Five reasons to stop photography

Nice article!
My 6th reason is sometimes that the work that goes into a photo is not (longer) recognized. Because of all the social media and "everyone-is-a-photographer", genuinely bad photos are also just considered good. Is of course sometimes a matter of taste too, but often not...
Then I sometimes think: Figure it out, just post that sh*t photo!

Photography is a fun hobby, you learn to observe your surroundings better and can then even decide whether to keep them, do anything else with them or delete them immediately. And yes, which hobby doesn't cost money
Often on a group walk I experience that people are so busy talking that they miss a lot of beautiful things along the way, often a turn-off too

Quite an inspiring article, which does make you think, despite the wink. It contains good arguments that you generally don't think too much about., which nevertheless have a core. Great that this is also being highlighted. LW's 1st comment is also one that definitely counts in the whole. Thanks Nando, something different for once but certainly topical.

Donald Willemsen wrote on Tuesday 5 April 2022 at 11:20  | reply

Nando, I think it's an enjoyable article with a number (5) of considerations for quitting photography. Is it perhaps an attempt to separate the wheat from the chaff? 😃😉
Nowadays everyone thinks they can take good photographs, especially now that you can also take pretty decent photos with a smartphone. Some think they are so good that they try to push professionals out of the market by working at low prices. They want to get a slice of the pie, after all, it's just a hobby. I don't have a problem with earning something once in a while, but as a hobby photographer I won't offer my services. If someone likes one of my photos and wants to buy it, then that's possible. But at market prices.
Pushing professional photographers out of the market is a reason for me to quit. You don't do something like that.
For me personally, there is only one reason to stop photography: death.

The photo showing a number of photographers all lined up photographing the same subject reminded me of an anecdote from 2019. I was traveling around the Vosges when I came to a picturesque town with a fast-flowing little river. From an old bridge you had a beautiful view. I stopped on the otherwise deserted bridge to take a few photos. I hadn't been there for even two minutes and there were about thirty Japanese or Chinese people around me, also photographing wildly with a smartphone, compact camera or system camera 😃. I left then because you were simply pushed aside. At such a moment, photography is no longer fun for a while. But for me it is no reason to stop photography. It still gives me a lot of satisfaction after 35-40 years.

Haha, yes, I’m stopping! What on earth have I been doing all these years? The best one: Everything has already been photographed, hahaha... What am I doing it for? (I’m secretly just carrying on though ) Nice article.

I think it’s great that everyone captures things, situations with his or her camera. Camera type ...not so important.
Print it, share it and look back at it in a few years. Pro or amateur, does it matter?....not really!
Sporty photo-shooting regards Robert

Those 4 tips are not for me. Despite being visually impaired, I try to take good photos. I always say better to make mistakes and learn from them. I also don't always have the time to be busy with photography. Still wherever I go, I always have my camera with me. Sometimes people ask me if I sleep with it too. So definitely a good article.

A very nice article, dear Nando. There are at least as many reasons not to stop with this great hobby. I am an avid hiker myself (with a nod to Didier Duquesne) and I think the camera is a nice reason to occasionally take a rest break to look more closely at a landscape, a flower or whatever and take a photo of it. Everything has already been photographed millions of times by millions of people, but no one has ever taken that same nice photo that you put effort into yourself. And then there is the pleasure of post-processing and viewing it on a large screen.

A 6th reason is the following:
Have you given up completely on taking that one picture that you can rightfully and justifiably be very proud of. Then sell your cameras and accessories at a flea market and go waste away living off your savings for the rest of your life (or claim unemployment benefits if the sale did not bring in enough).
If you still possess a glimmer of hope of ever being able to capture that one photo, go out every day and ‘shoot’ like crazy (trekken is Flemish for taking photographs).

Photography is a form of creating art. I got my first “camera” pocket camera when I was 12. Well it was a crappy thing! And now 46 years later my hobby has been my profession for 25 years. And what a wonderful profession, nothing is ever the same. And how beautifully you have described this. Chapeau!!

I have a grandson who likes to play with a remote-controlled car at a skate park. And grandpa had to come along today to take photos of that race car, which charges up the hill, flies a bit above it and then lands back on all four wheels, or upside down. And in the meantime, all sorts of things come up. That's reason enough to do it. But the fact that he thinks the photos are 'cool' is also nice to hear. Sometimes the truth comes from a child's mouth.

Marijke wrote on Thursday 7 April 2022 at 21:20  | reply

My camera is my companion. We walk together, have entire conversations, rarely disagree with each other. And we have a lot of fun.