Completely lost my passion, it's become "work", I'm annoyed!

ScarySquirrel

ScarySquirrel

ScarySquirrel

Soldato
Joined
13 Jan 2004
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South East
Hello all.

I don't really post in here much anymore, to be honest I never even visit this forum anymore because it just reminds me of how little photography I do 'for me' nowadays. This is nothing more than a dump of my thoughts, and maybe see if anyone else is in a similar situation.

I took a whole load of photos in 2011, more than ever before, all of them at weddings, and none of them for me. It was all work. I don't massively enjoy the wedding work, but the money is obviously good and it's a very welcome extra income.

However over the last 12-18 months, I've managed to get myself in this hole whereby I don't even open my camera bag unless it's to prepare for a wedding. This is naturally halting my progress as a photographer, and is no doubt making me a "bit rusty" at weddings.

Has anyone else been through this? 2012 will be my last year of weddings for the time being (moving away in 2013 hopefully), so that will help. I know it should just be a case of picking the damn thing up and going out with it, but because I've left it so long, and because I'm so critical of every photo I take, I feel like I don't want to because I'll probably get nothing I'm happy with.

Rant over.

PS. This site is awesome - http://500px.com/popular
 
going through the exact same thing at the moment, debating whether to sell up currently. already sold off a load of kit that wasnt getting much use and the 120-300 is on an auction at the moment..
 
I am not sure what you mean by "None of them are for you, they were all work".

Of course they are work, and of course none of them are for you, it's not like you are shooting your own wedding with Natalie is it?

Unless you mean working as Second Shooter for someone else. But then I don't get that either, I distinctly recall you say that you don't like shooting wedding by yourself and had more fun when you are shooting with Jake.

Bottom-line, I don't think you enjoy shooting weddings from the things that you've said. You certainly don't like the processing part which I don't blame you, it can be monotonous. Although you need to get a routine going, and for me, the dullest part is the culling part. The actual processing part is quite fun, finding gems amongst the set is actually quite rewarding.

I too go weeks without getting my camera out of the bag, don't get them out until the next wedding but unlike you, I never really see it as a job. I see it as a opportunity to get great shots. I see as someone is paying me to let them take photos of them?! I love photographing people, it doesn't necessarily in a wedding, it just happens that the people I am photographing is having a wedding. I could easily document a family making Sunday Dinner.

I would suggest you don't shoot any weddings, period, it is killing you on the inside. Photography is more than shooting weddings and you seems to revolve yourself around it when you clearly not a fan of it.
 
This is the reason my girlfriend, whos into photography doesn't want to do it as a job, she thinks that HAVING to do photography would be annoying, even if she was being paid for it. She said she wants to keep it as a hobby and if she does the odd event, then great we get to eat that week lol
 
Raymond Lin said:
I am not sure what you mean by "None of them are for you, they were all work".

Of course they are work, and of course none of them are for you, it's not like you are shooting your own wedding with Natalie is it?

Unless you mean working as Second Shooter for someone else. But then I don't get that either, I distinctly recall you say that you don't like shooting wedding by yourself and had more fun when you are shooting with Jake.

Bottom-line, I don't think you enjoy shooting weddings from the things that you've said. You certainly don't like the processing part which I don't blame you, it can be monotonous. Although you need to get a routine going, and for me, the dullest part is the culling part. The actual processing part is quite fun, finding gems amongst the set is actually quite rewarding.

I too go weeks without getting my camera out of the bag, don't get them out until the next wedding but unlike you, I never really see it as a job. I see it as a opportunity to get great shots. I see as someone is paying me to let them take photos of them?! I love photographing people, it doesn't necessarily in a wedding, it just happens that the people I am photographing is having a wedding. I could easily document a family making Sunday Dinner.

I would suggest you don't shoot any weddings, period, it is killing you on the inside. Photography is more than shooting weddings and you seems to revolve yourself around it when you clearly not a fan of it.
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By "for me", I mean taking photos purely for my own enjoyment, like going out and doing some landscape work. I know the wedding stuff isn't for me, that's the point.

