Burnout

Anyone with the slightest glance at my website will see that it has not been updated for quite a while. I've hardly touched a camera for the last year apart from snaps of my wife and dog, or when pushed by biking friends to get some ego action shots, and even then it was under duress.

The truth is I haven't been photographing at all. I burned out. Totally. I wasn't interested in photography, businesses or even really being outside. I cancelled my workshops and talks and sold nearly all my camera gear, keeping just a compact and a TLR that my dad gave me. And at the time that felt great, really cathartic as the pressure was lifted. The pressure to produce new work. The pressure to make money. The pressure to promote myself as a successful brand. It felt great just to say "I quit"!

Landscape photography is hard. Awful weather the last few years, early starts and late nights, travelling, competition, running a business. I chose it, the job, the lifestyle, but nothing in my previous jobs as a project manager or working on a farm could have prepared me for the mental and physical effort required. So yea, I quit.

The thing is, passion is not that simple. And returning to having a boss is less than fun. A couple of months ago, I started wondering about maybe starting to make photographs again. Not a burning desire, just a subtle feeling. And it's still a subtle feeling, it's not the overwhelming passion and drive that consumed my mind and eyes before. It's a quiet and keen longing to be outside, watching the world come to life, the sun lighting wave tops and grass, sand and shadows whilst soaked in a storm, the flow of the sea from low to high and back again.

So Monday, I went and bought a new camera and some lenses. Some nice lenses at that. Found some Lee Filters on ebay in a stroke of luck when everywhere else is sold out.

And so I'm ready again. Ready to be out in the world, making my way. I hope to meet some of you on my journey, whether it be on the beach, on my bike getting somewhere or in the wired ether.

Coming soon: I've got some great ideas for workshops, talks and new articles. And in time, with luck and a few kind clouds, a new portfolio.