When did you almost gave up on photography

Manuel Madeira · Mar 24, 2021

Hi guys!! I'm just trying to read some of your stories regarding photography and when you almost gave up and how you get back to it. So... let me read it

ChristopherCoy · Mar 24, 2021

I almost gave up when I tried to make money with it. It became a job and I found myself taking photos with other people’s creativity. Thankfully one too many brides asked me to selectively color their bouquets and I found myself running for the hills. It’s taken me nearly 10 years to get back what I almost lost.

Old_Dick · Mar 24, 2021

Driving from NH to Mass everyday. 125 miles (201.168 KM) two ways. Retired, bought a 4x5, health problems have slowed me down, but not out.

MattKing · Mar 24, 2021

Manuel,
19 years old, and you are already talking abut giving it up? It is too soon!
I've never come close to giving it up in the more than 55 years I've been interested in photography (I started at age 8).
There have been times when life got in the way, and I couldn't be active. And there have been times when I had no access to a darkroom - those were very frustrating, because I love the darkroom.
For a while I did make my living either taking photographs or printing photographs or selling to photographers or otherwise supporting photography. I came to the decision though that it was best that photography remain my avocation, rather than my vocation.

Manuel Madeira · Mar 24, 2021

MattKing said:
Manuel,
19 years old, and you are already talking abut giving it up? It is too soon!
I've never come close to giving it up in the more than 55 years I've been interested in photography (I started at age 8).
There have been times when life got in the way, and I couldn't be active. And there have been times when I had no access to a darkroom - those were very frustrating, because I love the darkroom.
For a while I did make my living either taking photographs or printing photographs or selling to photographers or otherwise supporting photography. I came to the decision though that it was best that photography remain my avocation, rather than my vocation.

Don't worry I don't think im going to give uo so soon XD

Dusty Negative · Mar 24, 2021

Five minutes ago. And yesterday. But — I wake up and it’s the first thing I think about.

Sirius Glass · Mar 24, 2021

I never felt like giving up. If you think that your photograph is not interesting enough, move in to get rid of things that are not necessary in the composition. That will make each photograph more interesting.

Post your photographs, ask for advice and you will find it.

Auer · Mar 24, 2021

I never took it seriously enough to be able to give it up.

Andrew O'Neill · Mar 24, 2021

The thought never crossed my mind.

Pioneer · Mar 24, 2021

It was always part of my job as an auditor and an accident investigator so there was never a thought of giving it up. I really didn't do much photography as a hobby until things began to go digital. Most of my personal work back then was photos of kids, family and vacations.

Of course it took awhile for forensic photography to move to digital so I think everything kind of snuck up on me. But, once it did, I realized I missed film. With digital the mystery was basically gone. So I began taking my little K1000 far more seriously about then and it has just continued to grow ever since then. I think the move to digital in my professional life scared me a little so I found ways to continue with film in my personal life. Of course at this point it is all personal.

AnselMortensen · Mar 24, 2021

I never really gave it up, but between 2000 and 2006, I wasn't very productive.
I left a job as a staff photographer in late 1999, and was kind of burnt out.
I didn't have the $ to dive into digital.
I didn't have darkroom or studio access again until 2006.
I have rekindled my interest in LF photography in the last 3-4 years....and I'm back with a vengeance, wanting to make up for lost time.
Now I only take the photos I want to take....No deadlines, no meetings, no "designer" input/art direction.

Manuel Madeira · Mar 25, 2021

AnselMortensen said:
I never really gave it up, but between 2000 and 2006, I wasn't very productive.
I left a job as a staff photographer in late 1999, and was kind of burnt out.
I didn't have the $ to dive into digital.
I didn't have darkroom or studio access again until 2006.
I have rekindled my interest in LF photography in the last 3-4 years....and I'm back with a vengeance, wanting to make up for lost time.
Now I only take the photos I want to take....No deadlines, no meetings, no "designer" input/art direction.