The processing part you're right about, it is fun when you're in the flow of things and finding some good shots.

I need to do the weddings this year, I've committed, and I need the money, After 2012 that's it though.
 
Rather than just quit the wedding photographs, why not just limit them to x amount over the year allowing you to have so many weeks / weekends off to do the things you want to with your camera. Just class the weddings as a bit of pocket money on the side rather than work.

Saying that with all the footy photography that I do sometimes it does get me down as well, thinking damn got to get these shots done by Sunday night so i can post stuff on the website / get ready for the paper / next weeks programme. At the moment I'm looking forward to the summer where i can get some time to take shots i want to. I guess the only difference between your work and my work is that I'm shooting my footy team so there is more of a connection between me and my work and you and your clients which does keep the buzz of the work going.
 
Do you get stressed with the wedding work, it may even be a sub conscious thing that then impacts your pleasure/drive to take pictures outside of the wedding stuff? Of course just plain not liking it will have an impact, you need to force yourself to get out and do stuff you do like?
 
I am in exactly the same boat, before I started taking photos as a job I used to take my camera everywhere and was always taking photos. Now it seems to only for work related jobs.

I still love taking the photos, it's just that the social side has completely gone for me at the moment. I love shooting my weddings etc and am constantly learning and becoming better.

What you need to do is decide on a personal project or try and take photos of something new, once I get a bit of free time from work I've a couple of project ideas I would like to try:)
 
Having to shoot weddings on a regular basis would drive me to despair too. I think that with any job, you have to be comfortable with doing the bread & butter work. It may be mundane, but it earns you money ... and you can tolerate it.

Doesn't sound like wedding photography is your thing either. Sure, you can do it ... but subconsciously you don't enjoy it ( unless it was a friend, or someone you have an attachment with ).

Also, I think that with any creative activity it's very easy to get into a rut. I find the only solution is to force yourself to get out there and shoot, but perhaps change the genre ... do something different ( eg. I do studio/model shoots ..which is usually outwith my "comfort" zone ) or set yourself limitations that challenge your skills ( eg. only take a 50mm 1.4 prime ).

Finally, I nearly always find that winter is when the photographic blues hit the hardest ...especially in this country, where it's just cold and grey. I'm sure as spring/summer rolls around some of your enthusiasm will creep back. Don't give up !
 
I think there is a benefit of being a Photographer but also having another job, that way it doesn't end up becoming your only source of income and a necessity.

I'm sure everybody would love to be a top Photographer in their chosen field, but ultimately if you were taking photos everyday for schools for example, it would quickly become a chore.

If you aren't totally relying on it, you can pick and choose what and when you want to shoot.
 
I rarely shoot anything these days apart from jobs, had a great holiday (+wedding shoot) in the US and I know I have a huge set of great personal shots, just haven't got round to processing them!

I do however totally love shooting weddings, I thrive on the pressure, they are really exciting and it's a privilege to be part of peoples special day. Turning a nice big profit is a bonus! (paying the tax man sucks tho)

But I see you have answered your own question, don't do things you don't enjoy!
 
My Dad used to do wedding photography many years ago, so I kind of know what effect it has and I have zero intention of ever doing a wedding, it doesn't interest me at all. It sounds like you are doing the weddings purely for the money otherwise you wouldn't be doing it. I'd say take break if you can afford to do so, there's other ways to make money of photography (although not as much/easy) which would probably allow more creativity and a feel that it is "your work" and just not "work".
 
I've not let any of my hobbies turn pro (guitar playing is a tough one in that regard) despite being offered: having played in a band for money once, it lost its fun edge pretty quickly.

I've since been nvited to do work for a nursery and a christening, and only did the christening as a favour to the friend... Everything else has a line that I won't cross. But then I enjoy my day job enough to not worry about it. :)

You seem to do weddings for the money, and Raymond appears to do them for the art. An interesting way to make it 'fun' would be to challenge yourself differently: I once saw a blog where the tog had sub'd fo a no-show with just a tilt-shift and another prime and the photos were incredible.

But then, doing anything just for the money will always get sale after a while...
 
