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04/23/2009 03:33:10 AM · #1
hey guys, I hope this is the best place to post. But lately I been getting to rethink photography, that it might not be my cup of tea anymore.
I have been getting this feeling off and on the past 2 months and worse each time it happens. I am not only uninspired but I feel like I don't want to do this anymore. I just want to sell most of my gear and move on, what I don't know yet.
I was thinking of the reasons why I am feeling like this and here's what I can think of so far.
First, even though I get published in magazines, I am always depending on someone else to write and article. Without and article, my photos never get published. I have to depend on someone else.
Second, too many people only seem to like me when I have something they want, after I give them that.. they forget who I am, even though I did their event/shoot for free, as a result I feel unappreciated.
Third, I get criticized for spending too much money on gear, at first I was able to ignore this. But after 2 years it's now really getting to me.
Fourth, I get questioned for not going to school for photography. Why, I just a hobby/pass time for me!
fifth, I have been seeing more and more "photoshopping" even in some recent photo contests are base on photojournalism, the winning photo where so damn photoshopped that made me say, "WHAT THE FUCK!!!" It feels that it's no longer who take's the best pictures, it's who can photoshop better.

Comments?
04/23/2009 04:00:14 AM · #2
Ha, that's really the grim reality of life....and I'm not just talking about photography, but everything else.

I understand what you mean, very well at that.

1-I was sick of doing of taking pictures for past year. I never felt like taking my camera out. Now I'm getting back into it....a year later. I think motivation (especially if it's a hobby) comes in waves. Depending on others to be published sucks but it's a starting point. Only people who are famous photographers (or anyone else) don't have to depend as much as we do.

2-People like you only feel appreciated when others want something from you- that's the way it is in everything. It terms of photogrphy, this is how I see it: you use me, I use you-it's a symbiotic relatioship unfotunately.

3- Spending to much money- if you feel guilty then stop. if you need it to develop and this what you like doing I see no reason to stop upgrading :)

4- Photography school? You tell your clients: either you like what I do and want to hire hire me or go fly a kite :)

5- Photoshopping- yeah I agree but what can you do. I try and take it with a grain of salt.

All this being, both you and I are young and have little to credibility in other people's eyes. With time, that changes I think. It can only get better :)

04/23/2009 04:35:05 AM · #3
Ok I agree with most of your sentiments and will add a few comments in a second. First though a word of encouragement. I have just looked through your portfolio and you have talent.

The question is what are you going to do with it? If you are happy to use it for your hobby then fine take a break. Put the camera away and do something else for a while. If I am right you'll be back to it fairly soon.

I note what you say about appreciation but do you really want to be liked just because you take pictures? We all do favours for friends - not to be liked but because we want to help a friend. It sounds to me as though you have been used and you don't need to be liked by people that will use you.

Next - it's your money and what else would you do with it? Photography IS an expensive hobby and you have some excellent equipment. Why shouldn't you want the best?

Lastly Photoshop. It is a sad state of affairs that leads people to believe that you have to photoshop everything for it to be correct. The best shots are those which are correct at the time of pressing the shutter. Get it right there and everything else drops into place in fairly short order. I use photoshop to enhance my composition. I do not use my camera as a starting point for photoshop.

Keep the faith.

A


04/23/2009 04:53:11 AM · #4
Originally posted by smyk:

It can only get better :)

No, it can get worse too. Lots worse.

Count your blessings. It'll make you feel better. :)

04/23/2009 09:17:54 AM · #5
Naturally, I do some adjustments on all my shots, but the best ones are those that have something good coming from the camera. I've had so many pics that had great potential but the lighting, exposure, focus, or something else was just off a little and no amount of 'shopping could make me happy with it.

I agree that the camera skills are still more important. Garbage in, garbage out.

And what's this about school? Maybe it works for some people, but I am more a self learner for many things. Getting beat up here on DPC every week, reading articles, and participating in discussions has been the biggest learning experience for me. It is very possible that I could get something from a formal class, but I don't see it is as necessary expense for me to improve. I was discussing it with a coworker the other day, and she just assumed I had taken some formal photography classes.
04/23/2009 11:20:02 AM · #6
1. Learn to write. That way you can deliver the whole package. Especially if you have the ideas to generate articles.