I would love to have a darkroom, I only develop the film but if I could find a sapce and an amplifier I would certainly develop in paper.

removed account4 · Mar 25, 2021

I never thought about giving up but I was distracted by life for a long time
eventually I learned how to live

Manuel Madeira said:
I would love to have a darkroom, I only develop the film but if I could find a sapce and an amplifier I would certainly develop in paper.

you don't need a darkroom to do that..
you can make prints with the sun...

guangong · Mar 25, 2021

Never. I do shift between drawing, painting, sculpting in marble, and writing, but never the idea of giving up. I usually carry a camera ( sometimes only a Minox), sketch notebook, and pen with me. I have an iPhone, but usually forget to use it.

Manuel Madeira · Mar 25, 2021

jnantz said:
I never thought about giving up but I was distracted by life for a long time
eventually I learned how to live

you don't need a darkroom to do that..
you can make prints with the sun...

Prints with the sun??? i never heard of it, can you explain????

ChristopherCoy · Mar 25, 2021

Manuel Madeira said:
Prints with the sun??? i never heard of it, can you explain????

research cyanotype.

Wayne · Mar 25, 2021

When Ilfochrome died and digital looked like it would take over the world. I didn't shoot much for a couple of years.

removed account4 · Mar 25, 2021

Manuel Madeira said:
Prints with the sun??? i never heard of it, can you explain????

yup .. you just need a Xerox or laser print or ink jet print of your photos the size you want inverted like a negative then you put that paper onto of
the photo paper and put it under glass or in a picture frame &c to get the papers to make full contact.
leave it in the sun
you'll see a picture on the paper... but you'll probably have to put it in your computer and fiddle with the levels to get it to look the way you want.
you can do this making cyanotypes too. you wash the paper and it turns blue with your picture on it.
the guy who discover "fixer" also discovered cyanotypes.
look up photograms and Anna Atkins. you'll see what can be done without a camera too...
have fun!

cjbecker · Mar 25, 2021

Haven't yet. First darkroom print was when I was about 12, 30 now and still printing in the darkroom.

TheFlyingCamera · Mar 25, 2021

Every once in a while I put it aside for a little while to recover my creative energy. But I never walk away from it. Sometimes it is good to take a different approach to art (in the big sense of all kinds of art) to give you a new perspective on photography. When you get frustrated or bored, pick up sculpture, or go to some museums and look at paintings - think about how the painting is composed, how the painter used light to define space and volume and create dynamic action in something that is not only two-dimensional, but fictional.

Wallendo · Mar 25, 2021

I got my first camera, an Instamatic, around 1970 or so. I moved up to 35mm around high school age. After that, academic rigors got in the way and I shot very little. By the late 1980's, I had gotten into home video: first VHS, then 8mm and finally digital8.

One day, digging through some old boxes, a found a sleeve of 35mm negatives. I took them to Wal-Mart one hour photo and had prints made. Although there were no masterpieces on that roll, holding the prints in my hand later that afternoon brought back the excitement of photography and I have been shooting ever since. I regret having very few photographs from a 9 year period, especially when living in two very photogenic cities (Charleston SC and New Orleans LA), but when studying/working 80-100 hour weeks every week there just wasn't time.

I have never made a penny off my photography. And sometimes I have to take a step back because I find myself too busy recording/photographing an event to be an actual participant.

I suspect many of us have gone through periods where school, work, kids, illness, or elderly parents take priority in our lives. But, eventually we are drawn back in.

George Mann · Mar 25, 2021

When they stopped making Kodachrome!

eddie · Mar 25, 2021

Other obligations, health, and financial issues have taken me away from photography in the past. Still, the light at the end of the tunnel, through the tough times, has always been my desire to get back to photography.

Pieter12 · Mar 25, 2021

Silly question.

Manuel Madeira · Mar 25, 2021

Hey guys, thanks for your stories, but I want to assure you that I'm not even thinking about giving up, I'm just asking because I find it fun to read about how you walked the path the I'm just starting to walk, and some people told stories even about the pre digital times, so Don't get mad XD It's just for fun I assure you

When did you almost gave up on photography

Manuel Madeira

ChristopherCoy

Old_Dick

MattKing

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Manuel Madeira

Dusty Negative

Sirius Glass

Auer

Andrew O'Neill

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Pioneer

AnselMortensen

Manuel Madeira

removed account4

guangong

Manuel Madeira

ChristopherCoy

Wayne

removed account4

cjbecker

TheFlyingCamera

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Wallendo

George Mann

eddie

Pieter12

Manuel Madeira

When did you almost gave up on photography

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