wicker_man
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Long winded post warning!
I used to frequent this forum quite a bit, but unfortunately over the past couple of years I have been doing less photography and don't really feel much inspiration nowadays - but I am looking to change that!
A bit of background - I got into photography whilst at university. I started with a compact camera, joined the photography society and that really kick started things - I quickly upgraded to a DSLR, spent all of my money on gear instead of going out getting drunk like most students(!) and enjoyed learning new things, trying different challenges (like a couple of 365 projects and 4am projects) and via the university magazine I got into live music photography. I think what helped a lot was being around likeminded photographers and many opportunities to do things. I used to keep up to date with the latest photography news/gear announcements and spend ages on various sites including this one.
After graduating from university I tried to keep the live music photography going by starting my own live music review site - this worked well for a while as I was working in Birmingham where there are a lot of live music venues, and being the 'second' city a lot of bands I like (rock/metal) would include a date in the Midlands. Aside from that I kept a few links with photographer friends in the area and also from the university photography society for a while (but then people I knew graduated and moved on, and it also felt a bit weird 'holding on' for too long after graduating).
A couple of years after that I moved down South for work - first down to Portsmouth for a year a bit, and then Brighton where I currently live/work and have done for the past year and a half. I think it was this move down South which saw my photography really tail off. Being busy with a new job and then constraints of work pressures and life in general meant I hardly had time to pick up a camera. The South coast isn't too great for gigs - London is the nearest place where most bands I like would play, which means more competition for press passes, plus adding to the the travelling, associated costs and late nights meant that the gig photography tailed off (the last gig I shot was May 2015). Combined with the fact that I didn't know any like minded people and struggled to find local photography groups, the cameras started gathering dust. The only time they were used were for a couple of holidays, but photos tended to stay unedited on my hard drive as I didn't really feel like spending the time processing and putting on my website.
Recently I have been looking for inspiration and ways to get back into shooting. I have been looking back at some of my photography which has brought back lots of memories - my favourite definitely being the WALL-E 365 project I did back in 2011 (https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/365-project-the-adventures-of-wall-e.354860/) I have just upgraded my camera (from a 5D Mark 2 to Mark 3) as I know buying new equipment can help, and I have a couple of holidays coming up in a few months (Dublin and Budapest). I think it will be difficult to get back into the gig photography scene, but I am looking for other ways that I can get the 'spark' back - perhaps a 52 project?
I'm guessing there are other people who may have found themselves in a similar situation - what did you do?
Apologies for the long winded post, but I think having given my 'story' is a good place to start.
I used to frequent this forum quite a bit, but unfortunately over the past couple of years I have been doing less photography and don't really feel much inspiration nowadays - but I am looking to change that!
A bit of background - I got into photography whilst at university. I started with a compact camera, joined the photography society and that really kick started things - I quickly upgraded to a DSLR, spent all of my money on gear instead of going out getting drunk like most students(!) and enjoyed learning new things, trying different challenges (like a couple of 365 projects and 4am projects) and via the university magazine I got into live music photography. I think what helped a lot was being around likeminded photographers and many opportunities to do things. I used to keep up to date with the latest photography news/gear announcements and spend ages on various sites including this one.
After graduating from university I tried to keep the live music photography going by starting my own live music review site - this worked well for a while as I was working in Birmingham where there are a lot of live music venues, and being the 'second' city a lot of bands I like (rock/metal) would include a date in the Midlands. Aside from that I kept a few links with photographer friends in the area and also from the university photography society for a while (but then people I knew graduated and moved on, and it also felt a bit weird 'holding on' for too long after graduating).
A couple of years after that I moved down South for work - first down to Portsmouth for a year a bit, and then Brighton where I currently live/work and have done for the past year and a half. I think it was this move down South which saw my photography really tail off. Being busy with a new job and then constraints of work pressures and life in general meant I hardly had time to pick up a camera. The South coast isn't too great for gigs - London is the nearest place where most bands I like would play, which means more competition for press passes, plus adding to the the travelling, associated costs and late nights meant that the gig photography tailed off (the last gig I shot was May 2015). Combined with the fact that I didn't know any like minded people and struggled to find local photography groups, the cameras started gathering dust. The only time they were used were for a couple of holidays, but photos tended to stay unedited on my hard drive as I didn't really feel like spending the time processing and putting on my website.
Recently I have been looking for inspiration and ways to get back into shooting. I have been looking back at some of my photography which has brought back lots of memories - my favourite definitely being the WALL-E 365 project I did back in 2011 (https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/365-project-the-adventures-of-wall-e.354860/) I have just upgraded my camera (from a 5D Mark 2 to Mark 3) as I know buying new equipment can help, and I have a couple of holidays coming up in a few months (Dublin and Budapest). I think it will be difficult to get back into the gig photography scene, but I am looking for other ways that I can get the 'spark' back - perhaps a 52 project?
I'm guessing there are other people who may have found themselves in a similar situation - what did you do?
Apologies for the long winded post, but I think having given my 'story' is a good place to start.