Have you ever felt dissatisfied or disconnected from your photos? It’s important to know that we all go through this and here are a few things you can do to help.
I hesitate to refer to this as photographic burnout. Depression for many people is when they feel no longer passionate about their current job or not enjoying the process. That doesn’t have to happen here, but some solutions or methods you can practice will work in tandem. Lately, I find myself still enjoying the process, trying to wake up at 2:30 a.m. to capture the night sky and keep hitting the field no matter the conditions.
Yet no matter what happens, I go back to see images that I am not at all excited about. Nothing I’m photographing resonates with my emotions and I feel very disconnected from my work but I’m still passionate about stepping out there and finally feeling the culmination of an epic sunset, where everything seems to arrange or find unique conditions that I have not experienced. Those days can be fleeting and there are a number of things you can do to hopefully find love again in the meantime.
Break Away
Taking a break from whatever makes you feel disconnected can be productive. For many years, photography was for me a hobby, where I picked it up when I felt passionate and dropped it when I was no more. Those breaks can completely reset your expectations about yourself and your work. I find myself waking up to the sunrise or waking up when the sun goes down expecting more, wanting more, needing that dopamine. I created expectations and let myself down when they didn’t happen.
The dance that pushes yourself to new limits without pushing yourself over the edge of failure when you don’t realize them is hard to balance. What keeps me checking is simply taking a break. Whether it’s disconnecting from social media, pausing taking photos, or leaving the edit. Taking a break from my job wiped out those expectations and helped redesign myself to enjoy the thrill of getting out and creating new images. At first, these breaks came naturally to me because I found myself only really creating images when I was taking time off to travel so I wasn’t forced to take short breaks. as usual. It wasn’t until I started shooting on a regular basis that I expected more from myself and felt less from all the images I was taking. I need to try to breathe a little bit and every time I come back I feel more intoxicated.
This is the best advice I can give when you’re not feeling energized by your work but what if you can’t rest? What if you have chosen a path in photography that means no respite. What can you do then to help find the connection?
Discover
I can’t take breaks anymore. This was a turning point in my work. Something is changing that I’m not fully aware of is happening. The recent lack of passion in my work has made me realize that perhaps what was once enjoyable is no longer there. After achieving the conditions I had been waiting for, I did not return to my image with a sense of satisfaction; What is wrong with me?
I find myself very excited about scenes that are unlike the ones I tried to capture a few years ago. I focused on textures and lines rather than colors and sunsets. This really made me realize that I was doing everything wrong. My lack of feeling is not because my image is bad or the condition is not what I want. That’s because what I want in my job is actively changing. The challenge is that I don’t necessarily know what I’m looking for to satisfy it, but that’s interesting in itself.
I find myself in this position in an unusual way, but what you can personally do is try photographing something you don’t normally shoot. If you’re a photographer who can’t take a break, try spending time outside of your comfort zone. I know many portrait photographers who shoot landscapes as a passion or wedding photographers who explore the night sky on their own to perpetuate their passion. You can find new meaning in your daily work by learning new skills in other areas.
I’ve made landscape photography my career, but it’s still my passion. The constant pressure can be stifling and I begin to feel overwhelmed by the lack of love for my own image. If you feel that way, maybe take a step back and try to realize that maybe you need to switch jobs and explore a bit more into new territory.
Adjustment editing
The saturation in your own work can prevent you from seeing it clearly. My daily photography routine involves letting the images seep together for weeks, constantly editing them with fresh eyes and seeing what my new reactions might be. Sometimes this doesn’t work, and reaching out to a colleague or friend for their thoughts can be really beneficial. We’re always our worst critics, and trying to reach out to others for feedback or just the general thoughts behind some of your pictures can help you find your heart. be grateful for the work you have done.
Many times you will find that you are so critical of your work that it can be detrimental to growth. Getting a critique can confirm potential concerns about your image, but most of the time you’ll get a response that makes you see yourself differently. You have a lot to love about what you capture but all you can see is an imperfection simply because that’s what you want to see. This is similar to the dance of pushing yourself without falling off a cliff. You lose your love of images and can’t find the motivation to create new ones because all you can see is creativity faltered.
There are so many great places where you can communicate and get feedback on your images. Fstoppers have a lot Great community for all genres of photography or you can find discord community mine, for example, focuses on a specific genre like landscape photography. Not only could you get some great feedback, but you might also make new friends in the space and potentially reconnect with your own work through such motivation.
What helps you? Ever feel like you’re out of touch with the images you’re creating? I’d love to know which method you’ve found for you as I’m always looking for better ways to keep those coals burning. As always, thanks for reading!
