Alexia Shepherd [NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4, 1/160, Focal Length = 85]
When you are changing lighting setups or camera settings, you cannot pay attention to expressions. Giving a lot of variety with lighting setups may not be the best approach.
KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid
Getting great facial expressions takes much more skill than changing a lighting setup. You have to build trust with the person. You have to connect with them so that together you can capture the subject’s true essence.
Alexia Shepherd [NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4, 1/160, Focal Length = 85]
I do minor lighting changes so I can spend more time getting lots of expressions.
One thing I do with my setup is to change the background from a grey to a white background.
I can pause for a moment and turn on or off the two lights behind my white muslin background. Off I get a lovely neutral grey. The light from the beauty dish is what lights the background and my subject.
When I have my background lights on, they are giving me one stop more light than I have set on the subject. This gives me a spotless white background.
Chance Wills [NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4, 1/160, Focal Length = 85]
I love to shoot 50 to 100 images before I change the background.
Chance Wills[NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4, 1/160, Focal Length = 85]
I encourage people to bring a couple of outfits. It is incredible to me how much wardrobe change impacts the final photo.
Will Oliver [NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4, 1/160, Focal Length = 85]
Changing from a low-key to a high-key photo can also help change the photo’s mood.
Will Oliver [NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4, 1/160, Focal Length = 85]
My tip is to pick one outfit and shoot a lot. Go for 100 photos without changing lighting: background, or clothing. Then change the background and repeat. After you have done that, then change outfits and shoot again.
Make the emphasis of the portrait/headshot session about getting an expression. Go past the extremes of sadness and joy. Then try and shoot all the nuances of faces.
Chance Wills [NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4, 1/160, Focal Length = 85]
Don’t forget to get verticals and horizontal photos.
Andrew Mozingo
[NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4.5, 1/125, Focal Length = 85]
Remember, the thing that makes a great headshot is EXPRESSION!!!
Andrew Mozingo [NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4.5, 1/125, Focal Length = 85]
It is much easier to get a pleasant and genuine expression if you have pushed the limits of expressions first.
Andrew Mozingo
[NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4.5, 1/125, Focal Length = 85]Tagged : #headshots / #portraits / lighting
I believe there is such a thing as overdirecting a person during a headshot/portrait session.
I love working with actors because they want to use their skills and rarely get to do that with photographers during a headshot.
Maggie Cook [NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4, 1/160, Focal Length = 85]
Before I get an intimate and what I would call a transparent moment with a subject, they have to be relaxed and comfortable with me.
Maggie Cook [NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4, 1/160, Focal Length = 85]
One technique I use is asking “actors” to give me as many facial expressions as they can in 30 seconds. Those just starting in acting often will struggle, but for those who love to perform and do a variety of characters, this is like a psychogenic ‘trip.’ They are Thrill-Seekers whose risk is being perceived as being weird or off.
So “pushing the envelope” or “pushing the limits” means testing the boundaries of what is safe or acceptable in a given situation by exceeding those boundaries.
Macy Frazier [NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4.5, 1/160, Focal Length = 85]
Once I have gone with them on this journey of letting them perform risky expressions, they tend to let me in.
They can tap into their emotions and let me see them through their eyes and faces.
Timothy Villalovas [NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4.5, 1/125, Focal Length = 85]
For me, the most complex photo to get with people is one where their personality is being projected.
Katy Johnson [NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4.5, 1/125, Focal Length = 85]
Even the smile photos are more genuine and inviting than had I not gone through asking them to give me all their expressions.
I slowly adjust the heads so that the light works best and their expressions are captured most effectively. That might mean I lower and raise the camera angle to their eyes.
I work hard at getting rid of things like double chins.
Will Oliver [NIKON Z 6, 85.0 mm f/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/4, 1/160, Focal Length = 85]
I like to think of getting a great expression because you need to have the subject go past the acceptable moment to an extreme.
My role is to create a safe environment where it is OK to try any expression, with the goal being that by pushing the limits, we can be truly transparent. This is when great moments can happen.
Look carefully at these first two photographs. What is similar, and what is different?
[NIKON D5, 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8, ISO 7200, ƒ/7.1, 1/250]
They are in the same church on the same day. The difference is the church has two types of worship services.
