5 Tips for Staying In Love With Your Photography Career

ADVICE FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS


5 Tips for Staying In Love With Your Photography Career

As January unfolds, it’s not uncommon to feel the pressure of the ‘new year, new you’ narrative. The expectation to ‘smash goals’ can be overwhelming.

While a new year promises renewal, it’s crucial to acknowledge that it’s okay to slow down and relish a well-deserved break. If your biggest accomplishment this month is getting your taxes done, pat yourself on the back. Rest and recovery are essential for creativity; our minds need those gaps to foster innovative thinking.

Striking Bridal Photo

5 Tips for Staying In Love With Your Photography Career

But what if these feelings run deeper? What if you find yourself questioning your passion for wedding photography, sensing that you might be losing your love for this career?

I touched upon this topic in a recent Dear Devlin post which is available here. And since then, my DMs have been busy with photographers saying that they can relate to this question so much whether they’ve been in the industry for five years or twenty-five years. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that feelings of giving up coincide with the deluge of end-of-year success stories that flood social media.

Seeing these posts, especially when you’re not feeling great about your work, can create a false impression that everyone else is ‘nailing it.’ Trust me, they’re not — most people just don’t talk about the negatives as much.

When that love wanes, the job becomes just that — a job. A challenging, time-consuming, anti-social, and often thankless one. You can’t compete with those who genuinely love what they do. They go above and beyond because they’re fuelled by passion.

So, my advice extends beyond business strategies — work on your love for photography. Like any relationship when the initial passion fades you need to look at ways to keep the spark alive and maintain your long-term relationship with photography. This requires effort but as ever, I have some useful tips for you…

5 Tips for Staying In Love With Your Photography Career

tips for rediscovering your passion

❤️‍🩹 Go back to the beginning: Reconnect with why you started. Rediscover that initial spark. Picture yourself when you first picked up a camera and what it was that connected in you.

❤️‍🩹 Shoot for fun: Engage in personal projects or portfolio shoots. Dust off that Pinterest board or unread photography book.

❤️‍🩹 Mix with your peers: Connect with others in the industry. Attend events, meetups, and conferences for a real-world perspective beyond social media.

❤️‍🩹 Take yourself on a photography date: Visit a café with a book from a favorite photographer or explore an exhibition. Images on Instagram may capture attention briefly, but a photograph in a book can linger in your thoughts for ever such a long time.

❤️‍🩹 Revamp your portfolio: Showcase what you wish to attract. If your current portfolio doesn’t excite you, it might be why you’re not enthusiastic about your bookings. Prioritise fixing this.

You wouldn’t have got this far along in this article if you didn’t want to find the love again so I believe that my strategies could help you.

As someone who is three decades into her photography career, these actions have helped me at the point where I felt a little lost and I am positive that they can help you.

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