Thinking of Dumping Photography

[nancy s.]

Yup. I am thinking of dumping my stuff on Ebay and walking away from

Photography.

 

I take good photos.. and have a few really great ones in there too. I have

made money with my cameras and I understand settings, light and the rest. I

started with film in 2001 and have been doing better ever since. I have been

successful commercially with photography and I have a dark room for B&W film.

 

However, in the last 6 months I take the stuff out and use it less and less.

I am developing other interests and often I go places without a camera (which

used to be unthinkable).

 

Maybe it is the overwhelming advent of digital and my natural preference to be

outdoors over being tied foot and hand to the computer fiddling with images.

Maybe it is the spiraling costs of equipment and software that has gone well

beyond my financial reach coupled with the spiraling costs of film and lab

work. Maybe it is a lack of time along with a lack of money.

 

Someone gave me a renewal to my subscription to shutterbug and I rarely even

look at it anymore (no idea who.. it should have run out December but I still

get it and the expire date on the label is now January 2009)

 

I am not sure if this is just the winter blahs, or if I have learned what I

needed and done what I wanted with this medium and it is time to move on.

 

Maybe you all get this way sometimes too.

 

So, there it is. I am thinking about it now. No need to make an immediate

dicision.. and wondering if you ever just don't care about taking pictures.

[Matt Laur]

Sure. So, don't take them for the sake of taking them. Wait a few weeks until you're doing something that - as you look at it - demands to be artistically recorded or presented. Save shooting (and the post production or lab time) for when you're motivated <i>by the subject matter</i>. If that's not happening, then you need to find some more delightful subject matter! Also: just put the camera in JPG cruise control, and walk into Wal-Mart with the CF card, if that what it takes. Pennies per print (and only the prints you want) later, you've got it covered. Just like the good old days, only faster and cheaper. Just because you CAN spend time fiddling in the darkroom or on the box doesn't mean you have to. And with that $1.50 CD in your closet, you can always do so later when it turns you care about a particular image. Don't shoot, or print what isn't talking to you. But ditch the ability to LET something talk to you, later? That's pretty drastic.

[joshroot]

In life, there are hobbies and there are passions. Just because you were really interested in something at one point doesn't mean that it is a passion, sometimes it's just a hobby. Don't feel bad about dropping an old hobby that no longer interests you for a new one that does. But if it's a passion, sit down and give it some more thought.

 

And as Matt mentions, don't be so tied to the concept of the end result. The activity of DOING whatever it is is as important as what you are creating. Take flyfishing for example. Flyfishing is an innefficient way to catch fish. If I just measured my enjoyment by the fish in my hand, I would be pretty bummed about doing it. But I enjoy the environment and the activity of actually fishing, so it doesn't matter if I actually catch a fish or not.

[tri-x1]

Spiraling costs?. When inflation is factored in, my D300 didn't cost any more than my first Nikon F.

 

If you weren't spending hours in front of a computer you would be spending hours in a darkroom inhailing noxious fumes.

 

Maybe it is time to move on.

[bsharpe411]

Nancy...Photography was more of a passion than just a hobby for me from the late 60's thru to the early 80's (B&W darkroom included). From that time until just a year or so ago, I basically ignored the industry and trends. It's not that I disliked it....I still took along a camera on vacations and for family events...but more often than not, it was a basic P&S camera.

My point is, step away from it if you've lost interest and it's no longer fun, but unless it's a matter of financial need, I'd prep the equipment for long-term storage. About a year ago I decided to go digital with a Canon XTi and after seeing the crazy prices, coupled with the decline in quality, I ran back to the closet to give my old FTb a hug and since then got some 'cousins' (F1, EF, T90) of the FTb and a few long-desired FD lenses. Hopefully if/when you return, there will still be lots of 35mm film around.

[aplumpton]

Your introspection is worthy. There are days when I think I have little to say in

photography and am discouraged, others when I am riding 9 miles high on

enthusiasm and ideas. Neurotic behaviour,... perhaps. But probably just an element of

any creative process.

