So bored So tired

Awais Yaqub

Doctor don't have my cure:scratch

I am physically doing good. But there is weird problem with me i cannot understand it, i hardly want to pick up my camera and go out and shoot pictures. Don't know what happened this is 1st time i am walking through this phase of my life.

I have lots of time to shoot as uni is off but don't know why i have turned so lethargic from photography :sick. Everything seems colorless i hardly smile. looks like something is going to happen.

Have you ever experienced such situation and how you get out of it ?

I am trying to look more and more photos around the net but i am still not even recovering :rolleyes

Moogle Pepper

Creative burnout?

You can try focusing on other things that you enjoy and the love of shooting should come right back! At least that is what I read.

Try traveling, that might help you out!

eL eSs Vee

Take a day trip to one or two of your absolute favorite places to photograph; the places where you always get your best shots.

If that doesn't cure you, go somewhere you've never gone before.

DON'T take your camera.

That should cure you.

kdog

Awais, you did notice I was gone for a few months, right? Take a break. You are an extremely talented photographer and have grown in many ways since you joined this forum. Trying to better each shot is a slippery slope that can be downright depressing. I think Moogle has the right idea. Take a break and focus on other interests for a while. You'll pick up the camera again when you're ready.

Take care,
-joel

Tango

all i do is clean my gear extremely well and put it away for a week or more....
during the wait i think about what i want in a shot and i try for it when the time is right...

also it helps to have a agenda six month out, stuff to look forward too...etc...

scouting without a camera is always good....

saurora

Moogle Pepper wrote:

Creative burnout?

You can try focusing on other things that you enjoy and the love of shooting should come right back! At least that is what I read.

Try traveling, that might help you out!

Set the camera aside for a few weeks and see what happens. Focus on doing other things you may have not paid attention to for awhile. I imagine the recent loss of your mother is having some effect on you too. Don't be hard on yourself, you've grown tremendously as a photographer this past year. Give your creative side a break and it will renew itself in time.

darkdragon

Awais Yaqub wrote:

Doctor don't have my cure

hey awais,

i am no doctor but itlooks like a classic case of depression to me. i dont know what folks do for that in your country, here in the usa we have medications to help folks through these sorts of things.

i beleive youwentthrough a lot in life over the past year and maybe that is all finally catching up to you now. i really hope you can find out what is making you feel bad and get through this dark time.

Awais Yaqub

Thanks everyone for input. I think i should take a break i searched creative burnout symptoms i am feeling exactly like that.
:sick

saltydog

Hello Awais,

I can imagine almost exactly how you feel, as I have been going through the very same "phase" (let's hope that's all it is) during the past 3 weeks. I feel tired, uninspired, bored. Nothing looks worth taking a picture right now and the thought of dragging my camera around exhausts me. What makes this even worse is that since 3 weeks I am the proud owner of a Nikon D300 which I could barely afford. I couldn't wait for the camera to arrive, but other than a few test shots I have done nothing with it and the feelings of guilt don't help getting me back into shooting mood.

I wish you well and hope that you'll get through this quickly, I always greatly enjoy looking at your work and you are indeed very talented.

Greetings,
Jana

P.S.: I actually really like Lee's suggestion of going somewhere you always wanted to shoot or alternatively have never been to before, and then NOT bringing a camera. I think I'll try that one, really!

jdryan3

It comes, it goes. I have been where Awais is, so I try to either jsut shoot 1 image a day of anything. Other times I turn to books and magazines to get caught up or inspired. If I am tired of shooting landscapes, I go for portraits. Or maybe I put the camera down, and explore thru Photoshop.

Ironically, I have been only periodically treading here because since about last August I actually have had to work hard at the thing that pays for all this - my job! Add in kid's sports, holidays, and basically the rest of life, ther jsut aren't enough hours to get it all done.

Hang in there Awais! It will come back

rsparts

It's part of the photographers life. I'm burned out right now too.

I've realized though that it's because I have only been looking for 1 particular kind of subject. I go out every weekend and search for homeless people to photograph, and lately I haven't been seeing any...so I haven't been taking any pictures. It's very discouraging when you don't get any good photographs for a long while. Just don't let it get you down.

I would suggest always carrying your camera with you even if you don't plan to take any that day. Some of the best photos are impromptu that you weren't looking for in the first place.

ziggy53

Awais,

When I get into a slump I just go out somewhere, anywhere, and I stop. I close my eyes and I "listen" for a while with my eyes closed.

I listen and try to explore in my mind what is around me.

I listen for people or for wind working against something and I try to envision the scene.

Then I open my eyes and shoot the first thing that strikes me as interesting. Then I focus my attention on that scene or that thing, trying to find what is most interesting about the view.

That's usually enough to get me started and then I just wander or drive to another location and, if needed, start the process over again, using "sounds" to direct my attention and then vision against the sounds.

claudermilk

We all go through it. Just set the cameras aside for a while & take a break.

Awais Yaqub

Feeling much better now. Went to North away from TV, Computer, News, polution just me my camera huge mountains flowing river and birds.

Thanks all

Moogle Pepper

Hey that's great!

The wilderness is the best way to reconnect with photography after getting the burnout!