to be honest, but I feel confident that I can do well so long as I'm prepared, and that's really the point of this goal.
• Weekly Come Follow Me: This past year we did Come Follow Me with the family, and it went fairly well. However, I was never really prepared enough, and I want to change that this year. Every Sunday, I'm going to read through all of the material and the thoughts included in each section so I can more readily discuss it with my family.
• Get to 190: I started the year at 215, and I'm down to 200 (even lower than that before Christmas and its attendant feasts). I believe another 10 pounds is realistic and challenging, so we'll see how it goes!
• Bake 24 new recipes: This will be significantly more challenging than last year's. I've run out of the easy recipes that I want to make, and 24 recipes is a lot (especially considering I also want to lose weight...). I'll just have to get more creative!
• Weekly video journal: I'm determined to do better this time around. I'll set a timer in my phone for each Sunday and make sure it gets done.

Those are my goals. I hope to be a better, healthier, wiser, and more experienced man by the time next New Year's rolls around. Wish me luck!

Valerie

I feel generally quite pleased with how my goals went in 2019. Let's examine:

• Earn 5th Dan: In January I completed my Master's Test and earned my 5th degree black belt in taekwondo. It was a ton of work, especially considering that I had a baby in December. It was an achievement I'm very proud of.
• Finish "The Seventh Guardian" revisions: Finishing Book 3 has been on my posters for several years now, so it was a HUGE relief to complete this goal. We'll know how to move forward when we receive feedback on this draft from our editor.
• Project 52 with Clickin Moms: The goal was to take at least one photo each week following specific prompts. This was a fun goal that has set me up for this year's photography goal, see below.
• Journal weekly: I'm counting this one as complete, though I did miss a few weeks here and there. Like James, I was aiming for consistency and I feel I achieved that.
• Learn Photoshop: This was a scary goal for me, but in May I took a class that basically changed my world. I have come to absolutely love Photoshop and editing in general, and view it almost as a separate awesome hobby from photography.
• Read 5 new books: I ended up reading 8 new books this year. I read Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Assassin's Quest, Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians, Just Mercy, The Orphan Keeper, and Muddy. 
• Finish the Duolingo Spanish tree: I'm suuuuuper close. It doesn't help that Duolingo added a bunch of new content this year! I feel good about this goal even though I didn't quite complete it.
• Take a yoga class: This one just didn't happen. =P

Now for my 2020 goals:

• Write "Allspeaker": This is a novel I've had on the back burner for awhile. I've taken a break from writing for a few months after finishing Book 3. But this coming year I'm determined to complete a draft of Allspeaker.
• Complete Project 365: This is a goal that I'm nervous about. The goal is to take (and hopefully share) a photograph every day this year. I am pretty close to shooting daily as it is, but I want to be more deliberate about it. My hope is to discover more creative perspectives in shooting my daily life, and  to become more consistent in style.
• Plant a garden (and hopefully keep it alive): I have never grown a garden before. I have, at most, planted pots of cherry tomatoes. So this is a pretty big undertaking for me! We redid our landscaping this year, and included a garden space. I have a lot to learn but I hope to find at least some success!
• Attend Insta-Inspire: In April I will be going to a photography retreat in Phoenix. I am super nervous about it. I am purely a hobbyist photographer so I have a bit of impostor syndrome! But I hope that it will be fun and that I will learn a ton.
• Referee at the Colorado State Championships: What with our moves and having babies, I've been out of the referee circuit for a few years. I want to start getting back into refereeing taekwondo, so I've set a modest goal of working this one event in 2020.
• Read 10 new books: Five was easy last year, so I'm pushing myself a bit more by setting my goal at 10. I've found it hard to make time for reading since having children, but I'm a lot happier when I do.
• Weekly Come Follow Me study: My plan is to dedicate time each Sunday to actually study the scriptures for the coming week. We do pretty well at reading scriptures with our children every day, but my own personal study has been lacking, and my goal this year is to take the time for myself.

Joel

When James and I started talking about our goals for this year, Joel jumped in and said that he wanted to set some goals too. So we talked about it with him, and these are the goals he decided to set.

• Ride a bike without training wheels: He's pretty close, I don't think this will take him long.
• Read a chapter book solo: He's become such a good reader, so this will push him to the next level.
• Run faster: Joel was adamant about this goal. I don't like vague goals, but we haven't figured out how to measure it yet, so we're putting it up as is.

Xander

• Read and write the alphabet: Xander surprises me with the things he picks up all the time, but the alphabet has been slow in coming. So we're determined to master it this year!