8:45 a.m. Contemporary Service 8:45 a.m. Dunwoody United Methodist Church [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 2000, ƒ/5.6, 1/100]
The very first photo is from the 8:45 a.m. Contemporary Worship Service and the second is from the 11:05 a.m. Traditional Worship Service. They went to great lengths to make transforming of their large sanctuary from a traditional church to a contemporary space. They have fabric that covers all the walls to keep the Rock Style band music from bouncing around too much in the space to allowing the traditional Choir to reverberate during the traditional service.
11:05 a.m. Traditional Service Dunwoody United Methodist Church [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 1400, ƒ/5.6, 1/100]
The senior pastor speaks at both services.
Senior Pastor Dan Brown, Contemporary Service Dunwoody United Methodist Church [NIKON D5, 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6, ISO 5600, ƒ/5.6, 1/100]
There is little difference between the two other than just his dress code.
Senior Pastor Dan Brown, Traditional Service Dunwoody United Methodist Church [NIKON D5, 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6, ISO 4000, ƒ/5.6, 1/250]
Just six years ago, the church added a contemporary service that met in their gym. It is now the best-attended service and needs more space. This is why they converted their most significant space to accommodate the group.
Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point Community Church
One of the largest churches in America, North Point Community Church, is nearby. Many churches lost members to this church because of the style of worship and sermons.
When Andy Stanley started the church in November of 1995, they intentionally created a new format and wanted to be different than all the churches in the area. Andy said, “Atlanta does not need another church. Atlanta needs a safe environment where the unchurched can come and hear the life-changing truth that Jesus Christ cares for them and dies for their sins.” So began North Point Community Church.
Andy understood the audience better than most at the time for Atlanta in 1995.
WHY CHURCHES ARE DYING AND DECLINING FASTER TODAY
Slow response to change as change accelerates all around us. Many churches are incredibly slow to change. For most of our American history, the pace of cultural and technological change was sufficiently paced for churches to lag only five to ten years. Now churches are lagging 20 and 30 years as the pace of change increases dramatically. To many attendees and members, the church thus seems increasingly irrelevant. To be clear, I am speaking about issues of style, methodology, and awareness, not changing doctrine or biblical truths. A recently interviewed church guest said it clearly: “I stuck with my parents’ church as long as I could. But I had enough when we had a big blow-up over projection screens in the worship center. I wanted to go to a church where matters of minutia were not issues to fight over.”
I believe that the church isn’t the only organization that has to do a better job of understanding its audience. Journalism has suffered dramatically because they have lost touch with its audience.
Like the growing churches, the content should not change; instead, the issues of style, methodology, and awareness need to change.
Today communicators need to do a better of getting to know their audience. While you must master the subject to communicate it, just as importantly, you must pay as much attention to the audience’s understanding.
One of the most significant problems people have with anything they create is that they think people will discover them. Well, the smart ones know you have to advertise and appeal to the needs of that audience to engage them.
I know that some of the most successful organizations are those that have created a fictitious family/customer. This family represents the median of the bell curve of that community.
I have listened to writers and editors arguing over why Sam and Sally [fictitious couple] would be interested in a story.
If you cannot tell me why a story you are working on is necessary for those in your audience to see, then the odds of anyone reading it are not good.
You have to tell people how this information can impact their lives. Surprisingly I have been shocked when people show me their work in journalism, and I ask why they did a story that they cannot tell me why the audience needs to know about it.
If you know your audience and your subject, you will not have to worry about a Plan “B.”
I walked over to Hannah Bohrer and asked her about her story. The night before, she had met her subject of the tale Marlen Talledo.
Marlen and Hannah at the premier showing of the videos. [Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM, ISO 3200, ƒ/6.3, 1/60]
Marlen’s story moved Hannah. When Marlen showed up for the event we had for the community to see the videos we had been working on our last night in Lima, Hannah was excited to see Marlen.
When we were working with Hannah on the story, she was passionate about the content and all that she had learned about Marlen’s story.
Hannah talks with Pat Davison about her story. [Canon EOS 7D, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM, ISO 3200, ƒ/4, 1/60]
One of the hardest things each student struggled with and through was cutting their videos down in time.
Andrea Carhuachîn helped translate Hannah’s video. Andrea lives in Peru and is in college studying communications and joined our workshop for the week as a translator. [Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM, ISO 1600, ƒ/4.5, 1/60]
There were a few criteria for which we made our decisions. First, the missionaries picked people whose lives were changed by a particular ministry. We did stories on the seminary, a radio station, and the prenatal center.
Marlen Talledo is the director of Centro Prenatal Vida Nueva [english “New Life Prenatal Center”]. If the content didn’t help tell the story of how the Prenatal center changed her life, we cut that out of the story.
