The best way to avoid Creative Burnout
When you're developing your own style of creative photography, you're letting go of overwhelm and welcoming a life of creativity.
Do you often feel overwhelmed with all the intricacies of photography?
Mastering the camera settings, learning the basics, trying to put something original out there (or desperately trying to take similar images as XYZ), finding things to photograph, having to learn about different photography types ... and the list goes on and on and on .....
All these things? At once?
This leads to feelings of either "oh well I couldn't care less I'll just take photos of any old thing" = a mass of images which are neither here nor there OR "I really need to master landscape photography, I must learn, learn, learn otherwise I'll never be any good" = CREATIVE BURNOUT.
The following story, and its message, can be applied to any area of photography. It describes the process of when photography becomes too much.
About six years ago "Creative Burnout" was my middle name.
I was already working as a professional portrait photographer offering a wide variety of photoshoots:
wedding, new-born, couples, portrait, children, families, business.
Because to earn enough money to survive you have to attract a wide range of clients and to attract a wider audience, you have to have more things on offer. That's right, isn't it?
On top of this "Dear-Lord-don't-leave-anyone-out" offering, my services came with either a personal meeting to chat before the session and /or a booklet with information which helped them prepare for the shoot. Everyone knew what to wear and what to expect.
This may have been a good service, but it wasn't something that made clients choose me over the competition. The excellent images I posted on Instagram and Facebook didn't turn me into their "go-to" photographer either.
I was just one of many trying to get a foothold in the photography industry. Offering, more or less, the same thing as everyone else.
Trying to be everything to everyone left me in a constant exhaustion state.
And I never felt really prepared for any of the clients I was working with. Every time someone booked me I had to drag the knowledge for that kind of photography from the back of my mind.
I noticed that I kept choosing the same place to have the shoot because I knew the pictures would be good. The clients took the same poses as their predecessors. Nothing was fresh and original anymore.
There was no more room in my head for new ideas, I lost focus on what was really important. By focusing on too many things, I was losing my focus on what really mattered.
Enjoyment.
After two years of this, I knew something had to shift. I just wasn't able to focus on so many photography areas at once and trying to was eating up my creativity.
I knew I had to change something.
So I shifted my focus. To me.
I'd come to realise that people exhausted me.
And that appointments exhausted me.
Adding the two together gave me anxiety.
I gave a lot of deep thought to HOW I really wanted to work and realised that I definitely didn't want to work with large groups of people.
Then I realised it was the men that bothered me most. Only odd ones, you know, the ones who ooze disdain when they see a woman holding a technical appliance and, god forbid, actually knew how to switch it on and use it. Even though it’s in my nature to surprise people unexpectedly, plans of revenge were not something I needed going through my mind when trying to create beautiful images for my clients.
By the way, I love men. I truly do. I'm the girl stood in a crowd of men at parties chatting about football bets and about "that time when we all got drunk". I just don't want to want them as my clients.
I dug deeper and realised that I didn't want to deal with more than one person, or better said one woman at one time.
Then I went on to establish that a "light version of Boudoir photography" was the one that gave me the most enjoyment during the process and the kind that I truly looked forward to as each client appointment approached.
And this is when everything shifted.
Not only did I start earning more money doing something I loved, but I also became incredibly creative in the process.
I wasn't just "delivering" any more. What I create is a romance between my subject and myself—a dance. A give and take of ideas within my mind.
I created a different way to work and take photographs. I was still working with dozens of totally different women. Each one of them unique. Each challenged me to think differently. And I handed each of them unique pictures which fit their personality perfectly.
Yes, narrowing things down enabled me to open up to more creativity.
Who would have thought that by closing one door a dozen more would open and behind each of them lay a world of opportunity?
I truly believe that this is a process you can apply to any photography kind.
remove yourself from the overwhelm
direct your attention to the things you enjoy and love to see most
create instead of just deliver
Are the things you need to do to become a happy and successful photographer.
It was a long process to get to where I wanted to be. I took courses about finding myself and my true potential, read lots of books, watched what others were doing and brainstormed the whole process. It took me over two years to reach this decision. But only because I had to patch everything together myself.
And it's one I've never looked back on.
Having your own style of photography can be brought about by:
deciding on a group of subjects
using one of several methods which you've decided on for each subject/photograph
using your new-found creativity to give your own take on every subject you photograph
I don't believe that it's necessary to spend years of your life in confusion and hope that a photography style will develop overnight. I doubt it will. It is also doubtful that you'll find your way on your own in such a short time.
Finding your "thing" will result in more enjoyment during photography, giving you a permanent good feeling of accomplishment and tons of images that stand out with absolute YOUness.
What if someone took you by the hand and led you through the process?
Would you like to learn what your "thing" is?
The workshop "Defining your Photographic Style" isn’t currently available for sign up, but you can get on the waiting list HERE
The next course will begin in April 2021. Please note that signs are restricted to 50 participants. Live Q&As are part of the course program and you have lifetime access to the course content.
I’d love to hear about your experiences and thoughts. Feel free to leave a comment below!