2. Stop working for free, you're selling yourself short. When people ask you to shoot something for free, tell them you can't afford it.

3. Who's criticizing your gear expenditures? Unless those people have a financial stake in you and your enterprise, it's none of their damn business and you should tell them so. That leaves only your wife (assuming you have one) and possibly your parents (assuming that they are helping to support you financially).

4. Photography school? Look, if you want a college degree, get one from a university. It will help you, no matter what you decide to do in the future, but don't get an expensive piece of paper just to look good to your clients. They're interested in your work, not where you learned how to beer bong.

5. Don't worry about what other people are doing with their work. Focus on you, your work and what it means to you.
04/23/2009 11:54:21 AM · #7
Hey Ben,

I hear you man, but I think you have to remember that it really is only a passtime/hobby. I haven't been shooting alot recently cuz I was starting to feel the same way. It felt like it shifted from being about the photography to being better then the next guy or whatever.

I've been thinking about picking my camera back up again, simply cuz there's been several occasions where the 'damn, I sboulda brought my camera...' feeling has kicked in, and it kinda sucks. I'm starting to think that the more important thing is the paradigm you take on shooting. Go shoot, wherever your favorite spot is, or your favorite style, whatever, just go do it. You sound a lot like my uncle when you talk about creating the image from the camera, not in post. So go do it, go create a beautiful image straight out of the camera, just be sure that you pull the shutter for yourself. If you don't feel like shooting, don't. Put the camera down for a few weeks, come back to it, take a fresh prospective. Photography isn't going to go away, and it's not like if you don't shoot for a week that you aren't allowed to come back.

I hope you can get out of this rut. I know people suck, and usually they only like you as much as you can help their agenda, but certainly don't let that take away something that I'm sure at one point you were very passionaite about. And I'm sure if you look back at when you first started shooting, you did for the goose bumps, or the rush of seeing a picture turn out the way you want it, or whatever, I'm sure it wasn't the admiration of others. Do it for yourself. Do it for the love.

-CW
04/23/2009 01:09:26 PM · #8
Originally posted by ben4345:

hey guys, I hope this is the best place to post. But lately I been getting to rethink photography, that it might not be my cup of tea anymore.
I have been getting this feeling off and on the past 2 months and worse each time it happens. I am not only uninspired but I feel like I don't want to do this anymore. I just want to sell most of my gear and move on, what I don't know yet.
I was thinking of the reasons why I am feeling like this and here's what I can think of so far.

Okay....I'm going to offer my opinions here....they are worth what you pay me for them, which is nothing, but I offer them for perspective.

If you don't want to do it any more, don't. It's YOUR time and money. It's a decision you have to make for yourself.
Originally posted by ben4345:

First, even though I get published in magazines, I am always depending on someone else to write and article. Without and article, my photos never get published. I have to depend on someone else.

Okay....why is this a problem? Either write your own articles, or realize that there are people, in fact, right here on DPC that have been doing good work for years who have never been published.

You've been published? Freakin' AWESOME!

Now shaddup!.......8>)
Originally posted by ben4345:

Second, too many people only seem to like me when I have something they want, after I give them that.. they forget who I am, even though I did their event/shoot for free, as a result I feel unappreciated.

Wow....what a SHOCK!!! People want to use you for what they can get from you!

Welcome to life.

If you don't want to shoot for free for unappreciative bastards......DON'T!!!

I get more satisfaction out of the work I have done for free for people who DO appreciate it than I have out of the work I've sold.

But I also turn down work I don't want, and do the ones I want to on my terms.

I shoot for myself for the most part.....it is much more of a passion and what I do than a vocation.......which is good since I don't make squat.
Originally posted by ben4345:

Third, I get criticized for spending too much money on gear, at first I was able to ignore this. But after 2 years it's now really getting to me.


Oh, this is an EASY one!

F*ck 'em!

They're just jealous and meddlesome......and it's none of their damn business!

The next time someone says something, look 'em right in the eye and say, "You're right! Maybe I should just give all my equipment to you."

