For anyone who may have visited this website anytime through pretty much most of 2024, you will have noticed I wasn’t very active in terms of posting.
My priorities in 2024 were all over the place and sadly photography wasn’t very high on the list. This year I will have been doing photography for 14 years which makes me feel old. Being that I’ve done it that long, it doesn’t have that new exciting feeling that it once had either.
Sure, buying new gear can often be fun as it gives you something new and exciting to try but that can only last so long. This brings me into explaining from a somewhat photography standpoint what I’ve been up to.
Work and Other Priorities
Although photography can be an escape from reality or an outlet to release stress, this doesn’t always solve every issue.
There are many others out there that have likely had it worse or easier than me but that’s just life in general, no matter how bad you’re doing someone’s doing worse and vice versa which is something I always try to humble and ground myself with.
Now nothing too major but I would say 2024 was a bit more on stressful side compared to previous year. Like many, cost of living had been a major issue which led me to put focus in other areas, one of which was starting my own small business.
Although it isn’t anything too special or high end, I made this website along with my blog (PhotosByDlee) so making websites is another hobby of mine. Taking into consideration that I had that skill along with photography, I decided to start my own candle business since not only could I build the website part myself, but I could also do all the photo work too which made it somewhat of a fun side hobby.
It’s still very early days but this was my main outlet for creativity. Any time I’ve taken photos, it’s generally been for the website or product shots. Ideally, I was hoping this would really push me to do more still life photography but that’s where the lack of creativity and inspiration comes in.
During stressful times our health is usually the first thing to suffer. I have had a few stress related health issues but one thing that has helped me manage it has been exercise. On average I workout about 90 minutes a day (45 minutes of HIIT first thing after waking up and 45 mins of cardio after finishing work) so as you can imagine, this leaves me with very little energy for much else. I also prioritize workouts over other hobbies, photography included.
My main goals in present day are more focused on hitting a certain weight and body fat percentage so possibly once I achieve that, I can look at scaling back my exercise and return to other hobbies (like photography).
Convenience vs Finding Inspiration
Photography is (regardless of what some say) a visual art and there is an undeniable level of creativity to it. Because of this, I often find I need the right mood and inspiration to be able to produce an image I enjoy and would want to post.
Some of us may go out with purpose to curate a certain image of a person or place that tells a story, while others may just want to take a more casual approach and document their day or a time of their life through their lens.
There’s been many periods in my photography journey that I’ve always carried a camera on me. I often feel like you can easily miss so many great images and moments without one. Many will say this where a Smartphone comes in due to its convenience but personally, I believe the quality of the images they produce still can’t come close to an ILC.
I’ve had events like concerts where my only option to capture a memory was with my Smartphone although once I look at these photos on a proper monitor, they quickly show their flaws and lack of detail or flexibility in dynamic range that I’d have with an ILC.
This is where convenience vs creativity comes in. When I travel for example (pictures above from Japan and New Zealand), I almost always bring my camera with me and to every location whereas on daily travels, it doesn’t feel like a necessary hassle as I can visit these same places any time I like. Traveling is a new environment most of the time, so we not only feel more inspired, but we (or at least I) feel more willing to ignore convenience and carry my camera everywhere with me.
In Japan I remember lugging around my body and 4 lenses while waiting to check in which I would never considering doing while at home in Sydney. I’m sure it’s possible for some to take this same motivation and apply it to their everyday life, but sadly I’m not one of those people…
The Balance I Hope to Find
An easy solution would be to just quit photography or at least keep putting it as a very low priority for myself. The issue with this is, I actually do miss photography. There’s a certain feeling about taking an image that you’re really happy with. There’s also the gear factor as if I don’t use it, I feel I should just sell it off to make the most of its current value. I know I’ll end up missing photography though and buying it all back so it’s an unnecessary hassle.
Considering the above, I’m not feeling the urge to constantly pick up my camera but often it takes one image that you’re happy with to ignite a small spark, like the one below.
It was close to Christmas, I hadn’t used my camera personally in weeks and for the first year in I don’t know how long I didn’t capture any Christmas related photo. I decided to grab my usual Christmas decoration and just take ANYTHING so I can at least say I had captured something for the year.
Now this image won’t be winning any prizes or even be something that sticks in people’s minds, but I had fun taking it which matters the most to me. We already had some string fairy lights set up as basic Christmas decorations, so I just grabbed my Sony Alpha a7C II and Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DN Art to capture this. This was with natural light and I just done a quick edit on it and I was done.
When it comes to the editing part, although I enjoy it, I can also find it tedious. I personally believe that the more you can nail a shot in camera, the less work needs to be done in post. The main focus of my editing is usually color works and mid to late last year, I started trying to find a way to speed this process up. I made myself a Lightroom preset which honestly gives me quite a good starting point and for some images that I just keep for memories sake (like family photos), I just quickly apply this preset then export.
In the coming months I plan to try expand on this preset and try work on changing more colors, then create more actions in Photoshop to try speed up the color process in there as well. My hopes for all of this is to try make it so I can shoot a lot more without having to worry about editing. This will hopefully be the balance I’m looking for that can help get me out there shooting again more often (hopefully weekly!).
What’s Next?
In terms of this website, I have a review for the 35GM almost done but just needs some refinement. I find when you review gear, it’s pretty much saying the same things over and over again, so I try to make each one a bit more unique as there’s many other sites out there just covering the technical aspects.
I also want to do a review for my 85mm Art and may do a post on the lenses that didn’t last long in my ownership and why (there’s quite a lot too..). For the podcast, I don’t see myself recording any further episodes anytime soon as the time it takes to plan for, record and edit wasn’t really worth it for the amount of listens I got per episode (less than 100 to be fully transparent) or lack of actual engagement.
Many of you have reached out over the years with gear questions etc. and I’m more than happy to continue to answer any questions you all have, regardless of how frequent or infrequently I post on here.
I hope everyone enjoyed this post and it’s something that at least some of you can relate to. Hopefully I’ll be updating this site more often and you can also find more shorter photo based posts over on my blog.
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