The other thing that was driving our stories was the audience. Why should the audience care, and how can they get involved? If the audience was to be at a conference where this video would be shown, we kept them in mind. If the audience were churches in the United States supporting the ABWE missionaries, we would be sure the content would engage them.
One way I helped teach this simple yet fundamental concept of storytelling was to ask people to think of communicating something to the mother or dad. Would how they tell the story change depending on which parent they were talking to at the moment.
Most of the videos were made for the United States churches that support ABWE and for the missionaries to use them with the Peruvian churches that support these ministries.
Hopefully, this gives you enough of the context for which Hannah made this video. Please comment below about what you think of the story.
If you want to learn how to have an experience like Hannah in a storytelling workshop, please consider joining us this June in Romania with Storytellers Abroad.
If you have a group that would like to have us come and teach you storytelling, then write to me so we can create a special workshop for your organization.
I met Naomi Harward a couple of years ago at our Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Nicaragua. Naomi is one of the quietest people I have ever met.
Naomi working with James Dockery on her project. [Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM, ISO 1600, ƒ/4, 1/60]
Naomi said many times that video isn’t something she likes. She prefers writing. We continued to push her out of her comfort zone.
Pat Davison looks at Naomi’s project. [Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, ISO 1600, ƒ/5.6, 1/60]
Each one of the instructors is direct when advising students. We do not beat around the bush. They give their strong opinions because they want the best story possible for the subject and audience.
Naomi is the only workshop participant who did her story in English and then had it translated into Spanish for subtitles.
Listen to Sara Lu tell her story and see how Naomi captured it for you here:
If you want to learn how to have an experience like Naomi in a storytelling workshop, please consider joining us this June in Romania with Storytellers Abroad.
First thing I noticed about Josiah is he was taller than me. I learned he was studying film at Liberty University.
Josiah was also pretty quiet. He was a listener.
[Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, , ISO 1600, Ä/5, 1/100]
We sat and talked about his subject for a while. In the beginning, Josiah’s most challenging part was finding the storyline thread he wanted to tell. He was asking great questions, but each question was making the story broader and not more focused.
Josiah McConville’s Story Lucho & Rosa Martinez, David Heim – Translator. Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Lima, Peru [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 800, ƒ/4, 1/200, Focal Length = 24]
After he did his first interview, I went with Josiah on the second interview. He did a great job. He was able to help the couple focus on how what the seminary had meant to their ministry.
Josiah McConville’s Story Lucho & Rosa Martinez, David Heim – Translator. Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Lima, Peru [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 1800, ƒ/7.1, 1/200, Focal Length = 24]
One of the difficulties perplexing not just Josiah but me, as well, was getting our heads around the way Lucho and Rosa talked about their ministry. Josiah dug a little deeper by asking follow-up questions like tell me how that felt when you went through that time.
Listen to the story that Josiah captured of Lucho and Rosa Martinez here:
If you want to learn how to have an experience like Josiah in a storytelling workshop, please consider joining us this June in Romania with Storytellers Abroad.
I first met Rose Finley at our Storytellers Abroad workshop in Nicaragua. Rose is such a joy to be around. While she is quiet, she does love to laugh.
Rose talking with missionary. [NIKON D7100, 18.0-105.0 mm f/3.5-5.6, ISO 800, ƒ/6.3, 1/60]
She was listening if Rose was not working on her project alone. She is a person of few words. You can see her listening with not just her ears but her eyes.
Whenever I talked with Rose, I felt I had her full attention.
[NIKON D7100, 18.0-105.0 mm f/3.5-5.6, ISO 800, ƒ/5.6, 1/80]
You can see during her interview how focused she was on the subject. Rose cares deeply about people and makes them feel appreciated.
Rose is getting input on her story from ABWE missionary Evelyn Stone. [Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM, ISO 1600, ƒ/4.5, 1/60]
Rose is also very independent. I would have to seek her out and ask if I could help. She would not have wanted to bother the other teachers or me if I didn’t ask. She did, however, ask for help in translation from Spanish to English.
Rose works with ABWE missionary and seminary professor Dave Stone on the translation.[NIKON D7100, 18.0-105.0 mm f/3.5-5.6, ISO 640, ƒ/4, 1/80]
Listen to the story that Rose captured of Carol Banda.
If you want to learn how to do storytelling like Rose, please consider joining us this June in Romania with Storytellers Abroad.
Marissa Dickey and Jamie Gessner are ABWE Career Missionaries in Colombia, South America.
