Forums > General Industry > How do you get past loss of interest/boredom

Photographer

Zave Smith Photography

Posts: 1696

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US

Boredom might be a sign that it is time to move on or evolve as an artist.  I believe in boredom.  Boredom can drive creativity.

One of the best resources for growing and overcoming is Julia Camaron's, The Artist Way

https://www.amazon.com/Artists-Way-Juli … 1585421464

Aug 07 18 07:02 am Link

Photographer

Bob Helm Photography

Posts: 18907

Cherry Hill, New Jersey, US

Step one--put the camera away
Step two-- find something that interests you. read a book, go to a movie, take a trip
Step three find the camera when you have something you want to shoot.

I stopped shooting models for five or six years, started shooting motorsports, started again with models slowly a couple of years ago now it is a 50/50 thing with motorsports

Aug 07 18 08:56 am Link

Photographer

Weapon Outfitters

Posts: 148

Seattle, Washington, US

Managing burnout and boredom is a pretty big part of the creative process.

I've found for myself, after 10 years of growing... that I get EXCITED about shooting again when

1.  I start learning new editting or lighting techniques

2.  When I see beautiful art/photogprahy/comics and get inspired by other's artistry... and try to do something inspired by it, or similar.

3. I meet a new model/friend who is also creative, and we remix our creative energies together.

Aug 08 18 08:31 pm Link

Photographer

Looknsee Photography

Posts: 26342

Portland, Oregon, US

An additional thought:  when you see an interesting photograph, "deconstruct" it.  By this, I mean figure out how it was made.

...  I usually start with the lighting.  How was the image lit?  How many light sources?  Were the light sources "hard" or "soft".  How much space was being used?  What was happening outside the frame of the image?  What would I do differently?

...  Then I'd think about the photographic direction.  Specifically, what instructions did the photographer give the model?  What happened the moments before & after the exposure was made?  How did the photographer communicate his concept to his crew?  Again, what would I do differently?  Was the image spontaneous or well-planned?

...  I might also consider technical details, like shutter speed, depth of field, etc.  Wide-angle vs. telephoto.  Camera perspective.  Film or Digital.  Low res or high res?  Too dark or too light?  How was it post-processed?

...  I'd also think about the originality of the concept.  Does the concept inspire me to try a similar concept?

For me, most interesting photographs are a culmination of thousands of decisions, and I try to reconstruct those choices.  It's an education.

Aug 10 18 04:54 pm Link

Photographer

IMAGINERIES

Posts: 2048

New York, New York, US

http://illusion.scene360.com/category/photography/
Check the above link!!  Plenty of inspiration!! And you can find so many sources of inspiration "not duplication" on line
for unusual ways to see flowers, landscapes...Objects all around you!!

Aug 11 18 08:12 am Link

Photographer

Warren Leimbach

Posts: 3223

Tampa, Florida, US

If you are shooting professionally, but you are relying on old tricks and cookie cutter solutions, shooting the same subject on the same background every time, then you need to challenge yourself.  Go shoot something different from the workaday.  You might enjoy new technical challenges, a new muse, wildlife, big productions, your pets, volunteer for a worthy cause, shoot bands in nightclubs, etc.

If you are shooting for yourself, then the boredom may be a sign that this is just not fun.  You are not obligated to use the camera "because you paid so much for it".  (i.e The Sunk Cost Fallacy)  You are an adult and you are allowed to explore new things.  Maybe you would rather try golf?   Maybe golf becomes so much fun that you want to explore it through a camera lens.  There is no predicting where you will wind up.  There is no such thing as wasted education.  Maybe you will mount a GoPro camera to your golf club and your photography passion will reinforce your golf passion.

Best of luck to you and don't forget to have fun.

Aug 12 18 10:09 am Link

Photographer

IMAGINERIES

Posts: 2048

New York, New York, US

Oh one more thing...Oh...If you have Photoshop take some previous pictures, play with them, re-crop them
in all different ways, play with filters. Have fun, what count are the results not how you get there.

Aug 12 18 12:26 pm Link

Photographer

MarkGerrardPhotography

Posts: 209

Manchester, England, United Kingdom

Thanks to everyone for their advice!

Happy to say I'm back at it!  The solution I found was to get the hell out of where I was living and into a place on my own without scum visiting other tenants at 2, 3, 4am

Done a few group shoots up to now at different studios while I figure out who the good models are and which studios I like for different things.  Now that summer is over I'm going to be reliant on studios as winter weather here is like the PNW weather on steroids!

Also visited a few aircraft museums which satisfes my other hobby as well as giving me dfferent things to shoot!

Sep 07 18 09:43 pm Link