 

If you are curious about what you see, if you have a visual perception you like to

share with others (or even if you don't care to diffuse your work), if you love nature

and the achievements and peculiarities of the human existence, if you have an

independent vision that you really want to develp, then I am sure you will come back

to photography, or to one of its sister activities like sculpting or painting. You won't

be able to help it.

 

If none of that makes any sense to you, you are best looking for another activity that

does and which will light the fires. In whichever case, good luck.

[charles_stobbs3]

Have you tried transparencies? You take the pictures and someone else does the gruntwork.

[ric_johnson1]

In your post you asked "wondering if you ever just don't care about taking pictures". I don't know if I ever didn't care about shooting, but I do know but that times it seems that I don't shoot for weeks or months because of other issues or concerns. And at one time I did sell 5 of my 7 cameras (and their lenses), but I'm so glad I didn't sell them all. Money for film/chemicals/paper can be alot, but so is computers/software/scanners. If I could tell exactly what to do I would say just take a break from photography. Put your camera (film and/or digital)in a closet and wait until the time is right. The time for what? Only you will know.

[kurt_evers]

I think the key is: how engaged are you with what's on the other side of your lens? Great photography occurs when the photographer has some strong connection to his/her subject. <p><p>

 

I often get confused about this. I know that I love my kids, and I will never tire of photographing them, because I know that it's love that's making me press the shutter. <p><p>

 

But other subjects are more complicated. It may seem momentarily interesting to photograph flowers, or insects, or empty parking spaces, or homeless transvestites. Do I really care about these things? Well, not enough to make great photographs of them.

[bill_brock1]

Well yes I feel like this alot also. I got a whole shelf of cameras and what I do is put all the late digital cameras away and go shoot my little nikon em film camera with my 50mm lens at random times. And this helps me more then anything. I guess because there is no looking at the lcd or changing settings, just me and my aperture. I guess what im trying to say is step back and keep it simple for a while. And just do it because you love it not to make the perfect picture.

BillDozer

[graham_line]

Reading Shutterbug is hardly the way to stay jazzed about photography. Go back through your favorites from your own shoots, or magazines that cover your favorite subjects.

 

Or maybe it's time to move on.

[cmitchell]

Don't sell your stuff. You've just lost your muse for a while. A classic case. I get that way with writing. Another muse will come along eventually, then it will be REALLY expensive to replace your equipment. Just walk away for a while. Do something else. I think you'll be sorry if you sell it.

[bobatkins]

Simplify, simplify.

<p>

Give up the complexity and shoot what moves you with a simple camera. Forget the technology.

<p>

Cancel the Shutterbug subscription and take a look at LensWork.

<p><center>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/6900756"><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/6900756-lg.jpg" border=2></a></center>

[aplumpton]

"Popular Photography" is a bit better than "Shutterbug", but I think that neither is as

good as the Brit mag "Black and White Photography" or the Canuck mag "Photo Life",

for demonstrating amateur fun with photography. "Photo Techniques" is a good

magazine, but probably a bit more on the technical than the basic fun side.

[frans_waterlander]

Face it, you don't have it in you, plain and simple. Everything you say indicates a basic lack of interest in the subject so don't torture yourself and find another hobby.

[GerrySiegel]

I like Christine Mitchell's response. It fits the psychology of a swing in mood (generically speaking,not clinically speaking) states, especially the artistic part of the brain.

 

Didn't every painter want to smash the canvas,throw the brushes and the palette knife against the wall sometime? Hang the whole thing for good and all?

Think of this as a positive thing, Nancy as hard as it may be to get your brain around the thought. I am serious. You have a high expectation of yourself I can tell. Maybe you are a perfectionist,even. If your self expectations fall short of what your brain says ''this is what my natural state of enthusiastic devotion to my practice ought to be" sure you are going to feel what you are feeling. But a feeling is different from a reality, if you know what I mean. I am saying only this. Give yourself a break. If six months passes and the feeling is still there take up something totally new. Maybe traditional archery. A total change of tactile energy.

