Bought the gear, lost the drive. What now?

Here's my story.

Roughly two years ago I got the bug. All gear talked about is Canon. I started off with a Rebel t1i, and a 28-105. I took it to costa rica, put 10k photos on it very quickly. Camera worked fine, Loved it, Had the opportunity to straight trade for a 40d. Didn't regret it at all. Kept the 40d for about a year, put 25k~ on it, really disappointed in low light. Picked up a 5d2 for a steal(only because it was so cheap, I didn't think I needed it, but I couldn't pass up a 5d2 for 850$ with only 7k shots on it). I bought a 24-105 and a 50 1.4 shortly after.

Then it stopped. I took my last photo beginning of December. I love taking photos, I just haven't felt the urge or the want to go shoot anything. Nothing seems appealing. I felt like my art wasn't improving, it was still pretty garbage lacking depth.

So my question, what do I do? How do I get back into it? I don't want to sell my gear, I want to use it. I want to have fun again.

Please share any words, experiences or questions!

Thanks!

I think the important part is that you don't feel the immediate need to sell your gear. As far as your lack of desire to shoot...no way of knowing. For me I go into the doldrums when I don't have the opportunity to explore different places due to job obligations, responsibilities, etc...i.e. being relegated to shooting the same old stuff. When this happens, I tend to revisit some previous shots, re-edit, tweek, consider what I might have done differently or will so next time. Helps me keep my head in the game.

you won't get back into it typing in queries here. pick it up and start pushing that shutter button. you've got a great setup. you might want to change up what you were shooting for something else, i had a slump like that a few years ago and I picked up a nice 100L macro - it opened up new interests in shooting again.

If you don't have a flash pick one up, it will open up a whole new world in your photography.

Hi MuteGoose,

Sorry to hear you have hit a dry spot. There are times when the muse just doesn't whisper to you and it's hard to be creative. Been there and suffered through it. From my experience you have two options, either wait for it to pass or go looking for her. I have tried both and waiting didnt work for me as other things kept getting in the way. So how to get inspired...

Look at recognised masters and try and work out what makes their images stand out
Read up on techniques and the technicalities of photography (fill in your weak spots) every skill you gain is like a new tool, having a full toolkit makes you more flexible and creative.
Try something you haven't done before (macro, b+w, nighttime photography, long exposures, panoramas etc etc...)
Give yourself a project to complete within a set time
Photograph something different to what you would normally (I like big sweeping panoramas but my wife loves little details, when I'm stuck I try to see through her eyes and work out what would she shoot?)
Prep for a shoot, take everything out of the bag, charge the batteries, clean the lenses, check for sensor crud etc etc
Look... Leave you camera at home and go scout for a shoot, when you get there just sit for awhile and watch. Experience the location slowly without and pressure to create images, after all you don't have your camera. Just spend some time looking and thinking about the images you want to create. Don't rush, give yourself time to be inspired.

I hope that helps and best of luck

BearSummer

Thanks for the input everyone. I decided to put my pants back on and get back out there!

You say that you don't feel your "art isn't improving...lacking depth"; I'd start by really analyzing your results and figuring out where you feel they're falling down. Then, work on learning how to address those things. Your description sounds like you got sucked into GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) without every really learning how the gear REALLY works and how to get to the results you're expecting.

Disappointment can easily lead to a lack of desire to keep going, sort of like weight loss; when you plateau, it gets harder to keep trying. But, just get back out there, start learning again and I bet you see some improvement. Try your own "365 project", or pick a specific "type" of shooting to work on and get out there with the gear.

Get shooting, do a 365 or 52 week project, after 60 days of having to come up with something you may just find you've reawakened those thought processes in your brain that see the light and the framing. When I did it, it was also a good way for me to do some research and try some of the been done before and cliche photos, that took me to thought processes and skills I hadn't already acquired.

Get shooting, and keep shooting until you find the rhythm again.

And don't get discouraged by looking at your own work, I am often my toughest critic; and the way I look at it is if I think my work sucks, then I've always got something to be improving upon and I need to go back out and do it better.

MuteGoose wrote in post #15594690
Here's my story.

Roughly two years ago I got the bug. All gear talked about is Canon. I started off with a Rebel t1i, and a 28-105. I took it to costa rica, put 10k photos on it very quickly. Camera worked fine, Loved it, Had the opportunity to straight trade for a 40d. Didn't regret it at all. Kept the 40d for about a year, put 25k~ on it, really disappointed in low light. Picked up a 5d2 for a steal(only because it was so cheap, I didn't think I needed it, but I couldn't pass up a 5d2 for 850$ with only 7k shots on it). I bought a 24-105 and a 50 1.4 shortly after.

Then it stopped. I took my last photo beginning of December. I love taking photos, I just haven't felt the urge or the want to go shoot anything. Nothing seems appealing. I felt like my art wasn't improving, it was still pretty garbage lacking depth.

So my question, what do I do? How do I get back into it? I don't want to sell my gear, I want to use it. I want to have fun again.

Please share any words, experiences or questions!

Thanks!

If you want to keep in your photography, throw yourself back into it. Go somewhere specifically to take photos. Pick a certain skill you want to improve and go out and work specifically to improve it.

maverick75 wrote in post #15595230
If you don't have a flash pick one up, it will open up a whole new world in your photography.

+1 here and google "lighting 101 david hobby"

sunbeast wrote in post #15594763
I think the important part is that you don't feel the immediate need to sell your gear.

Excellent comment.

If you can afford to, just hang on to all the gear like i do, I lack inspiration most days but its good to have the gear when i really get the urge to use it, i have some gear a lot of people would love to have and use it daily, but it just sits in its bag. Gets looked at then put back in the bag, but would i ever sell it? No chance.