Stopped taking photos

[Austerby]

I've just realised that I've hardly taken any photos this year and my lovely set of cameras and lenses are sitting there grossly unused.

What can I do to re-energise my photography?

(buying new gear is not an option).

 

[grouchos_tash]

I started taking much more photos when I switched back to developing my own films, mainly because it was cheaper and I enjoyed the process. Maybe you could focus on a project or particular theme.

Photography is one of the drivers I have that gets me out of the house and visiting places I've never been before looking for new things to shoot. Eventually I might have to start finding 'new ways of seeing' to re-energise my interest in places I've already been many times before. I suppose this could be using a different focal length or trying to self process colour for example.

Have fun,

Gary

 

[mfogiel]

Maybe ask yourself what keeps you alive.

 

[silverbullet]

At first: don't worry!

It's normal to be 'dried out' in terms of creativity. Sometimes the break will last only weeks or months but it can be much longer…… ;-)

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148884

 

[Andrea Taurisano]

Nothing wrong or worrying in having long periods of inactivity and lack of inspiration. Everything goes in waves, ups and downs in life (especially in mine..).

But keeping your photography alive and well doesn't mean being very active shooting all the time.

When I feel that inspiration and wish to take photos are gone, I spend more time looking at photo books and photo videos, and they eventually come back.

 

[pvdhaar]

...and my lovely set of cameras and lenses are sitting there grossly unused...

Maybe you suffer from gear overload..

I see three possible solutions..

1. Sell the whole lot.. maybe except one camera/lens. This is perhaps a bit drastic, so the second one is:

2. Pick the smallest/lightest camera of the lot and literally take it always & wherever you go. Snap reflexively; as in if you see something odd or interesting, immediately take a shot.. that'll get you over shutter block.. And if this doesn't appeal, the third one is:

3. Pick the heaviest, largest and most cumbersome camera you've got, hang it around your neck and literally take it always & wherever you go.. Only allow it to go into a bag or backpack after you've taken a shot..

Personally for me, cycling between #2 and #3 does indeed work..

 

[jsrockit]

What can I do to re-energise my photography?

Wait until you see something you want to photograph again. No harm in taking a break.

 

[Jbig]

This has happened to me and I didn't worry about it. I found that looking over my photographs over the years and appreciating the mere fact that I had taken them had the effect of getting me going again. I started carrying a camera again on a regular basis.

 

[daveleo]

Don't agonize too much about this. These "dead spots" come and go. Take family pictures, your cat, whatever, just to stay in touch with your gear.

 

[fidget]

Me too! I'm in a deep slump after trying to work more digi colour images after stopping film work. I never seem to see an interesting scene. Now going back to IR (digi) as at least I enjoyed the different way of seeing things, then more B&W.
But I have bought a new lens to help, the Panasonic F1.7 20mm for 4/3rds. Hope that simple will help too. Good luck.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Nothing. It is in you or it has left you.

 

[Bill Clark]

Charge up the batteries inside you and get going again!

 

[tyrone.s]

Don't worry. I've just come back after a 3 year break where I was totally unmotivated to enjoy photography. Oddly enough during this period I took hundreds of documentary photo's on my phone (a couple of crappy Nokia 520's) to record work projects etc., but not photography photo's if that makes sense.

And then with the time and tide of all things, I picked up a digital camera and took some photo's. Then some more and then I dusted off my reels and developing gear and then I pulled out some cameras and loaded some film (my last roll of Legacy Pro 100 expired in the bulk loader in 2011!) and started taking photos again.

BTW, my cameras were all wrapped up in newspaper in a suitcase during this 3 year break... The good news is, when I started taking photos again, well the cameras, the Internet and RFF were all still where I left them 🙂 So if you're not motivated then don't stress; you can either take some of the good advice here to make yourself take more photo's or you can take a break and wait till taking photo's means something to you again and makes you want to grab a camera 🙂

 

[Paul Jenkin]

It's happened to me two or three times in the 40+ years I've been into photography. For me, it usually coincides with a life change - change job, divorce, death of my parents and I put it down to other, more pressing things to deal with.

When I realise it's happened, the first thing I've tended to do is look at my photos and see what I've been most interested in and then depending on the season - decide whether I can get back in the saddle (so to speak) to shoot one of my interests. Going somehere I haven't been before - but with a specific objective of checking out its history, geography, etc has also helped. The other thing I've done is gone to a good bookshop and got a book by someone I like (or someone new and interesting) and tried to work out how they shot what I like - and then have a go to see if I can get similar results.

The thing is not to worry. If I ever got to the point where I couldn't face photography anymore, I would find something else.

 

[Austerby]

Sensible advice all. I suspect it's because I've been exceptionally busy at work - doing a new role that has proven to be both stimulating and rewarding but very demanding of my time and attention. My other leisure activity - sailing - has also suffered as I've hardly used my yacht in the past year.

 

[a.noctilux]

Just replace your "No photograph" avatar with " Not Sailing" !

Just kidding...

Arnaud

 

[leicapixie]

I have had periods where I stopped.
Folks that appeared in my shots suddenly died..
Two murdered separately, in Sunny South Africa.
Fellow photographers, parent kinda added to the weight.
Suddenly i was OK.
I was glad to have the images of "them".
Images I shared with those involved.
I now shoot everyday!

 

[lynnb]

Sensible advice all. I suspect it's because I've been exceptionally busy at work - doing a new role that has proven to be both stimulating and rewarding but very demanding of my time and attention. My other leisure activity - sailing - has also suffered as I've hardly used my yacht in the past year.

If you've been exceptionally busy at work, why not take your camera for a walk at lunch time? A lunch break improves your work productivity, and walking with your camera will give you a refreshing mental break at the same time.

 

[John Bragg]

Get someone to set you a small photographic project and shoot to that brief. When you have done, edit the resulting shots and reduce them to the best 6. That will force you to think about how you shoot and why you shoot and also make you aim for quality not just quantity.

 

[Vincent.G]

I've just realised that I've hardly taken any photos this year and my lovely set of cameras and lenses are sitting there grossly unused.

What can I do to re-energise my photography?

(buying new gear is not an option).

Look through all the photos you have taken with those gear.