[danielleetaylor]

<P><i>Cancel the Shutterbug subscription and take a look at LensWork.</i></P>

<P></P>

<P>Quite possibly the best advice I've ever read.</P>

[hanna_cowpe]

Nancy, could it be the professional aspect of your photography that's cramping your style and damping your ardour? Perhaps saving your creativity strictly for your own pleasure will renew your interest, so you can combine it with your love of the outdoors. And why feel the need for hours of fiddling at the computer? People do far too much of that.

[shawngibson]

I've been shooting for over a decade, have some pretty expensive Canon and Profoto equipment, and am always inching forward towards 'going pro'. I get gigs offered to me more than I take them, I never charge a lot, and I absolutely refuse to lose being a creative partner in a project from beginning to end. I suppose that means it's a passion. But with well over $30,000 invested in the last couple of years, you might think I'm shooting all the time, and trying hard to make money. I'm not. Sometimes my equipment sits collecting dust for a month or two...or longer in the winter...and I get the same feelings as you have.

 

I get hot and cold too. But I sold and lost enough $$$ equipment over the last decade...and I always come back...and I've learned: keep it if you liked it, cuz you'll probably like it - or love it - again.

 

Shawn

[bruce_margolis]

Nancy, seems to me it was a few months ago that the processing time was bothering you. Now it sounds more like you just don't feel like picking up a camera.

 

The former has lots of solutions. The latter? Been there done that for a while. Sometimes you do need to just walk away. You know, absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.

 

One thing you can try, pick up an inexpensive P&S and fire away when the mood hits you. Not the most creative stuff but it will give you quickie JPEG images. Maybe that will be enough to satisfy you now. If not, you sure will know it. Funny thing about those little voices inside......

[david j.lee]

i have lots of equipment and sometimes a month goes by without being used, but i never

stop seeing photography, reading about photography, books,magazines, thinking about it.

then an idea comes to my mind and i start shooting again.

[nancy s.]

Maybe it is just a slump or maybe it is just this seemingly interminable winter. I am in such good shape these days (phuysically) but I am tired all the time. If not for having to go to work I am thinking hibernation has its benefits.

 

Well, at least others go thru periods with no shooting. I DO still see things that inspire me but it is always on the way to work or some deadline and I cannot stop and give the image justice.

[laurent-paul]

"Face it, you don't have it in you, plain and simple. Everything you say indicates a basic lack of interest in the subject so don't torture yourself and find another hobby."

 

hmmm I don't agree with that one. Artistic practice always has to evolve just as our lifes evolve. It is just completely normal to have "phases" and doubts : this is the only way we can progress.

 

We need to feed our creativity : And many times if we are closing ourselves constently on a way of practicing we just stop feeding with new "alimentation"

 

Just do what you feel : this is the ost important really, and shut down you intelect. Do whatever you need and want to do right now.

 

Then probably very soon, you'll just HAVE to take your camera agaoin, and create completely new photos.

 

Or you may not, but find another way of expressing yourself. The only important thing is that you feel honest with yourself, and especially that you don't force yourself doing something you don't feel is corresponding to who you are right now.

 

( just sharing a personal experience here ... )

[mrstubbs]

It's not time to make a change,

Just relax, take it easy.

You're still young, that's your fault,

There's so much you have to know.

Find a boy, settle down,

If you want you can marry.

Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.<div></div>

[john_elder1]

Don't feel guilty, give it a break. Don't sell your equipment. Keep your darkroom set up. I like the advise above about simplifying things. Don't know where you live, but you might get some inspiration by going to some galleries. Take a look at todays post in the Street +Doc Forum on this years best photographs. There are some motivating pictures there. Take it easy. Don't quit. Take it easy. Don't quit. Take it easy. Good luck.