How to Keep Your Passion for Snapping Photos Alive

Courtney Carmondy/flickr

Maintaining a passion for your photography hobby can be tough, especially if you’ve got a day job to worry about. With these tips, though, you can keep your passion for the art form alive and well, allowing your skills and photos to develop for many years to come.
Committing to a hobby is a lot like getting into a serious relationship: the first few weeks are all romance and excitement. But once things start to get comfortable, some of the fizzle dies out, and you increasingly spend your nights at home, ordering take-out and wearing sweatpants.
But your passion for snapping photos needs to stay fresh if you’re going to stick with it! Between the exhausting hours at the office and the nights and weekends full of household chores, dates with friends, and catching up on sleep, it’s easy to lose the momentum in our artistic pursuits.
But if you’re committed to it, and keep these tips and tricks in mind, your love for photography is sure to keep its luster.

Keep Your Tools at the Ready

You can’t take photos without your camera, right? So keep it with you at all times, and don’t be afraid to take some impulsive snaps when the feeling moves you, even if you’re not sure every shot will be a keeper. Playing around with exposure and composition is more fun when you’re not taking anything too seriously.
If you typically work with a larger model, consider picking up a smaller digital camera to keep in your bag or pocket for day-to-day use. Even if you’re not going out specifically to shoot photos, you never know when you’ll stumble upon something beautiful.
Training your brain to always be photo-ready will allow you to notice the potential beauty in any place or scene, meaning your body of work will grow larger and more diverse.

Challenge Yourself

Nathan Rupert/flickr

If you’re still struggling to find inspiration, consider taking a class, asking a fellow photographer to critique your work, or even submitting some pieces to a show.
In these circumstances, trained eyes can give you a more professional opinion of what you’re doing right and where you could use some improvement, pushing you in the right direction. While taking feedback can be difficult, the best artists are always the ones who can honestly assess their own faults and problems.
Getting grades and assignments from professors can inspire many people, but if that doesn’t work for you, consider starting a peer-only group — like a book club, but for photographers.
You can learn from other artists about their processes, what inspires them to take a picture, and what methods they use to capture a great scene or subject. Maybe they’ve come across a technique or a tool that you’ve never used before but could try in your own work.

Print Everything

Nothing gives you a sense of payoff like real-live prints of your favorite photos! Frame them, hang them on your walls, and use them for inspiration; and if frames are too pricy, shadowboxes are a great, inexpensive alternative.
Also, feel free to switch up what’s hanging on your walls! Treat your home like our own personal museum, and exhibit your best and favorite pieces for your friends and family to enjoy, rotating the pieces on display to reflect the season or your changing preferences.
Showcasing your best work will remind you why you love to take photos, and provide some inspiration when you’re feeling a little down on your hobby.
Of course, if you’re going to remind yourself of why you love your work, a shoddy, unprofessional print won’t help much. If you want those daily reminders that you’re talented enough to produce quality photographs, turn to the experts at Printique to produce the highest quality prints.
Our state-of-the-art printers produce your photos, but you won’t receive the final product until one of our trained professionals first inspects it for quality.
Don’t trust your work with anyone who doesn’t put excellence first — and once you start printing your photographs with Printique, you’ll never want to stop taking more.