Guess I'm just getting a little jaded here. I've been working as a photographer for about five years now and my short lived career has been about as backwards as possible. I started with a Canon 20D and 70-200 2.8 IS, and had instant success. I was published in several magazines and had a large following of paying customers for the first year and thought I'd be the next Bresson for sure. Yes, everything seemed to go my way at first and life was good. Since then my initial customer base has disappeared steadily and my attempts to move into other areas of photography work have been largely unsuccessful. There are not many related jobs in my area and the positions I have been able to receive have been low paying and unrewarding. Recently I started working for an elementary school photography company and although I really enjoy the work, it seems that I haven't found success here either and put in my two weeks notice this morning. I have even lost my passion for the art and even though I recently purchased a Hasselblad H3DII, it sits on my desk unused. Such a lovely camera, a few years ago I would be taking picture until my shutter finger bled and now I'm so concerned about profit the joy has been stripped from my lifelong dream. Don't want to sound like too much of a whiner here, I am sure most of the blame lies with me on this, I could just use a little inspiration here. Had a lot of failures and don't know where to go next.
No matter what the career path there will be down times. Take the time to honestly assess all areas of your enterprise, marketing, seeking out and dealing with potential clients, your attitude toward your potential clients, how you sell product, and most importantly how you sell yourself. Sometimes a trusted friend can provide insight into any shortcomings you may have or offer suggestions based on their knowledge of you and how you operate. Times are tough now and photography is a hard field to make it in but it can be done. I can tell you from personal experience that things can turn around in a hurry, it's just not usually on our timetable.
Sounds like you have a bit of burnout going on. That's easy to have happen when you're in a slow down with no immediate prospects of breaking loose. It's a good time to try to nip it in the bud because it can turn into genuine depression, which is much harder to shake.
For burn out they suggest:
1. Get some stress management techniques in place. Exercise---walking, running or working out---is among the best. Cut down on stimulants like coffee and cigarettes; once the boost is over you're left lower down than before.
2. Tickle your fancy. Go someplace you haven't been before, or maybe someplace you know you love. Look up some old friends. Go to the theater or the art museum...maybe a sculpture garden. You're after new inputs to restock your creative cupboard.
3. Career planning. Once you begin to feel better, take a new look at your career. Think about where photography is going to go as the economic situation improves. (And it will improve. That old pendulum has to keep swinging. Nothing stays the same indefinitely.) Maybe you have to look at relocation? Maybe there's another market not too far away that you haven't thought of.
4. Cut yourself some slack. No body feels good about their art or their career all the time. Great artists are known for their ups and downs. You can hate photography or be bored to death with photography---temporarily---and still come back and love it again later.
5. Service. Nothing makes people feel better faster than helping other folks out. Is there a local animal shelter that needs impactful shots of the pets up for adoption? A local theater group that needs resume shots or production shots? High school kids need help in working on their yearbook? There are all kinds of things that you have the skill to do that would be invaluable to them that can't.
6. Remember above all, "This too shall pass." You'll look back on this time and shake your head in disbelief. Really.
Some good stuff here. Take a break. Or shoot something different, really different. Try some street photography in a city you don't go to much...drive for a hour. On the way back, try some sunsets. Or take a little vacation. One thing about running a small business or organization is that we don't take time off like most people do. I have not had a vacation more than a few days is about 3 years...it gets to you after a while and you don't even know why or see it comes...maybe I'll join you.
Thanks for some great advice. I think I will walk away from the camera for a while, I need to bring back the artist somehow and forget about all this money crap. Luckily I am fine financially (other than my photography venture which has been an utter failure), so I have options. I have been knocked down before and always bounced back so wish me luck in finding where life takes me next.
Alex: Photography is about self-expression first, money is just the icing. Make photography your hobby instead of a life income and you will enjoy doing it again. I did, although only after muddling through a career of the same vicissitudes that professional photography presented.
There are some excellent photographers who will exchange their skill set for a paycheck, even in a unrelated field, because the rigors of pro photography over a period of time can easily lead to burnout, if not also for experiencing to much famine instead of feast. A lot of people have been fooled into believing that top notch pro equipment is all that's needed to launch a career. It doesn't work that way. There are photographers who aren't very good, but still manage to survive, sometimes because of their location and/or they know people who know people.
I suggest retraining in a field you really like (paycheck), but don't sell your photo equipment. You never know. Good luck.
