How do you get out of a funk? How do you rekindle your mind, get things
back into perspective and get back to enjoying what you are doing?
These are some questions I have been asking myself
recently with regards to my photography.
I can’t really explain where it has come from or why it is here sitting
on top of me. As I think more about it I
think it might have crept in a couple of weeks ago when I came back from Piha
after an evening sunset shoot. That particular
day did not provide anything to really write home about picture wise, the sky
had been semi co-operative and I just remember leaving the beach feeling a
touch deflated.
Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that when you are
shooting landscapes you are not going to hit a home run every time you are out
there. Sometimes there will be occasions
when nature will just not play ball and you will strike out. That’s the nature of the game and I understand
and appreciate that.
With all this in mind I still felt a bit bummed, I got
home and edited the pictures and duly posted one to my Facebook page even
though I knew deep down that it wasn’t the best picture in the world. I felt compelled to put it up, anything up
because if I didn’t than what was the point in the trip to the beach, this is
what was going through my head.
It’s now been a good week since I posted that particular
picture and I have had more time to think about what was going on inside
me. I have definitely been in a funk
with my photography and I am really surprised because I feel like it came out
of nowhere and just blind sided me. Perhaps
it is coming down off the high of being on holiday and being surrounded by
amazing sights that holidays bring, or maybe it is simply feeling stale from the
beaches I have been visiting. I think I have
a better idea though of where it has come from.
I think for a time now I have lost sight of why I am
taking these pictures in the first place.
I have been caught up in the wrap of my social media platforms and what
they entail. I think I have felt that I need
to be producing pictures that generate massive responses and likes. I have been consumed by trying to please
everyone around me and I think that has translated through to my pictures and
process. I have forgotten that the whole
reason I started doing this was for my own personal enjoyment.
In this day and age it is something that can be
forgotten, why we do things. There is so
much going on out there photographically and subconsciously I have become
afraid that I am not cutting through all the noise. I have become worried that my pictures will
be judged harshly and people won’t like them.
I know this may sound like a craven attempt for attention (which it isn’t)
but sometimes I feel one needs to process through their thoughts, lay them out
and for me doing it in this way has helped me to step back and take stock of
why I am actually taking pictures in the first place.
On Sunday I took a walk with the most important person in
the world along a random little beach near home. I’d never been there before and my mind came
alive, I saw all these potential pictures and compositions and for the first
time in a little while I felt that sparkle coming back.
Sometimes I need to remember that this is something I am
doing for my enjoyment and pleasure, if other people get some form of joy from
it as well that is awesome but that fact should always be a by-product and not a
driving force. When you put your work
out there into the world you are exposing yourself to all forms of reaction,
but that fact should not be crippling or create a negative feeling in your own
head. We all question whether we are
good enough at our chosen hobbies/jobs/past times and that is only natural but
we should never let that self-doubt rule us or creep into our work, especially
if it is something that we enjoy.
So here is to climbing up out of that rut and getting
back to enjoying it for me and if others get joy along the way sweet as….. but
it’s not going to be the priority.