See what kind of a reaction you get.
Originally posted by ben4345:

Fourth, I get questioned for not going to school for photography. Why, I just a hobby/pass time for me!

Ooh, OOH!!! Let me do THIS one, too!

You DEFINITELY need to go to school.....your spelling SUCKS!!!!

Oh, you mean for photography?????

Again.....let 'em eat cake.

Do YOU want to go to photography school? Yes? GO!

If not......see cake above.

Don't attach so much importance to what others tell you, ESPECIALLY if it's unsolicited opinion.

You have to learn to look at what you want out of your photography and figure out what you need to be the photog you want to be and listening to a bunch of control-freak, self-appointed guardians of your life is NOT helpful on any level.

Let it go, and don't give them the power to make you question any of what you do.
Originally posted by ben4345:

fifth, I have been seeing more and more "photoshopping" even in some recent photo contests are base on photojournalism, the winning photo where so damn photoshopped that made me say, "WHAT THE FUCK!!!" It feels that it's no longer who take's the best pictures, it's who can photoshop better.

Comments?


This one?

F*ck off......I'll do whatever I want when I edit, and if you don't like it, oh well.......8>)

BUT.....that also goes the other way.....if I don't like your image, but YOU do, then which opinion matters?

I have no idea what makes people think they can tell us how to be......you don't see people walking into restaurants and tell them how to cook.....what's with all the self-proclaimed experts on photography????

I can't tell you how often I hear,"Well, my father was a photographer, and he......".

I don't give a rat's ass how they do it in California and who you're related to.....I'll do it the way that I get a sense of accomplishment and gratification out of it.

If I don't, what's the point?

The point of all this is to trust your own judgement as to what YOU want from this and not listen to others telling you what to do.

Although I *KNOW* you'll feel better as soon as you send me that D300 'cause you REALLY should get yourself a D700!......8>)


04/23/2009 02:53:14 PM · #9
I have spent the last 1-2 years really burned out on photography. I have just started coming out of my funk here in the last few months.

The #1 reason I got burned out is because I was taking jobs that I didn't want to do! I started resenting photography when it was cutting into my family time. I started resenting it when people would ask me to do stuff for free, and I am bad at saying no. I was shooting things for everyone else, and nothing for me.

I advise you to NOT sell off your gear. Put it away for 3 months, a year, even 2. I am thinking you will come back to it.
04/23/2009 02:54:46 PM · #10
Come on Jeb, quit being diplomatic and tell us what you really think!

I do have to respond with a counterpoint to this comment of yours, though:
Originally posted by NikonJeb:

you don't see people walking into restaurants and tell them how to cook.....what's with all the self-proclaimed experts on photography????

I don't walk into the kitchen and tell them how to cook, but I DO know when I don't like the cooking and I don't return to the restaurant again. For folks like you and me, we can please only ourselves and the worst that will happen is a low score and no comments. If you are trying to make money, you DO have to be concerned about what others do and don't like. It's their money and they won't spend it on your product if they don't care for it.
04/23/2009 03:07:08 PM · #11
Originally posted by JRalston:


I advise you to NOT sell off your gear. Put it away for 3 months, a year, even 2. I am thinking you will come back to it.


Well... If he's looking at 2 years off, for sure sell the body now... A couple years from now something better will be available (heck, it already IS...). The good lenses, on the other hand, those are worth holding onto.

R.
04/23/2009 03:08:33 PM · #12
If at any time in your life you've had a true passion for photography, be it film even, or digital...the passion will return. It might take a couple of years or even more, but there is something in that passion that resurfaces no matter what.

If you need the money, sell your gear. (You'll be replacing it again at some point, so I suggest putting it away and keeping it.) :)

As for the opinions of others including all of us (me, too), as the old adage goes, "opinions are like arseholes...everybody's got one!"
Be true to you and don't worry about everyone else. There is no pressure of having to take jobs, you don't have to even shoot. There are no RULES! (Well, except for the DPC challenge rules, but they are meant to be tested, muahahaha!) Just enjoy and don't let your hobby become your albatross. Cheers!

Message edited by author 2009-04-23 15:09:27.
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