Ideas for rejuvenating my interest

>>2972849
Thats a good photo. Why'd you stop?

>>2972875
Thanks, it was in an abandoned hospital near where I live.

I got a job (which I still have) that destroys me mentally, resulting in me struggling to motivate myself at the weekend, but a lot of it is down to me being a bit lazy.

My problem is that I want to go shoot something that will motivate me, something cool, but I just can't think of anything. I used to shoot a lot of wildlife, but I've not got the money for a long lens at the moment, and sold my last one a while back.

I know the spark is still inside me, I'm just badly struggling to reignite it.

>>2972888
Ah. I can definitely empathize with that. I live at home at am currently unemployed after being tired of treated like shit at work which always seems to happen to me. I'm always bullied. I plan on making photography my everything.

Maybe you should quit man, lifes too short. I hated myself working 40 hours if I was lucky just to pay rent and bills. I had no fucking ambition in that hell.

>>2972888
change your job!

>>2972888
>I got a job (which I still have) that destroys me mentally

congrats on such a keeper lol

>>2972893
I hear you. Despite being hell on earth, I actually kind of enjoy it, plus I'm kind of good at it, and the money is good. There's a lot more to it though, but I'm stuck there, at least for now.
>>2972907
My partner has gone back into education to re-train as a nurse, so without this job we're kinda stuffed at the moment (plus see above). I dicked around in the earlier part of my lift, so I wouldn't be able to walk into another job easily either.
>>2972912
I know, but kinda trapped, see above. Combination of partner gone back into education (I wouldn't deprive her of that opportunity), money is good, and my prospects aren't great (my own fault), so I would struggle to find work.

I do really love the guys I work for, and they do treat me well, it's just the nature of the work and the stress it brings.

I do think that I can deal with it, I just need to try harder to motivate myself outside of work, and stop procrastinating.

Thanks guys :)

>>2972893
Lol check out this numale

>>2972849
try studio lighting stuff for awhile, maybe some portraits
if you're in the city your surroundings can get boring after awhile, this way you create your own

>>2973066
Good idea, just remembered I do have some cheap strobes somewhere in the garage, thanks, I will dig them out.

>>2972849
Try doing shots the require some artistic ability in setting them up. Make it about constructing a small still life set or something. Kinda makes shooting it secondary and can rekindle your want to take photos.

>>2972888
Dood.

Get a new job, even if you have to take one that pays less.

What ever money you make, it is not worth the mental drain and being eventually turned into a withering corpse on the inside in the long run. Worst is that you often don't even realize how down the shitter you are, until you can look at the whole shitfest retrospectively.

I would be very surprised if you didn't find your spark again once you stabilize your life. Having your brain in a constant "survival mode" is massively taxing - it's no wonder you don't have motivation to do anything else.

tl;dr: get a new job. You can try to treat your illness symptoms, but if if you want to to be cured - switch jobs.

>>2973094
I do agree, I think I'm mostly just scared of trying to find another job, one that will sustain our current life (which is nothing outlandish), I don't really care about earning loads, I'm just scared I won't be able to support my family. I'm shit in interviews, and I have no real qualifications or training.

I do agree that overall I would be better off out of it, but do need work, something at least semi enjoyable, but I'm scared all I'll get is something lower paid and completely shitty like factory work etc.

It's not the first time people have told me I need to change jobs, it's just hard in my position, having fucked around so much when I was younger.

>>2973087
Thanks, and I do think you're right. I've always struggled to get good with composure and setting scenes up, hence why I got OK at wildlife, as I found it tended to be a crutch for my lack of skill.

>>2973105
What do you do?

>>2972849
cool shot. k3II is a great piece of kit. I'm still shooting a k20d but still love it tho. I'd recommend checking out some of the old m42 super takumar lenses like the 50mm 1.4 and 135mm 3.5, just need an adapter and your gold. might get the juices flowing.

>>2973482
Nothing too out of the ordinary, but I manage/run a site engineering firm, where we handle a lot of last minute repairs and call outs etc. The firm grew from nothing really, and now we're at the point where we look after some huge customers, and we're on that tricky path of making the jump from small(ish) company (or at least small mentality), to a medium size, professional firm, if you get me?

>>2973499
Thanks a lot, appreciate it. I had a K-5 a while back and really loved the ergonomics/controls, so went with something I knew. I haven't used it much yet, but seems great. I'm not a huge lens buyer, so can live with the small ecosystem.

I did have a spell with older stuff before, and I am thinking about getting a few manual lenses and an adaptor, thanks.

I've always remained on /p/, even through times where I've not got myself out there with my camera, but I actually do feel more motivated just discussing it, to be honest.

>>2973658
Sounds like that would be fun.

Do you have to work too many hours?

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OP, I have put the camera down many times. I began my career in HS in 1994. I had nothing, no job, no $, but my mother was supportive. I excelled and managed to buy a camera. I scraped all my pennies together for film and paper until the summer of 1994 when I could get a good job for a teen. I made about 1k that summer; it helped tremendously and the money for film and stuff kept me going. I was the best student my teacher ever had. Virtually no learning curve, I nailed everything. HS ended in 1997 and RL started and it was hard. Working FT allowed little time to be creative and after trying to save and build a darkroom in my apartment for two years I gave up. I would do holiday images for family; once I did a wedding for friends. I took my camera out of storage for the birth of my niece in 2002 and it reignited the passion. Money was limited but I did alot of dry firing. Digital was just in its infancy and I bought a decent P and S for evaluation purposes. I joined the Army and quickly became the unit photographer and historian (No budget of course). In 2005 I was sent on TDY for a class in Virginia right as the leaves were changing. The first week everything was spring green, the next week the trees were turning. I got some amazing shots and my obsession with photography was officially renewed. I was no longer beholden unto the fees and hassle of developing film. I knew better than to try and get back into it professionally with such a limited camera but I worked on improving my composition and use of light. In 2007, right after my daughter was born (I shot her birth with two P and S cameras, one in my left, video, one in my right taking stills.). I was laid off my job of a decade shortly after and received a $5000 severance. I bought my first DSLR, an IST-DL. What a machine! A few months later I shot a semi famous author for $ and a large family. My photography has saved us a few times as far as $ goes. Its normal to take a break once in a while. Keep shooting!

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>>2973734
Yeah, never off the job to be honest. We work all hours and I'm often the point of contact when the shit hits the fan.

There's a lot of scope for things to go wrong, just the nature of the work.

>>2973743
Thanks for taking the time to write that, it's a good story. I would imagine you're a similar age to me by the sound of it. I spent a lot of years lost in limbo.

>>2973863
Why haven't you demanded more money for being on call like that?

>>2974149
Don't get me wrong, I get treated well and the pay is good, but I've become the go-to guy for everything, mainly because (and not trying to blow my own trumpet) I'm more reliable/efficient than anybody else in management.

It's kind of at the point where I feel that if I don't keep stepping up then nobody will, and the company will suffer.

Been looking at jobs the last couple of days, but everybody wants stuff I don't have. I'm a jack of all trades, master of none. All that seems to get me through is my attention to detail and willingness to learn, but when you're past 30 years old it doesn't really seem to count for much.