This is exactly why I haven't ditched IT work and gone full time on weddings...it worries me I'd lose the enjoyment factor.

I know you don't enjoy the weddings anymore mate, gimme a text next time your in London with your new slam piece and we'll go Richmond Park if you want :)
 
I don't enjoy weddings. 2011 I've hardly picked up my camera. A combination of factors that hit me last year meant took a massive step back. I am at my best when I am relaxed, wanting to experiment and do it has a hobby and that is something I am slowly returning to now.
 
ScarySquirrel said:
Hello all.

I don't really post in here much anymore, to be honest I never even visit this forum anymore because it just reminds me of how little photography I do 'for me' nowadays. This is nothing more than a dump of my thoughts, and maybe see if anyone else is in a similar situation.

I took a whole load of photos in 2011, more than ever before, all of them at weddings, and none of them for me. It was all work. I don't massively enjoy the wedding work, but the money is obviously good and it's a very welcome extra income.

However over the last 12-18 months, I've managed to get myself in this hole whereby I don't even open my camera bag unless it's to prepare for a wedding. This is naturally halting my progress as a photographer, and is no doubt making me a "bit rusty" at weddings.

Has anyone else been through this? 2012 will be my last year of weddings for the time being (moving away in 2013 hopefully), so that will help. I know it should just be a case of picking the damn thing up and going out with it, but because I've left it so long, and because I'm so critical of every photo I take, I feel like I don't want to because I'll probably get nothing I'm happy with.

Rant over.

PS. This site is awesome - http://500px.com/popular
Click to expand...



This is why I decided not to push towards being a pro-photog. I don't want a hobby that I enjoy to become work and means of putting food on my able. Plus I would be financially very insecure and would have little spare cash to buy lenses that I would use for personal enjoyment and could only buy camera gear if it would increase my finances.


Instead I decided to stick to industry and have a job that will leave me plenty of cash to buy camera gear for pure enjoyment without expecting a financial return.


My plan is to to remain working in industry, buy a house and pay off the mortgage etc. and then take early retirement to focus on semi-professional photography when I am hopefully in a financially secure situation and the photography is for my enjoyment not to put food on my plate.


Now I enjoy taking photography related holidays and short trips for enjoyment purposes.
 
The other thing I cannot get over is processing. I hate it. Such a chore and really dull. I love being in the field, watching a moose in pond waiting for the right expression with the right lighting, trekking into the mountains to get the right vantage pint and then realizing the light wont work that day and you will need to come back at 6am the next day rather than 7am.


When i come back from a trip with a memory card full of photos the last thing i ant to do is sit in front of a computer. I do that at work for 8 hours a day, why do I want to do that in my spare time?
It is nice when you have a great vision in the field, you take the shot and the default processing leaves a dull image, which you can bring back to match your minds-eye memory of that time and place where you clicked the shutter, but it gets boring very quick.


I'm going to investigate the costs of paying other people to PP my photos.
 
I both love it an hate it. If its only say 30 images I love it but any more than that (at one time) and it seems like a chore. That is one reason why I will probably never take photography as a career because then you have pressure to edit in a certain time frame. At the moment when I shoot a school rugby game (for fun) I can edit the photos over a few days and post them for friends to see when they are done rather than when the 'client' needs them for. Then I can actually enjoy the processing as well!
 
Guitarman0 said:
I both love it an hate it. If its only say 30 images I love it but any more than that (at one time) and it seems like a chore. That is one reason why I will probably never take photography as a career because then you have pressure to edit in a certain time frame. At the moment when I shoot a school rugby game (for fun) I can edit the photos over a few days and post them for friends to see when they are done rather than when the 'client' needs them for. Then I can actually enjoy the processing as well!
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i have 20-30gbs of unedited photos from the last 6 years that I can't bring myself to edit, even when I had 3 months of unemployment and wasn't traveling I got through only a few hundred photos.

When i was doing my PhD I rarely had enough time to enjoy photography as it was, let alone edit photos. Now that is behind I hope to be able to make more photography related excursions and edit the top few %.
 
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