Have You Forgotten Why You Love Photography?

Spend enough time in photography, and it's likely you'll stop and realize one day that you seem to have drifted away from the reasons you got into it, and you might not even enjoy it anymore. This great video talks about getting back to the basics and not losing sight of why you enjoy taking photos in the first place.

Coming to you from Thomas Heaton, this introspective video follows him as he works through rediscovering his love for photography. If case you don't follow Heaton's channel, he's spent the last few weeks detailing his hunt for a new camera by trying out many different brands and models, but it's also been clear that the minutiae of reviewing gear is something he simply has no interest in, and it has been beginning to take its toll on his enjoyment of the creative process by diverting his attention from what he really loves. For you, it doesn't have to be gear; it could be running a business, personal problems, etc. Whatever it is, if you find you're not enjoying this thing that's supposed to bring you happiness and inspire your creativity, take a bit of time to dig deep and figure out why that is, so you can give yourself a bit of a reset and get back to doing what you love. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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30 Comments

lol...OMG you guys have to stop. Is it so hard to create your own content instead of the constant barrage of rewinds?

Nope, it’s not! That’s why we come out with 5-7 a day: www.fstoppers.com/originals. Enjoy!

Alex, I actually like your writing when it's not a "rewind". Try it more often sheesh.

As for the content, what is the ratio of originally created work to posts of others like TH...?

I know you guys can do it...that's what attracted people to FS in the first place.

I've written over 200 originals. Sheesh.

Why don't you become a contributor?

I know you can do it...that's why you are complaining.

Maybe I could be a CNN reporter as well because the only thing they seem to cover is Trump...maybe I should become a law maker because they can't seem to run the world's largest economy properly?

We all have our jobs and suggesting that we do someone else' for them is just lame.

Or here...how about we all go work for Canon and Nikon because despite having decades to work on a mirrorless camera system they fell short of the mark when they finally did.

How will there be improvement if people like you and I say nothing?

No, child, I'm not suggesting you do their job for them, indeed, I think they are doing a fine job, hence I keep returning; I'm suggesting that since you can obviously do so much better that you should put up or shut up.

Or maybe this is just one of those internet things where people just have to complain about stuff with no good reason. But it couldn't possibly be that.

"Child"...I'm not the one name-calling. Take the soother out of your mouth and toughen up.

Let me rephrase, you are being childish. Nothing you say has any merit whatsoever.

BTW, the link to 500px is broken, you may want to remove it or update it.

I don’t know, Fs is pretty much the only photog site I check on a daily basis and I kind of like that I get to see most of the interesting stuff that’s going on elsewhere plus the Fs originals all in the one place. So thanks for that!

I also like that I get both here. There's always a balance needed and it's hard to produce solely original content in todays photography world. After all nearly everything hast been written about already or a video has been made on it I guess ;-)

Thomas' said from the beginning that he wasn't a professional gear reviewer and that he was just doing a casual test, but I think it was the clickbait-y format of the message "The Canon 5D4 could be better than the D850 in the shadows" that caused the tidal wave of comments. Then the honest gripe about Fuji's physical shutter speed dial only going to 1 second, of course, brought out all the die-hard Fuji zealots who felt compelled to shame him for not reading a user manual first. (Something I haven't done in 10+ years as a full-time photographer, if ever.)

I was able to appreciate Thomas' "gut reaction" type videos, even if they involved a couple of oversights or technical mistakes on his part, because I enjoy hearing the initial opinions of people when they first pick up a new camera. As someone who does gear reviews professionally, I call it "research" into which brands are the most user-friendly, and I value these opinions almost as much as the veterans who have been using a particular camera for years.

But, I also respect Thomas' decision to focus on his greatest passion, and be true to himself etc. Doing so is far more important than anything else in any artistic craft.

I like his attitude but he sure likes to ramble. Having the attention span of a hamster, I can't watch his videos. :-/

Ahh well, have fun watching Peter Mckinnon pound coffee and talk faster than a chipmunk. ;-)

I don't know who that is. I only watch the videos posted here and only a few of those for entertainment. I could never understand how anyone could watch golf on TV. Now I know it's just something to do when you can't be out there yourself! 🙂

I halfway agree with you but..confession: I didn't know one of my cars had a seat/steering wheel warmer until I read the manual the other day...

I've had my car for three years and still discover new stuff! :-)

I've just discovered the clutch. I've had the car since 2006.

:-)

I found out yesterday that the car's battery posts are in the trunk...in one of the covered wheel wells. Like...why isn't it the front with the engine. Probably should have read the manual...

Well, Leigh, there are definitely things in life that require reading the manual, indeed. The more complex something is, the more you do need to break out the manual.

This analogy, however, doesn't work unless we're obsessed with cars as much as we are with cameras. Personally, I'm obsessed with photography equipment, and that's part of why I can pick up anything and figure it out almost completely within a few hours. I hate cars and computers and many other technology things, though, so that's why I spend a lot of time reading up on every new tech thing I buy, and reading the manuals as much as necessary.

This should be titled "Photographer backpedals after embarrassing himself and a giant camera corporation."

For those that didn't watch the previous video, Thomas took a fuji medium format camera out for a shoot without spending any time with it. Or any time in the manuals. And because he releases videos on a schedule, he had no choice but to publish a video of himself making rookie mistakes and making fuji look unintuitive and hard to get under control.

I agree with Leigh. Stop reposting other people's content.

Well, I kind of understand Thomas in the previous video. Coming from Canon I also had my issues with Fuji at first. There are some quirks one needs to know about, then they are a great to use. And I kind of like that he also puts out "raw" videos where something doesn't work or where he doesn't understand how to properly operate some new gear. Shows that I'm not the only one ;-)

I like Thomas, but if you are going to make a video about gear, do it right or don't do it at all. Making a mediocre video is a disservice to his viewers that rely on him to get useful information.

Well that is why he said he was going to stop making videos about gear so he agrees with you.

I was totally onboard with this video, nodding along to the whole part, and then the Fuji hit the frame and I was like "oooh wonder how the GFX is going for him, that medium format jazz..." etc etc. Guess I still have a long way to go to ignore shiny new toys like that.

I hope Thomas reads these reviews on fstoppers. I get the feeling he may need some encouragement. I think he is the most entertaining and down to earth youtuber posting here on Fstoppers. To me he feels like a friend full of passion and emotion for his craft. When on an adventure I feel his excitement and joy with the beauty surrounding him as well as his disappointments and frustrations. Even the more mundane subjects of photography from clothing to cameras to printing to software come off interesting and informative in Thomas's presentations in a very personal way.
The bottom line for me is I can learn from him as well as being entertained.

I hope to see much more in the future.

Butch

I think those who complain that Fstoppers should be publishing more original work should start submitting their own articles for publication; you know, given that it's super easy and all.

:)