Motivation.

[MamaFox512]

I've loved photography since I was able to pick up a camera.. Unfortunately, I've been extremely limited financially and have recently been tied down by 2 babies. To save up would take me FOREVER - but I'm seeking desperate measures to get set up, lol.

When you started out, how did you build yourself up? I'm losing motivation, as it feels pretty impossible at the moment

 

[JoeW28]

Sell the kids off--you should be able to buy a decent DSLR for the money you'd bring in. Oh wait, that would be illegal and unethical--forget that advice.

You're asking a couple of questions here--how do you stay motivated and how do you acquire stuff when you're tight financially. Fortunately, digital photography is much more forgiving than shooting film. One or two SD cards (with a lot of deletes) can be all you need to get started rather than 1-2 rolls of film per week (plus developing and printing).

1. There are a bunch of inexpensive DSLRs out there that you can start learning with. You can get a Nikon D70 (big, clunky, poor in low light but revolutionary when it came out as a "prosumer" model with it's sync capabilities). You can get good used ones for $70-$120 right now (and that would probably include a kit lens). As long as it has a battery and the recharger plus a CF card, you're in business.

2. TF. As in "trade for." Depending upon your age and shape, you can offer to model. Most experienced photographers will have tons of gear gathering dust. I've given a bunch of stuff to my son and also weeded out a lot b/c of my wife's insistence. But as I write this post, within 3 feet of me are 11 different lens (half of which I haven't shot with in the past 2 months). How quickly you'd acquire equity depends upon what kind of modeling you're doing. I know some figure models who decided they wanted to get in to photography and did TF work with photographers in order to get a relatively decent body and lens compatible with the body. And they've then proceeded to trade for lessons, coaching, and instruction from veteran photographers. Or they've worked out deals with other models "I pose for you then you pose for me" so they don't have to pay model fees. Or they help out a shooter (to get experience and coaching) and then pose for the photographer. I don't want to raise your expectations, I'm simply pointing out the possible. If you can't or won't model, then offer to clean a studio. Or serve as a receptionist for limited hours (b/c part of the hassle of a studio for a photographer is that it ties you down when you want to be out there shooting).

3. It's going to be bit by bit...like a very long hike. You're not going to accomplish it all right away, in fact you can't even accomplish most of it right away. So if you can set your eyes on a body and work towards that (don't get stuck up on gear envy--right now you don't need to be looking at brand new, high end prosumer or pro bodies). What you want to be doing is to start taking pictures regularly. And for that you need a body and lens so you can start to grow as a photographer. So it may be a case where you acquire a body, then wait a month or two and acquire a lens, then in a couple of months you can afford a cheap speed light. Then a reflector. And bit by bit you cobble together a lot of used gear. But it means you're taking pictures, learning your art, feeding your passion.

4. As for the motivation, not sure what to tell you. Think of it as a long journey where you will not get immediate gratification. Instead, you will celebrate small victories spread over time. And b/c you don't have a lot of money to throw at the problem (how to get in to photography), you'll have to come up with creative solutions. You're a mother, you're used to coming up with creative solutions to problems so you can do this.

As a photographer, the best motivation I can give you is this:
--shoot every day. Don't wait for when it's convenient or when you feel creative. I find that when I feel like crap, I pick up my camera and start focusing and I begin to feel better, I begin to get in the zone.
--give yourself assignments (even simple ones). For example (if you had a camera right now), this coming week you'd look for natural curves in buildings and nature. Or funny shadows. Or 30 different perspectives on a common household object in your home.
--NEVER stop learning. You're doing to be doing photography by attending the school of "trial and error." This school is noted for an instructional approach that is very frustrating and also time consuming but it does work if you're willing to pay attention to the errors. You're going to do stuff, it will fail and you can either get discouraged and give away your used gear and DIY lighting setup or you can analyze it, read some stuff online or at the public library, and then try again with some new insight.

You made it through 9 months of pregnancy and delivered two babies. You can do this.

In the meantime, here is a link you should check out. Her name is Elena Shumilova, she's Russian and she takes pictures of her children and their animals. I defy you to look at this link and then not want to go out and find a way to get a camera: Russian Mother Takes Magical Portraits of Her Two Boys and their Animal Friends

 

[KmH]

About 8 years ago I helped a kid get started doing photography.

He was sure he had no extra money to buy a camera/lens with, but he had stuff sitting not being used around he could sell.
So, we got him signed up on eBay and helped him learn how to make an effective eBay ad.

Next we looked at his monthly recurring spending habits.
He was spending about $60 a month ($2 a day, or $730 a year) on indulgences like fast food, soda pop, and energy drinks.

The bottom line being that with some spending modifications, some amount of the money you already have can be re-purposed if you want something badly enough.

As JoeW points out, there is a vast used camera gear market.
There are reputable used gear sellers.
KEH.com includes their own 6 month warranty on a lot of the used gear they sell.

NIKON D50 6.1 M/P DIGITAL CAMERA BODY - KEH Camera
NIKON D70 6.1 M/P DIGITAL CAMERA BODY - KEH Camera
NIKON D80 DIGITAL CAMERA BODY {10.2 M/P} - KEH Camera
BuyDig.com - Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens Factory Refurbished
BuyDig.com - Nikon 55-200mm F/4-5.6G ED AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens Refurb

 

[vintagesnaps]

I think it's a matter of being realistic about what you can do when. It was not unusual at work for someone to quite working for a time while the kids were little then come back to work for our agency once the kids were a little older.

I think it takes time to build up a reputation as a photographer and your photos would need to be good enough to make paying clients happy. Photographers now are also competing with people with cameras listing and underpricing themselves on facebook and craigslist (which maybe eventually will run its course but seems to make it challenging for many photographers now). I wouldn't count on photography necessarily being a reliable source of extra income but you could start whenever it's do-able and build up from there.

I agree that buying used thru a reputable seller like KEH would be an option to buy used equipment.