Losing Enthusiasm

So here i am.... Once again feeling VERY low about my photography and the industry. It seems that every time i get my teeth into something, there is someone there to pull the rug out fron under my feet and make me feel like crap about my shooting. I pride myself on being able to publish my work within 24 or sometimes 12 hrs of the event but recently the media collective i have become a part of have restricted me from doing so. I have to upload to them, wait for them to publish, then i can put it up on my page with my watermark and theirs. This is often 4 or 5 days later. In the mean time all the other spectators have posted and the hype is over.

I also have been slagged of saying my pics lack depth and feeling and that i'll never make it as a pro.

Is this just normal in the industry? i'm about <---> this close to calling it all quits but it's something i love doing and love the people (clients i guess) i work with.

I'm not earning money from it (i think about $100 in the last 12 months from selling prints)

What would you do?

If you are not getting paid, then why not do whatever you want to with your images?

-alex

because it's a restriction within the media collective i'm part of. The only way to get access to the track is to be on the media team. I leave the team, i lose access. i lose access, i lose opertunities for shots,

So if the "other spectators" can publish immediately, what is the value of the media collective? Obviously the spectators also get access to the track, and get pictures to post. Would this level of access be OK for what you want to do? Is there advantageous positions being in the collective (ugly word BTW) gets you? Only you can judge the value of the collective. (Borg, anyone?)

As to the comments, you'll need to get a thicker skin as anything you put out there will be commented on. Some commenters have ulterior motives, many are trying to help. Anyone being nasty when commenting usually has a motive to be suspicious of. Go for more detail on the issues they see and work on them, dig deep to get the meaning of their comments. Evaluate and determine what can be improved or if they can be ignored.

Find a group, like here on POTN, to show your stuff to and get valued feedback. Again, some comments need to be taken with care as there are some really idiotic commenters everywhere.

Remember what you want to do this for: Yourself. Be true to yourself, and most importantly don't mislead yourself.

Edit: I'm currently living my advice. I've taken to learning High and Low Key glass photography and the group I'm leaning on for advice is pretty straight forward with their comments. Some were pretty drastic, but once I figured out who was worth listening to and who to ignore, the advice became more useful.

The spectator area is one end of a rectangular track, The media collective get access all areas including inside the track, anywhere i like to get the best shots. I'll post up some shots in the CC area and see what kind of feedback i get. I'll be speaking with the media boss man on Monday. we'll see what happends from there on.

When I read your first post, I think you've made $100 in 12 months. Easy rule for work. Someone has to pay for your time and it isn't you.