"Give up!"

H

Hsg

who dares wins
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Do you sometimes hear an inner voice telling you "give up on photography!"?

Do you reflect on the fact that you have been trying for such a long time and yet you're still where you begun, and your photos never leaves you satisfied?

How many cameras have you tried, how many lenses have you tried, how many times you have used other accessories to make yourself happy but you're still unhappy with photography and want this and that?


I read somewhere that the definition of madness is trying the same thing and expecting different results, and I see that approach to photography is disturbingly similar to what every photographer that I know of is doing including myself.

Just some reflections, that I thought I'd share.
 
Can't say that I have. I've put photography aside several times but never giving up. It's too much a part of me for as long as I can remember.

I have a need to be creative, to make stuff, to capture images, something.

Interesting question.

B2
 
I suffer from the opposite.

Having done all the photographs for both the student newspaper and yearbook in high school, I had less time to simply head out with camera in hand and just "do it."

Now that I'm retired I picked up a Mamiya C220 (the camera I loved in high school) and that voice is loud and clear, "You've been given the wondrous gifts of time and self-sufficiency to take up where you left off some 40 years ago. No get up off your arse and just "do it again!"
 
Hsg said:
Do you sometimes hear an inner voice telling you "give up on photography!"?
Click to expand...

Yes, everyday, many times per day -- for a variety of reasons -- burn-out from trying to attain the unobtainable, the fatigue from the effort, the negative aspects of the need to be relentless, and the feeling that this endeavor is selfish with regards to family responsibilities and economics, wondering if my photography is on course, if the photos have any value, what do they communicate, and more -- but there it is. :)
 
I feel the complete opposite to what you feel. Weird...

Hsg said:
Do you sometimes hear an inner voice telling you "give up on photography!"?

Do you reflect on the fact that you have been trying for such a long time and yet you're still where you begun, and your photos never leaves you satisfied?

How many cameras have you tried, how many lenses have you tried, how many times you have used other accessories to make yourself happy but you're still unhappy with photography and want this and that?


I read somewhere that the definition of madness is trying the same thing and expecting different results, and I see that approach to photography is disturbingly similar to what every photographer that I know of is doing including myself.

Just some reflections, that I thought I'd share.
Click to expand...
 
Can't say I have, then again for me photography is more about the process/journey than the final results/destination.
 
Hsg said:
Do you sometimes hear an inner voice telling you "give up on photography!"?
Click to expand...

Nope.

Hsg said:
Do you reflect on the fact that you have been trying for such a long time and yet you're still where you begun, and your photos never leaves you satisfied?
Click to expand...

Sometimes I get something I like, sometimes I get to like something I didn't like when it was made. Photographies are documents and they are often like fine wine: they get better with age. Sometimes I don't like something but I am glad that the "final consumer" likes it. It can be the customer (money!!!) or a dear one who appreciate to have a picture of something (old relatives love to have pictures of kids, especially when they live far away).

Hsg said:
How many cameras have you tried, how many lenses have you tried, how many times you have used other accessories to make yourself happy but you're still unhappy with photography and want this and that?
Click to expand...

Too many but it doesn't count, the question maybe it should be how many techniques, approaches, setups did you try. If you buy all Canikonleiujitax catalogue and then take always the same picture you will finally have...always the same picture in you portfolio.

Hsg said:
I read somewhere that the definition of madness is trying the same thing and expecting different results, and I see that approach to photography is disturbingly similar to what every photographer that I know of is doing including myself.

Just some reflections, that I thought I'd share.
Click to expand...

Maybe it is time to get new photographer friends... ;)

GLF
 
I should have added another point to this post, which is more important.

Do you listen to your inner voice? Or for that matter do you take your inner voice seriously?

We all have an inner voice and most often than not, we're too busy to listen to it.
 
The biggest mistake I made was to sell my gear during a long hiatus, including a couple Angenieux lenses that are worth thou$ands today.. I sold my beloved F3, bought a second one later because I missed it, sold that too. I just ordered a third one on Ebay... What a waste of money. So, if you "give up" photography, DO NOT sell your gear, especially not lenses. You might come back to it sooner than you think. Digital bodies, maybe, because of digital-rot, but keep film stuff and lenses.

It is normal to leave a hobby for a while. I went from leaving a profession to get back to it as a hobby... I know I'll put down my cameras at times to pursue other interests, but they will be ready when the bug bites again.

Sometimes though we focus too much on gear. Photography becomes an excuse to buy more cameras and lenses, trying to get performance we can't see with the naked eye. That is the time to concentrate on one body/lens combination and exploit the hell out of it. Dealing with too much gear is overwhelming and you will master none. If that's what's happening, take one simple film body and go make photographs. Forget about "photography" just go have fun, take photos. Don't think about the quality of your work too much and it might improve. Don't touch a camera for a month if that can help, photograph when you feel like it.

Gil.
 
Give up? On photography? As long as you find an emotion inside you when you grab a camera, it would be like giving up on life. Don't give a damn about how you think your photos should look, just turn around, try to see what makes you feel alive and shoot. Then see what came out, edit, go out again and get smarter. That's all there is to it, and it's lots of fun...


20142112 by mfogiel, on Flickr
 
I think it is normal to feel this. A lot of creative people have this exact same battle going on inside. They are never happy. Depression is also common. Just keep going and focus on the process rather than the results.
 
Once my pictures will start to satisfy me it will be time to leave photography as hobby.
Another part of my photography is for my family and I can't quit, local photog are expensive :)
 
I've tried 237 various cameras. 702 lenses. 563,291 shutter actuation's on 3 digital cameras alone, no telling how many film rolls, and have yet to be thoroughly satisfied with a single image.

Give up? No way... I've got 7,119 more cameras to go, not counting lenses.

Ok, the numbers above are pure OCD fabrication. Obsessive creative disorder. :D
 
Different people have all kinds of views of themselves, and their art.

Some people believe their work is not worth showing to others, dying in obscurity only to have their art discovered after their demise - Kafka and Vivian Maeir being two great examples.

Others believe their truly mediocre work is something great and can't wait to share it with others. Unfortunately the examples are countless.

Follow your own path whatever that is. Really, that is your only choice. All the other paths are already taken.

Stephen
 
Hsg said:
.............

I read somewhere that the definition of madness is trying the same thing and expecting different results, and I see that approach to photography is disturbingly similar to what every photographer that I know of is doing including myself.

Just some reflections, that I thought I'd share.
Click to expand...


This is the key. You (and I ! ) have to get out our small boxes, "unlearn what you have learned" (sorry, Yoda) and go where you have been afraid to go.

The bumper sticker would read .... "Don't Give Up - Change !!! "
 
Not at all. I love photography and feel like i've evolved, some at least, over the years. Sometimes I get a little bored and don't shoot for awhile, but I always come back to it.
 
My passion for image creation, and photographs in general, keeps me excited. I also find great joy in the traditional and alternative photographic crafts (pinhole cameras, paper negatives, darkroom manipulations, etc.), these serve me well in times of inspirational dryness.

Regarding the oft-quoted quip about insanity being defined as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results, this is merely the work of data-gathering by statisticians; how are we to otherwise know the standard deviation of our data set? ;)

~Joe
 
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