Anyone who has ever written a business plan will be aware of the assumptions, optimism and uncertainty that is involved in what is quite often little more than crystal ball gazing based on as many facts and aspirations as hopes and dreams, however the importance of this plan should not be underestimated as it will or should identify where you are now and more importantly guide your thoughts towards a road map that will if followed lead to your goals.

The reason I write this piece today is that I am sitting here evaluating my performance as a photographer over the first six months of this year, a half year audit if you like and its not good reading.

The truth is that since the Another Day Off project ended I have reverted to my butterfly mentality which is great fun but not very effective as my momentum has been lost and a cloud of randomness has descended on my work.

I am very happy with many of the captures I have made in 2016 but as a body of work the images appear to lack coherence and lack any real direction when viewed collectively.

The take away message of this piece , if one exists is that we should all try to bring a higher level of planning to our work if we expect others to take it seriously, the one shot at a time mentality will no doubt throw up some interesting results and put a smile on our faces which for most of us is enough, but identification of a thread that holds your visual agenda together might just help you climb your personal ladder of success, whatever that it is for you ?

I hope to make better use of the next six months than I did of the past half year. time is the ultimate finite resource and I could / should use it more effectively.

What can you do better before the end of 2016 ?

Keep it real !

This image has been selected for the Obscure Street Exhibition which is part of Photography Festival Ireland, the exhibition opens on the 8th July at the Inspire Gallerie, Dublin.