When Jeff Raymond and I went on our scouting trip to Lima in October, we talked with Evelyn Stone, the founder of the prenatal center and ABWE missionary. She mentioned that Maricielo had just had her baby a few days before we arrived.
We knew right away that this was a powerful story. In Peru, abortions are illegal. However, according to Evelyn Stone, the director of the prenatal center, 80% of all women have had an abortion.
[L to R] Marissa Dickey, James Dockery, and Jamie Gessner review the edits on Maricielo’s story. Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Lima, Peru [X-E3, XF18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS, ISO 12800, ƒ/5, 1/38, Focal Length = 35]
The purpose of telling Maricielo’s story was to show how many women came to the prenatal center for counseling and help.
Listen to Maricielo and her family tell their story.
Both Marissa and Jamie are fluent in Spanish and English. This made it much easier for them to do the story because they didn’t need translators. Can you imagine everything someone says has to be translated, and then everything you say is translated? That takes a lot longer to have a normal conversation.
[L to R]James Dockery telling stories with Marissa, Jamie, and Jeff Raymond during the Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Lima, Peru [X-E3, XF18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS, ISO 4000, ƒ/7.1, 1/100, Focal Length = 27]
Marissa and Jamie asked every instructor for input on the story. Then, they sat together and tried to take all that input and craft a stronger story. The hardest part for them was cutting pieces out.
They realized that while some great quotes were powerful, they were often repetitive.
When you heard them talking on the last day of editing, they were trying their best to keep you, the audience, engaged and hoping that by telling Maricielo’s story, you would consider getting involved with the prenatal center.
If you want to learn how to do storytelling as Marissa and Jamie did, consider joining us this June in Romania with Storytellers Abroad.
[photo above is of the seminary night classes that share the space with a school]
Jorge Quintana is a seminary student whose storyteller Stephanie Simmons was given to tell his story.
See the story she captured here.
Stephanie has lots of positive energy. She is always smiling.
Stephanie Simmons. Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Lima, Peru [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 100, ƒ/4, 1/400, Focal Length = 35]
What I admired the most about Stephanie was her focus. She wanted to learn.
[X-E3, XF55-200mm ƒ/3.5-4.8 R LM OIS, ISO 5000, ƒ/7.1, 1/100, Focal Length = 300]
When I talked to her about her story before she did the interview, I could tell she had listened to the subjects. I could tell she cared for them and was sure she would stay true to the story.
[X-E3, XF18-55mm ƒ/2.8-4 R LM OIS, ISO 6400, ƒ/7.1, 1/100, Focal Length = 36]
Now I love to watch people and observe them. I noticed Stephanie would be on the edges of the group, participating but also listening.
[NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 12800, ƒ/4, 1/200, Focal Length = 24]
When the instructors met each night to see who might need more help the next day on their stories, we all talked about how Stephanie welcomed ideas and was eager to learn.
If you want to learn how to tell a mission story like Stephanie, join us this June in Romania with Storytellers Abroad.
Jay York is working on his story for the Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Lima, Peru [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 32000, ƒ/6.3, 1/200, Focal Length = 24]
I have known Jay York for years. We met at the Southwestern Photojournalism Seminar in Fort Worth, Texas. Jay was using his vacations to photograph for the ABWE.
Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Lima, Peru [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 100, ƒ/4, 1/800, Focal Length = 35]
Many years ago, photographers volunteered their time to help ABWE missionaries by taking photos of work worldwide that went into a database. During the film years, missionaries would have to go to Harrisburg, PA offices, look through all the 35mm slides, and get copies to use in their slide shows that they showed to churches and supporters on leave.
Jay York and translator Andrea Carhuachîn. Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Lima, Peru [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 51200, ƒ/4, 1/200, Focal Length = 62]
During our week in Lima, Peru, Jay worked on a story about Elvira Cuevas Bolívar. Here is the package that Jay produced.
Jay worked methodically in ensuring he understood Elvira’s story, which is much bigger than told in this package, and worked with three instructors, Pat Davison, James Dockery, and me.
Jay York’s Story on Elvira Cuevas with Andrea Carhuachîn serving as translator. Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Lima, Peru [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 2200, ƒ/4, 1/200, Focal Length = 24]
Jay wanted to understand every aspect of the storytelling process.
Elvira Cuevas – Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Lima, Peru [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 4500, ƒ/4.5, 1/200, Focal Length = 68]
A couple of months before the trip, Jay switched camera systems to the Fuji mirrorless. Jay shot most of this project on the Fuji X-T3.
