so.... i took a short break from shooting.

[bribrius]

you guys probably noticed I disappeared for a bit. Also dumped the electronics tv, internet and everything else for about a month or so.

Thought my attitude might improve with a little break.
it didn't.

I still cant seem to find much im interested in shooting and my attitude still generally sucks.

Still taking family photos, other than that Im not seeing much else I have a interest in.


just most things I think of shooting, seem more a wasted of time than anything to me right now. I look at it, then just keep moving.

went to a car show a couple weeks ago. Had my camera. A guy asked me if I was shooting the cars in the show. it occurred to me I hadn't taken a single photo of a car. So I told him no, I didn't really care if I had photos of the cars.

skipping by on abstracts too now.

just not finding anything I really want to shoot or care to have a photo of.

 

[Msteelio91]

Sounds like you're in a funk. I think this happens to most people at some point. Find something else to do for a while

 

[bribrius]

Sounds like you're in a funk. I think this happens to most people at some point. Find something else to do for a while

I can't tell if I am just bored with the entire thing or if I just have risen my expectations on what I want a photo of. Just taking photos for the sake of taking photos to put on a sd card and shove in a back drive is seeming really pointless though.

 

[bribrius]

The ones I backed up the other day I am thinking about deleting now. what the hell do I need thousands of photos for? Most I probably wont even go back and look at ever again.

 

[astroNikon]

What hobbies do you have other than photography?

 

[sscarmack]

If you aren't interested in photography anymore, why do it? Theres a reason you keep picking your camera back up.


If not, sell all your gear, and find a new hobby.


I have like 6 hobbies, so I never get bored. I hop back and forth and keep things fresh.

 

[bribrius]

What hobbies do you have other than photography?

collect guns, work on cars. boats. Kind of follow the stock market. I dunno.

 

[Fred Berg]

Sell your gear and move on. If you can do this, photography really isn't something you're likely to miss very much as a hobby. All you really need then is a small compact for those special moments.

 

[limr]

Yeah, sometimes you just kind of burn out. I find it very frustrating when I feel like I have something to express but I'm just not excited anymore about the medium I've been using. This is one of the reasons why, when I want to use photography for that expression, that I shoot different formats of film. It gives me options that go beyond a simple image. And I'm not a person who enjoys digitally editing images, so when I need different options, I go for things like my Polaroids or collages, making mats or frames...something more tactile.

Maybe a month isn't enough of a break.

 

[bribrius]

Yeah, sometimes you just kind of burn out. I find it very frustrating when I feel like I have something to express but I'm just not excited anymore about the medium I've been using. This is one of the reasons why, when I want to use photography for that expression, that I shoot different formats of film. It gives me options that go beyond a simple image. And I'm not a person who enjoys digitally editing images, so when I need different options, I go for things like my Polaroids or collages, making mats or frames...something more tactile.

Maybe a month isn't enough of a break.

really just seems kind of pointless and useless. No reason to sell gear I can still use it for family photos/events or if I occasionally decide I want to shoot something I see. For the most part, I really just started feeling like I was wasting time clicking the shutter for photos I really didn't even care if I had.
For every hundred I might have had one I actually cared about. The rest was just hard drive space filler. I got parts in to work on a suv the other day. put on a new front bumper and replaced the ignition. (I had that stroke but im not totally useless yet). I took a photo of the vehicle with the bumper off and the grill pulled apart to show somebody what I was working on. That has been about the extent of my artistic photography as of late other than family photos.

 

[astroNikon]

use the camera for photogrpahing life events.
No need to try and be artistic in your photography when the "spark" isn't there. You'll end up just making harddisk fodder.

a photo may just capture a memory for someone/people
whereas some people like to capture images to share for people
In a while you may jump back into photography and like to take different angles of cars at car shows. I see so many car photos of just a picture of a car that does nothing other than to see a car. Different angles, down low going up, etc that emphasis a particular shape has driven me to take photos of cars. But it's been an evolution of ideas and concepts over time.

 

[limr]

If you're not getting enjoyment or any other benefit out of it, then it IS pointless and meaningless. That's how you feel now. That may be how you will feel even months or years from now. Or you might start enjoying it again at some point.

Don't sell the equipment, but put it away. Don't take it out until you really want to. Maybe the interest will never come back. There's nothing wrong with that. There's a time and a season for everything, and sometimes, those seasons end. But I think a month or so is really too soon to tell if this hobby is done with or if you just need an extended break.

 

[gsgary]

You are not going to interesting places to shoot, car shows and the like are a waste of time for good shots, open your eyes go out without your camera a you will see loads to shoot

 

[minicoop1985]

You are not going to interesting places to shoot, car shows and the like are a waste of time for good shots, open your eyes go out without your camera a you will see loads to shoot

I'd beg to differ. Car shows offer a great opportunity to get detail shots of fantastic cars.

Meow by longm1985, on Flickr

My thought here. You're trying the same things over and over. Try seeing them in a slightly different way. Try doing something different with something you've already shot. It's a challenge, but a worthwhile one.

 

[gsgary]

That could be anything very hard to tell it's a car, where is the nice lighting ?