I haven't taken any photos since October...

[Tartness9094]

I don't find Winter depressing in fact I prefer the colder months to the heat of Summer but I do understand how you have become uninspired. I can't afford the latest cameras on the market so I spend my money on older cameras of which there are plenty on E-Bay or places like MPB. I bought my first digital camera, a Minolta Dimage 5 and had great fun using that, I have a Nikon P7000 which has an incredibly sharp lens and takes beautiful black and white photos and I have recently bought into Samsung with a NX10 and NX30, a system I did not know about until now and wow what a great camera it is. Hope you find your way out of your rut soon

 

[nerwin]

Are yoou feeling sorry or just in a funk? It happens--go to a camera store and check out the gleaming, shining inventory--put one in your hands. Grab your gear and go to a shopping mall; you'll find lots of subject matter! If nothing works there's always therapy! Get your mojo back, lots to see and photograph out there. Hang in there.

Last time I ever took photos in a shopping mall. I got escorted out and banned for simply taking one photo of a beautiful staircase they had in the center of the mall. I was told by security I was doing terrorist activity. Lol I was legitimately shopping there. Just took a quick photo with my phone because I wanted to show someone.

Never taking photos in a mall again! Not worth the stress.

 

[Dave Maciak]

Last time I ever took photos in a shopping mall. I got escorted out and banned for simply taking one photo of a beautiful staircase they had in the center of the mall. I was told by security I was doing terrorist activity. Lol I was legitimately shopping there. Just took a quick photo with my phone because I wanted to show someone.

Never taking photos in a mall again! Not worth the stress.

Sorry about that, it's a sign of the times. It's happened to me as well--being asked to leave a location. Had i had a cell phone in my hands instead of an XT-2 I'm sure it would have been different. Matter of fact it was at a Farmer's Market adjacent to a mall--outdoors. Many cell phone "photographers" were present no problem for them.

 

[nerwin]

Sorry about that, it's a sign of the times. It's happened to me as well--being asked to leave a location. Had i had a cell phone in my hands instead of an XT-2 I'm sure it would have been different. Matter of fact it was at a Farmer's Market adjacent to a mall--outdoors. Many cell phone "photographers" were present no problem for them.

Yeah. It's discouraging to take photos in public now with a "real" camera. So when I do I'm often middle of nowhere or our in rural areas taking photos of barns or something.

 

[cgw]

Fact is, the mall is private property--their house, their rules.
My iPhone is just another camera for me. No hesitation processing shots I like.
I've never been troubled shooting with my little phone-size Ricoh GR II. With no VF, it's held and shot like a phone and draws zero attention.

 

[AlanKlein]

It's like a midlife crisis when old things suddenly become uninteresting. You;re trying to fill a hole inside with stuff and it won't do the job. There's a spiritual emptiness that can only be filled with things of the heart and spirit yet we try to fill them with more of the same or different material stuff. Maybe a good read of the book of Ecclesiastes would help.

 

[SunriseAvenue]

Been there several times, it always coincides with me feeling burnt-out or just having multiple things to do at my main workplace. When I don't feel like taking photos, I don't take them, but it doesn't last longer than a month probably. The longest "no photography" period was exactly a month, I was loaded with tons of old family photos to restore and colorize in Photoglory, so had zero desire to go and make new ones lol.

Ask yourself if photography still brings you joy or maybe you're pushing yourself to do it out of habit? Maybe look through the previous works of yours and remind yourself of some nice places nearby that you'd like to photograph now.

 

[Dikkie]

I think passions like these come in cycles.
I've had my breaks too... Sometimes I won't do a certain hobby for years, and then suddenly a spark pops-in and you start doing it again.
It doesn't have to be full-time return, it can just be a one moment thing ....
Anyway, your equipment is not lost, don't sell it yet. Keep it for later.
It's like riding a bike, you learned it, and your experience won't go away, you can pick it up later when you're ready again.

I have the passion for too many things, I was planning to record guitar again, I felt the drive already months, but haven't picked up my guitar again since last november or so. There's always coming things in between, busy life, full-time job, kids, being the taxi-driver for all their activities... I'm on a rollercoaster and it feels like life is going too fast and I can't get off...