Jay York with Elvira Cuevas and her son Chris. [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 100, ƒ/4.5, 1/200, Focal Length = 68]
If you want to learn how to tell a mission story like Jay, check out the opportunity with Storytellers Abroad.
Josh Hart Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Lima, Peru [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 28800, ƒ/4, 1/200, Focal Length = 24]
Mr. Positivity is how I would describe Josh Hart. He was the first person to introduce himself to me when I first met the group in Lima, Peru. He was eager to learn and had a wonderful smile.
We sat by his computer and talked about his story on Darwin and Azucena Diaz. He went out and interviewed them, and then the next day, I was able to go with Josh as he spent more time getting B-Roll.
In film and television production, B-roll, B roll, B-reel, or B reel is supplemental or alternative footage intercut with the main shot.
Here is the story that Josh produced during his week in Lima, Peru.
Josh Hart’s story on Darwin & Vanessa Diaz. He is a teacher at the Iglesia Evangelica Bautista “Las Flores” in San Juan de Lurigancho area of Lima, Peru. To the left is ABWE missionary Jon Stone who teaches at the seminary. During our time in Lima, Jon was a translator, driver, food coordinator, and more for the Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Lima, Peru [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 100, ƒ/4, 1/640, Focal Length = 28]
Each student had time with their subjects at a meal with everyone when we arrived. Then the following day, they hung out with them again, getting to know them better.
Josh Hart’s story on Darwin & Vanessa Diaz. Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Lima, Peru [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 100, ƒ/4, 1/640, Focal Length = 28]
Josh loves technology and shot his interviews in 4k. If you are not a geek, he shot the video with a high-resolution camera. This way, he could shoot the couple side by side and zoom in on one person at a time. This made it possible to shoot with one camera but get some variety out of the interview.
While working together shooting his B-Roll, I just hung back and watched. Since he had told me what he wanted to capture, I would add suggestions when he ran out of ideas.
Josh Hart’s story on Darwin & Vanessa Diaz. [NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 100, ƒ/4, 1/640, Focal Length = 28]
The one thing I was helping Josh with was how to put into words his direction to the couple and translate what he needed next. He could tell them he needed them to walk in order, but he was having difficulty telling them what they should think about when they were filmed.
“We capture you when you come to the church and have to take the taxi and unlock the building. Please do this a few times so I can film you from your front, back and side. Just do what you do every day when you make this trip.”
[NIKON Z 6, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, ISO 100, ƒ/4, 1/640, Focal Length = 28]
“I want to capture the two of you doing a bible study together that you talked about in the interview. Find a passage you guys have been working on together. I need you both to talk back and forth.”
If you want to learn how to tell a mission story like Josh, join us this June in Romania with Storytellers Abroad.
So I was working on my resume, which some clients wanted, when a friend asked me about my blog. I had not put this into my resume.
He pointed out that I had a pretty broad reach. So I started to dig into Google Analytics. My Analytics includes my website & blog. Most of the traffic goes to the blog since that is new content.
The map above shows the past couple of years of the countries that have visited my blog. The reach is more significant if I go back to when I started in 2006, but I changed from Blogger to WordPress and lost some of those stats.
I have visited the blog over the last two years in one hundred ninety-two countries.
I had over 81,000 new users. WOW! I was shocked. On average, when they visited, they went to about four different pages.
They were translating my page into 151 different languages.
Click on this chart to see it larger
My top ten posts are where people look for camera settings or technical blogs. Users were spending about 5:44 on “Nikon D5 Sports Settings”. I can understand why. That camera has a menu that resembles the cockpit of a jetliner.
Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.
John Wooden
How do you toot your own horn without coming off as cocky? You want to showcase your best accomplishments on your resume so that they are right there in black and white. If you do this right, they will pop out and help separate you from the pack. This isn’t bragging but instead helping to show that you indeed are the right candidate for the job.
In polishing my resume, I discovered to find someone who really knows you to review it. It helps if they are good at communication.
I am discovering that I have been hurting myself because I took some of my most significant accomplishments for granted.
Another huge thing I learned is I was overthinking the details and not enough about broad brush strokes of what my skills were beyond just photography.
After much self-examination this week, I recommend you do the same. Revising your resume is an excellent exercise to help you know what value to bring to the table. It is a good thing to do to start the year. It helps you celebrate your accomplishments and evaluate your weaknesses that you might want to work on this year.
