Longest Time Without Taking a Photo?

[Michael Ventura]

I was thinking about this the other day (and I don't count using my phone camera), I was trying to think what was the longest period of time that I have gone without snapping a photo with a traditional film or digital camera.  I have been taking photos since my teens and I think the longest I have gone, without taking a shot, was maybe 3 to 4 weeks.  This was about 10 years, just after returning from Israel, I got super sick with a gastrointestinal bug that had me out of commission to the point where I was thinking death would be a decent alternative.  So it got me curious about you guys/gals, what's the longest you have gone without taking a photo?

[ReeRay]

I'm in it now - 6 weeks to date and probably another 4 to come. All due to relocating and the majority of my possessions in shipment. I'm left with just a phone and a suitcase. Can't wait to get going again though.

[John Mitchell]

I've sometimes gone several months without taking pictures, but then I've never depended on photography in order to make a living.  These days I'm not doing much photography-- except for my own enjoyment -- because my enthusiasm for stock photography is at an all-time low. 🥱

 

 

 

 

[sb photos]

Going back to my teens, I could go a month or two without shooting, from my twenties to fifties a week or two, then more frequently. Since I started contributing to Alamy in 2017 never longer than a week, often every other day.

 

Today I’m in a very hot and sunny Leigh-on-Sea with my wife, just for a day out. I could have opted to only bring the RX100, but like an idiot I brought my heavy backpack, ‘just in case’. I just shot a few on each body and lens combination in terriblely harsh light. Resting up in a pub right now out of the sun. Our cat is better off, left him in the house, curtains partially pulled and fan on a medium speed.

[meanderingemu]

Probably one month, on one of my Camino in Spain where i made the conscious decision to not have a camera, and just live it through my eyes.  

[Betty LaRue]

Counting only since getting into stock, probably about 6 weeks around my surgery time. Very few, though, and I didn’t work on any or upload until the past 10 days or so. Because of gasoline prices, I’ve not gotten off my property to shoot. I would spend more for gas than the images would probably license for. But the itch is there.

I think I’ll start working on more for my POD site. It pays better.

[Ed Rooney]

 

Never stepped on anything that blew up and never been attacked by a hungry crocodile. The few simple operations I've had did not have long recovery periods (stents in the heart and the removal of my gallbladder). After getting back from a long photo trip, I would not pick up a camera for about a week. 

 

Gee, I hope I don't get another red arrow for mentioning a crocodile again. 

[John Mitchell]

5 hours ago, meanderingemu said:

Probably one month, on one of my Camino in Spain where i made the conscious decision to not have a camera, and just live it through my eyes.  

 

Wise idea. I too find that I need to put the camera away for awhile or I start seeing the world as one big potential photograph -- i.e. rather than actually seeing and experiencing things as they are, I start thinking, "Gee, that's a great photo."

[Betty LaRue]

2 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

Wise idea. I too find that I need to put the camera away for awhile or I start seeing the world as one big potential photograph -- i.e. rather than actually seeing and experiencing things as they are, I start thinking, "Gee, that's a great photo."

You triggered a thought. Years ago, when I started painting watercolor, after a few months I would put paint colors to what I saw. Driving in the countryside, I’d name the sky “cerulean blue” or sap green or hunter green for foliage. Still do that a lot.

[zxzoomy]

Maybe a few months without since I started in 1960 with a Brownie 127. Lens not too great but a big neg. Of course it could be expensive with film. And the cameras I've had stolen over the years, which does slow one down. Keep a close watch on your cameras.  

 

 

[John Mitchell]

6 hours ago, zxzoomy said:

Maybe a few months without since I started in 1960 with a Brownie 127. Lens not too great but a big neg. Of course it could be expensive with film. And the cameras I've had stolen over the years, which does slow one down. Keep a close watch on your cameras.  

 

 

 

I too was a kid with a Brownie in 1960. Not sure if it was that model, though. Mine had a built-in flash as I remember. I still have a lot of those big negs and slides that I took with it. For some reason, I loved the hiss and smell of flashbulbs. 📸

[sb photos]

6 hours ago, zxzoomy said:

Maybe a few months without since I started in 1960 with a Brownie 127. Lens not too great but a big neg. Of course it could be expensive with film. And the cameras I've had stolen over the years, which does slow one down. Keep a close watch on your cameras.  

 

 

My first camera in the mid 1950's was a Kodak Brownie that used 127 roll film. It had a pull up frame viewfinder and a red filter over the winder showing the frame number. It wasn't too effective in bright sun, so I covered it with a sticky plaster, peeling it back to wind on. I used to develop the B&W film and print in my fathers darkroom. I loved the smell from a tray of fixer.

Edited August 15, 2022 by sb photos

[Bryan]

Lack of cash as a student meant a temporary halt to photography, but then came the kids and lots of opportunities for family snaps. After we last moved house more than 30 years ago the enlarger went into the attic and has never emerged, but colour slides and then scanned B&W brought about a resurgence.  Come digital and I am rarely without a camera, stock photography started in a small way before retirement but has been one of my interests since.

[Michael Ventura]

I guess I am a bit younger than a few of you.  My first real camera was a Nikkormat FTN, in the mid 1970s.  I was so hooked right away; it didn't take too long to get a Nikon F and then Nikon FM and then an FE and so on.  Every bit of money I was earning from various odd jobs, went right to building up my gear.  

 

I completely get the idea of leaving the camera behind and being in the moment, but it just has happened much for me.  Every trip we took as a family was usually built around shooting stock or even an assignment.   My kids actually loved it...not sure about the (ex)wife.  But we did get to some great places and often they were somewhat subsidized by a PR firm.

[Allan Bell]

About five years. Birth to age five years old. 

 

Since then it has always seemed that there was a camera around that I could play with.

 

Allan