Ever feel like giving it up.

I have really hit a point I was hoping I wouldn't get to in my hobby but I feel it more right now than ever before. I am just tired of shooting anything and everything. The last straw was a wedding that I was at and took some photo's of the relative's for my wife.
After we arrived back home I tried to go through the pics and do some editing but my head just isn't into it right now. Here are a couple I did process before I made a lame excuse to the wife about not being able to finish them for a couple of weeks.
In the meantime I figured it would be a good idea to send my equipment in to be serviced/checked/clean​ed while I'm not needing it. I even posted online that anyone considering hiring me should not expect a reply until October if that tells you the kind of funk I am am.
My question is, have any of you had that give it up feeling and how did you deal with it?

take a break, i'm betting you'll want to jump back in before October.

I've had that feeling, and it's ironic but I had that feeling with my main line of work.

I'm a sound designer for feature films in Hollywood.

I've worked on some pretty top blockbusters.

Last year was very slow and I got bored with doing that, and so I chose another artistic endeavor to get busy with and occupy my time off. That was Photography.

I've liked it so much that I am seriously considering getting better at it and possibly making it my main source of income for a bit.

Maybe we should swap jobs?

hehehe.

Don't sweat it. I'd find something else to do for a bit and then you'll be back in the game, fresh and extroverted.

Recently have gone for a total upgrade 5dmkii 24-105L 70-200L flash etc etc and have suddenly gone into freeze mode. The creative juices are simply not there for some reason, even frightened to pick the damn thing up sometimes.

I don't know if it's the sheer jump (overwhelming) in gear that has freaked me out or it's just a temporary block. The whole point of the upgrade was to kick on and try to take things to another level and even change career at sometime.

I have tried the going back to grass roots level, but I think I just need to chill for some time, regroup and go at it again.

A friend suggested a total change of subject matter to maybe kick start, but even that has not really worked.

My main subject matters are portrait and landscape photography and I can honestly say they are the last thing I want to shoot at this moment in time. I lack inspiration and my eyes have closed to the world and my surroundings, which is basically what it's all about.

Hopefully things will resolve themselves in the near future, if not who knows!

Any ideas anyone?

crak open a beer, invite a few freinds over, play cards or something chill out and chat...

basically take your mind off of it for a while.

next day? clean the car...lol

Wow, these are rough.

I've not hit this as my main income is still from the high tech world, and photography became an income through happenstance. Soon to be the main income as I retire from the high pressure job.

Last year I went back to the local college and took the Continuing Ed Photography Certificate courses just to pick up whatever I may have missed in my self-training. What an effect on my pride and attitude these courses provided me! What an experience working in studios and field trips with people who shared the same interest, if not the same passion, for photography!

A real boost to my interest and passion for this! It was sort of nice to have these pros that were teaching the courses provide the feedback of such a high level compared to what I thought of the work. Also nice that one of them kept referring the Canon users to go see me for technical help.

maybe a change in the surroundings of photography will help beat the blues. Get around other, positive, people with ther same interests for a while.

Certainly would'nt hurt.

Looking at your Flickr, you shoot a lot of people/family. Try something different?

For me, I started experimenting with macro.
Or try a different hobby until something inspires you to come back to photography.

And shoot for yourself. Shoot what gets your juices flowing.

dizzy
As you can see from those few shots, the ideas were there but no real execution, I put them up on Flickr to remind me how second rate they were.

I had thought about the Macro route and even looked at a 100mm F2.8L Macro, but the brakes went on when I thought about sorting the first problem out before embarking on a new one.

Hi Jazz
I have already studied some college courses and did OK! So for the moment I think I need just a little inspiration to solve things, maybe I will take up shooting a few ducks, that seems to work!

I have a friends wedding coming up soon and I may try to just blur into the background and take some candid shots to break out of this cycle.
This little hobby just seems to get a grip on you and you become your own worst critic, probably need to keep off this forum as you always seem to put yourself up against some very talented people who make things look so easy.

Hopefully It will pass and I can get back in the saddle and take up where I left off before this blip!

Just a thought
Hey you guys! Can't you post some really crap shots, just to make me feel better!


Thanks

What you're going through happens to me all the time. I literally hate everything I have up on my flickr. I process the image, I put it up on flickr, and I never want to look at it again. I find flaws in everything I shoot.

For me, this is a creative outlet and a hobby. I don't take it too seriously.

And as far as macro, I'm shooting macro with a 50/1.8 reverse attached to my camera. Point being, it's inexpensive to get into macro.

WithJustAClick wrote in post #14856889
Hi Jazz
I have already studied some college courses and did OK! So for the moment I think I need just a little inspiration to solve things, maybe I will take up shooting a few ducks, that seems to work!
Thanks

Any special recipe for cooking them up?

The feeling to give up photography completely? No, never. To take a break - yes, I'm not shooting a lot the last 7 months... ran out of ideas, out of time... my laptop is showing its age.
So the camera gets a rest, so what?

Its normal that one loses interest in a topic at times - or gets exhausted from the same occupation after a while. One takes a break and it works better again. So as others have said - take a break, then your interest and joy with respect to photography will come back again.

I was hoping that getting another body like the 1DS "Classic" or the 1DS MII might give me a spark but other than pairing it up with the 135L I already have I think it wouldn't do much good other than putting a dent in the bank account at the moment.
I am hoping that by stepping away for a few weeks that I'll get the urge to pick the camera up again but at least I know other people have these moments as well so I'm not alone in feeling this way.
Thanks for the help everyone and if anyone else has had to deal with the "I'm dead to photography right now" doldrums, please explain how you dealt with and overcame it.

Crickey!!!!!
I have just spent an hour looking through "Show us your set up and the final result" and that thread is so awesome. It's the first time I had even browsed at anything like it and some of those shots are just breath taking.

dizzy
you were right! That macro idea is maybe the way forward, the trouble is now my funds are going to get hammered for that 100 Macro f2.8L.

It's amazing how trying to clear your mind, can clear your bank balance!

I feel my mouse will be attacking that order form as quick as I can get away from here.

"You only live once and you are a long time dead!"

I've been there. I went out the other day at night and just started shooting things. It really helped. Nothing was really good, but it was nice to try some new stuff. I've heard things like pick themes for the day, or try going out with an odd lens and just mess around. What works for me is I live in Chicago and just ride down the lake with my tripod and camera while biking. I just stop and take shots when I want to. It does help to have a camera around a lot. I think what happens with me is if I have my camera I have this intense pressure on me that I have to shoot and make good photos. I think I'm my own enemy in that regard. Take a break and then try mixing it up.

Don't worry about it, it's normal, you can't give something your all, all of the time. I've been there, quite recently, but now the urge is back stronger than before. If you don't feel taking photos, don't, cos they won't be what you want and you'll be disappointed, which will make things worse..