drifting away

[chuasam]

What do you do when you no longer feel like taking photographs?
Let's say you're pro and you take photos for money but outside of paid shoots, y0u no longer do any photographs for yourself.

 

[tirediron]

Time to find a different line of work. Photography is art, and if your heart and passion aren't in it, than it's going to show in your work, paid or unpaid.

 

[chuasam]

Time to find a different line of work. Photography is art, and if your heart and passion aren't in it, than it's going to show in your work, paid or unpaid.

I’m starting to feel like art is a luxury I current can’t afford.

 

[Destin]

This is why photography will never be my full time job. I do a few paid shoots per month to help fund my camera gear, but most of my time behind the camera is out of passion and passion alone.

 

[chuasam]

This is why photography will never be my full time job. I do a few paid shoots per month to help fund my camera gear, but most of my time behind the camera is out of passion and passion alone.

depending on your art to live is one way to make it very good or make you resent it.

 

[Overread]

It is perfectly normal to get bored with ones hobby. Be that if your hobby is also your work or not, getting bored is natural and normal. There are those who are lucky enough to find a blazing passion in life that they can never abandon (though they will likely go through phases where its more and where its less fun).

If photography is your work then that's fine, keep working and remember that sure you might not be doing it as a hobby right now but you can in the future when you wish too. Until then start up a new hobby to occupy your free time and disposable income.

Lets also not forget that the bulk of paid work isn't passionate highly creative, totally free form work - heck the bulk is your standard portraits, event shots etc... Even if your heart isn't in it, chances are you've got enough still to keep going and produce standard commercial work. Heck if anything many pros say that their day to day work isn't their most inspirational nor creative - that's for their hobby.


So I'd say keep at it and don't worry about it; just find something new for your free time and keep plugging away at it. It's risky to just up and abandon one's line of work these days if you've got money coming in in a healthy way - though by all means if the money is drying up too then start looking for other employment.

 

[smoke665]

I had a productive work career, I didn't care much for it, but it paid well and I was good at it. Maybe that's why I learned early on to compartmentalize my life. There was a time for work, and time for relaxation/play I was very careful not to let either invade the space of the other. If photography is your work, as Overread pointed out, you need to find something "else" as an outlet. The mind needs a break.

 

[chuasam]

Dancing is my hobby. I dance far more than I photograph at this point in time.

 

[Jamesaz]

I realize this is an older thread. In my case, I retired after 40+ years working in photography. I took a couple years off and now that I don't have to do it for money I can do it for fun. I'm having much more fun now, too.

 

[beagle100]

I realize this is an older thread. In my case, I retired after 40+ years working in photography. I took a couple years off and now that I don't have to do it for money I can do it for fun. I'm having much more fun now, too.

having fun .... that's most important
www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless

 

[F5 Penguin]

When you've had enough? I can answer this one! I took the last pic with my camera then threw all my gear into the spare room. Didn't even touch it or see it once in over 3 years and that seemed to work. I pulled out my gear 2-3 days ago and got excited like a little kid! Ready to go again like the first day I started with photography AND even joined my first photography forum in probably 15 years! This one!

 

[webestang64]

I have never drifted away from photography. Started as a hobby in 1980, turned it into a career in 1985 and have never stopped. Just wish I had more time to spend in the darkroom. And I can't say I am/was bored with other hobby's (mostly plastic model kit building)......just no time to do them.

 

[vintagesnaps]

If you aren't enjoying it, maybe take a break. Then see if you regain interest in it and if not, then go with whatever does interest you.

 

[Cortian]

I have never before taken up photography as a hobby, per se. But I did turn what was once a hobby, computers, into a vocation. This last summer, after over forty years of it: I'd had enough. Actually, I'd had enough years ago, but stuck it out because I'd no idea what else I'd do to earn a living.

I have no inclination to pursue computer-oriented stuff just for the fun of it any longer. Haven't had, for years.

My other hobbies, of which there've been many I've pursued over the years: Some I set aside for a while and repeatedly come back to. Others I've explored for a while, left and never touched again.

I cannot say how photography will pan out. I have semi-seriously pursued it several times in the past. Maybe this time it'll "take." We'll see.

If I'm being honest with myself: Many of the hobbies I've pursued in the past have been more about acquiring the toys of the hobby than the hobby, itself, I suspect. This time, with photography, I'm going to try to make it more about doing than acquiring.