…and I’m cool with that! Just because there aren’t photographs of toys being added to my memory cards, it doesn’t mean I’m not still working on toy photography, even if some might call it work!
Last week Shelly lamented not taking enough toy photographs. I get that! I’ve been there, agonising over not spending enough time with toys in front on my lens. I’ve wrestled with creative blocks and I’ve struggled with times that I’ve spent days or weeks without a single toy photograph taken.
However, sometimes these times of inactivity are anything but. The past couple of weeks, and the coming weeks, haven’t been and definitively won’t be sluggish, stationary or dormant.
You don’t have to twist my arm to work. ~ Henry Rollins
There are upcoming toy photography projects. There’s the imminent Melbourne Toy Photographers Meetup. And there’s helping to judge the Lume Cube Ultimate Toy Photography Contest.
So, despite appearing outwardly quiet, behind the scenes there’s a bunch of stuff happening. And despite some maybe considering this stuff work, I find it hard to call it work when it’s so much fun!
Don’t do anything by half. If you love someone, love them with all your soul. When you go to work, work your ass off. ~ Henry Rollins
And so this is how it is of late. When I’m not taking toy photos, or I’m not posting, it’s because I’m working on other toy photography related matters.
And that’s what matters to me, keeping busy with toy photography, even if I’m not taking photographs of toys!
– Brett
How do you deal with the busy times that take away from your toy photography?
If you’ve made through all my blathering and ended up here, you should sign up to our weekly email round up where you’ll get a recap of all the babbling from the week.
And while you’re doing things, you should definitely join our G+ Community where we hold monthly contests with prizes and lots of other cool stuff too.
Don’t forget the Lume Cube Ultimate Toy Photography Contest running until September the 26th.
And don’t forget to register for the 2018 Melbourne Toy Photographers Meetup!
I’ve gone months without taking any toy photos. I can’t force myself to if I’m not into it because if I do, it just feels like work.
And I’m OK with it too!
In the meantime, I’m doing other photography-related stuff: doing portraits of people, taking courses, learning new editing techniques, going to photo exhibits, buying more gear (dammit).
I’ll lose some followers but I can’t be bothered with fickle fans. In fact, I’m still holding out for a few toy photographers who haven’t posted in years, hoping they’ll come back.
Ah, the “pressure to perform”!
Yes, I feel the same. In the past I’ve forced myself to take photos, and even posted photos online that I wasn’t 100% happy with, purely to “keep up the quota”. That usually resulted in a longer hiatus!
Just because we’re not taking or posting toy photos, doesn’t mean we’re not toy photographing in some form.
I love the notion of fickle fans. I’ve never thought of it that way, thank you! As my my numbers steadily recede, I’ll think of that.
This is what I learned to think. At first I was like Shelly’s post. and then, I just realize that I can’t work 40h, whatch movies, tc show, read comics and manga, have a social life, whatch sport, do the house shores and shoot toy everyday. And I don’t even have kids yet!
I just accept the fact that I won’t reach the level of the accounts I admire as quick as other might. I will try it step by step, and always with fun.
Always with fun! Wonderful!!
And when fun is kept in the equation, that’s the best way to approach this question.
Being creatives means having ups and downs. It is inevitable. I have never spoken to anyone who is a creative who doesn’t experience that. Some work thru it, mainly cause being creative is their day job and they need to push thru to get gigs to pay bills. Others let it ride.
I am kind of in a rut from a “number of photos taken” perspective as well. However I have to balance that with taking up more writing gigs for this very blog, having just completed 2 photography projects involving toys, traveling for work on a different continent(which I love but it tends to kill my creativity toy-wise, both in the planning/prep stages and while actually on the trip), survived a major hurricane (well, it basically missed us, but the stress of prep was there), and basically being a crazy (I have a medical diagnosis to back that up) mofo, and I gotta give myself some slack 🙂
I know. I *KNOW* I will shoot again, and some will be awesome, and some will suck. However I also know that I have to give myself permission to ride the lows so I can get back to the highs.
And its not like I am sitting on the sidelines- I have a notebook in my pocket with some ideas in it for shots – I just need to get to a place where I can get into the creative zone and shoot them.
Brilliant! I couldn’t agree more with your take on this mate. It’s when we push ourselves to deliver, when the creative spark is just a flicker, or extinguished temporarily, that’s when our work suffers. And so do we!
Life puts so many pressures on us. Why would we add to that pile?
And the notebook in your pockets proves that just because we’re not taking photographs of toys, it doesn’t mean we’ve stopped being toy photographers!
I’ve definitely gone through this phase as well. It’s pretty remarkable how toy photography has become a daily part of my life, whether I’m actually taking photos or not. If I’m not shooting, I’m thinking of ideas, reaching out to people for the podcast, recording episodes, writing blog posts, buying weird things at the store to use for props… The list goes on and on!
I’m glad to hear that you’ve got a good attitude about the lull in output, and that you’re having fun. At the end of the day, that’s what this hobby is supposed to be about!
Ah….stuff! But good stuff! Good stuff to go with my good attitude. See, it even sounds fun when we spell it all out!!
Great post, Brett – and a great addition to Shelly’s post. I always thought I should post on a regular basis (which is what I still do). But when I tried to share something more often than once a week, trying to get more than just one picture into a post, I soon felt like I was putting quantity above quality… Which is something I try to avoid this year. (Making six pictures for just one post is quite the luxury…)
As for fans and followers, my visits, likes and comments decreased while my fun with toys increased. But then again, I do not make pictures to be popular – although it is fun to share one’s work and I am always happy if there’s someone to apprechiate it.
Quantity vs. Quality! Exactly!
I really wish I could disable the follower count on my social media. Well, I used to. It used to bum me out watching numbers decline. That was until, like you, I realised I wasn’t doing this for popularity. As Anna so beautifully put it, those ‘fickle fans’ that decide to leave, be it because I’m not posting as much as I used to, or because I’m posting new, different photos, aren’t really missed.
I do love numbers (I’m a bit of a math nerd), but those numbers aren’t as important as the fun!