And then there are social media and other stuff that take away your focus and distract you, keeping you out of your real life, addictive stuff.
The next month I'm going for a digital detox for some apps that took too much of my focus. I'll see what that does with my brain.
Each time the habit lets me grab my phone, I will put it aside and do 10 push-ups instead, to punish me and become more healthy, or something like that. Physical stuff, sport, gives more energy throughout the day, phones make you tired.

Perhaps, some of your daily (bad) habits decrease your passion, motivation and, focus on what you used to love.
Change some habits and perhaps your passion and drive will grow bigger again.

 

[nerwin]

Well too late. Already sold all my camera equipment haha

 

[Dikkie]

Aah, not the end of the world.
Perhaps you find your mojo back in other interests or passions.
Perhaps the passions don't come in cycles, but are serial. Nothing wrong with that, also if you don't do any hobbies at all, life can get pretty busy in a way you don't have time for anything anymore... the rollercoaster you're on and can't get off with too many obligations, keeping you away from your hobbies (I'm on that train now)... as long as you still enjoy other aspects of your life.

And one day you probably stumble on a weird but cute tiny analog second hand camera and won't resist buying it and will do some adventure with that, I know for sure.

 

[paigew]

Well too late. Already sold all my camera equipment haha

Wow, everything?!! That's sad, you really are a good photographer. I hope you pick it back up at some point.

 

[PhotoHobbyist]

Photography never gets old for me because it is secondary to whatever I am doing. I keep an eye out for photo opportunities while doing other activities. Because of that most of my pics are with a super zoom point-n-shoot because it is easy to keep in a shirt pocket. Only a few of my pics are taken with my DSLR.

 

[nerwin]

Wow, everything?!! That's sad, you really are a good photographer. I hope you pick it back up at some point.

Unfortunately. I have a few old film cameras that aren't really worth the effort to sell. I'm not sure if or when I'll get back to it. Sometimes I miss it, but I feel like I've always done photography for attention on social media rather than my own personal enjoyment so I've always felt like I was an imposter to the art.

I started to notice that I was taking less and less photos each year. So I realized I was slowly losing interest, after a while photography was starting to feel repetitive and I was shooting the same thing over and over. I was getting frustrated editing photos and not liking them and not enjoying the process anymore. That's when I decided to just step back for a while, this was the longest. I haven't done any photography since July 2024. It doesn't help that I been dealing with a lot of personal issues too, I'm struggling with life currently. It's just getting hard staying interested in hobbies when you feel alone and like you don't matter to anyone. It's not easy you know?

I appreciate the compliment though

 

[Dikkie]

It doesn't help that I been dealing with a lot of personal issues too, I'm struggling with life currently. It's just getting hard staying interested in hobbies when you feel alone and like you don't matter to anyone. It's not easy you know?

I appreciate the compliment though

Even people in sunny regions in the world get depressed.
I can imagine that living in your area, where winters are long and dark, in a less populated area, you get exposed more to lonelyness and the light gets out in your head.
The energy can get sucked out of you and drive you in a burn-out or something like that.

Life doesn't come with a manual, it can be hard, ... I speak for myself now, but I understand how it feels to lose the grip on life, to get addicted, tempted, out of focus and distracted, frustrated, we can have social anxieties, or other anxieties that keep you away from living your life at 100%, getting low self esteem and courage. I sometimes feel lonely in a group of people, just because I can't connect to them.
There are so much parameters that can get you in a negative spiral, even if you grew up with a happy childhood.

I don't know if it's rude to say "go talk to a therapist, maybe they can help more professionally", or with a good friend? Or if you ever feel the need to talk here, we're here for you, or via DM. Even if there's nothing going on, talking helps a lot.
In the last couple of years I've been reading books trying to help myself out of things, to reset me, and I learned we're not alone dealing with life, the struggle seems to be in many many people's heads.

The Mountain Is You from Brianna Wiest is a cool book, or Sadhguru's Inner Engineering, or A New Earth from Eckhart Tolle.
Or David Goggins book Can't Hurt Me, and stuff like that.
In every book I read there's something that pops a spark of light: 'hey, that sounds familiar, I have this too.'