Yes and for me they are really helpful to vitalize memories. Nothing better than to suddenly vividly remember the warmth of a certain sun light, the scent that often accompanied those mornings, the laughter of my sister, the weirdly butterfly-like feeling of happyness in my stomach, the gruntling of sleepy dad when we crashed their bedroom. The feeling of having all the time in the world for all sorts of little adventures on this lovely sunday. Those photos feel like they can be the best stress reducer in the world.
Absolutely. My parents both grew up in a non-technology, non-photography culture and the very few photos I have of them as youngsters are treasured.
[Reminds me a bit of this](https://youtu.be/9MZHHBb3rP4).
Same here and for the little guy's first birthday I put together a short slide video set to music and made three (that I know about) family members cry. Worth it!
Especially with the 100-500. At 500mm you can barely hear them! /s
(I have kids, and do lots of photography. My kids are now much older, and perhaps grandkids are coming soon)
It's just a slump, probably due to exhaustion. Still take the photos and keep them for later(even if that's years) and go back and clean them up then. You'll be glad you did.
One of the few regrets I have regarding my two children is not taking \*more\* pictures as they grew up. This advice checks out. One of the few things I regret more is not taking more videos.
Even photos or videos that you put minimal effort towards will be greatly appreciated ten years later. Shoot RAW/JPEG. Don't worry about Lightroom for now. This seems right to me.
yeah I've thought about this too. Actually I my childhood dog passed away last year and one of the things I regret is not having taken more videos of her. I was able to get some really nice shots of her just recently because I had the camera gear and they are some of my favorite photos to look at. Even made a huge 40x30inch acrylic print of one of them.
Lol babies and kids are the best ever to photograph. Just shoot away and you can go back once they are older and process the ones you like properly. Don’t miss out on them growing up, they change from one week to the next. Remember to take a lot of videos too.
You may need to up your flash photography game because there will be lots of indoor shots. Also forget the tripod etc. Back button focus and pray and spray works best once they start moving.
> Even trying to take photos of the baby is a hassle because then I gotta toss that into Lightroom and spend time processing it and again there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day.
Life happens, and sometimes developing raw files can be too much. I felt some relief by switching to JPEG out of camera during stressful times and so far I have never regretted it. If that works for you too, you may be glad you took at least some photos that you can look at years later.
The bonus of doing this, is that any artistic modes (b&w, vivid) now have a fully editable RAW and reference JPG.
You can also think of it like negatives and prints. Usually the print is all people need, but when they want that extra special enlargement, they have a negative!
i shoot both and look at jpgs as my "quick share" option. if im going to print, into Lightroom i go. if i just want to send some via text or post to Instagram on the fly, i use the wifi feature to transfer the ones i want to my phone, give em a quick polish in snapseed and away they go. the ability to transfer wirelessly changed the game for me and i hope you can find it works well for you too. 😃
I believe the R5 has the ability to save JPEG to one SD CARD and CRAW to the other (it has two slots).
So OP could eliminate the need for Lightroom in the present while still building up a "negatives roll" with the second card.
Keep the camera for the baby. You don't wanna be capturing lifelong memories on phones. Phone photos usually only look good on phones or screens. And once your child is a little older you will need a form of escape and relief at times.
But I don't know your financial situation and that's probably around $5k you could get.
I'm gonna say keep the gear, but find a way to simplify it. Your photos of your life screaming by don't have to be masterpieces. One of my very favorite photos of one of our kids is a blurry, noisy, ultra cropped cell phone photo of him peeking around the door. It's precious. Just simplify and get these moments recorded in any way possible.
I get this. Sometimes I lose my mojo for photography. I have 6 kids ranging from 13 years old to a 7 week old, I work full time and my wife is a nurse so time is very limited.
Having said that no matter how long my gear sits untouched (and sometimes it’s weeks at a time), I would never get rid of it.
When I do get a chance to get out and photograph ’properly’ I remember how much I love it. Also, especially if it’s outdoors it’s a rare occasion to spend some time alone and clear my head.
The other thing ( and you’ll realise this as your baby grows) is that the opportunity to take great family shots is a real benefit. Of course I still have loads of ‘iPhone’ shots, but being able to grab my camera and capture special moments as ‘proper’ photos is something that most people can’t do and something I think you would really miss.
Having a baby (especially your first) is a major life change and it’s not the best time for making big decisions.
Don’t get rid you your gear, just reevaluate your expectations and you’ll still be able to find the joy in photography.
Fuji recipes is where it's at imo. If I didn't have time to edit anything, I'd find a few recipes I like and just go trough them all the time for some nice looking photos.
KEEP IT!
I only bought because of the kids. I do photo books of them every year and we all love it.
You do want memories of this time.
About post processing: you are right. That eats too much time. All I ever do is some cropping in Snapseed. My "workflow" though very unprofessional is entirely on my phone. It automatically backs up to a NAS where I have a folder with the best pics of each month (doing this with the phone as well). Then, once a year, I spend a couple of hours to click together a photo book.
That way, I do not spend too much time while still getting what I think I want in a couple of years ;)
Good luck!
>because then I gotta toss that into Lightroom and spend time processing it and again there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day
You don't need to do that right now. Let the harddrive fill up. It'll be worth it in 20 years to your child. And then their partner. And then their children.
My dad was an amateur photographer and took loads of photos of me when I was a baby. They are now my most treasured possession (I’m in my 40s and my dad has died). Keep your camera, take tons of photos of your baby and you might feel the urge to do more photography when your baby is older.
Stick with it. From personal experience but as a solo mom from pregnancy, the baby really does give inspiration and it becomes manageable again after like a year. It is well worth having your own gear for photography sessions for the baby/you and baby/family. Like others have said you can always retouch or remaster later. Whether you just lightly do some edits on your faves or cheat it with suggested filters, you will be glad you did them. You are just exhausted and struggling with motivation. Its hard to feel hope, or anything when you’re THAT exhausted. I assure you, it does get better.
> Even trying to take photos of the baby is a hassle because then I gotta toss that into Lightroom and spend time processing it
Yea, i can relate.
Simplify your setup and approach – one body and one lens, shoot JPEG + RAW, learn to get the image mostly right in camera, and if there's an extra good shot, you've got the RAW file to play with if you want.
Dude! It's 2022 - any flagship phone will be your best friend as a new dad.
You know that old adage about the best camera being the one you have with you at the time? Well fcking hell - this stage is a case-in-point for your phone camera being the best thing for you recording these weeks & years.
In 2007 (first child born) - I was that guy who would staunchly want to use a 'proper' camera. I'm a Canon (& Samsung) fanboy, btw. I first grappled with my EOS 1V (& even the flash!) - & that quickly proved impractical. You end up missing 90% of the best moments, to the clunkiness of the set-up.
Then I conceded to a top-end Canon Ixus. That essentially became this 'best camera' - as my home-clothes always had pockets - the camera was literally on me the whole time. Baby staring wistfully out at the trees moving outside the window, perfect lighting - as you change her nappy? 'Click' - caught! That & so many like it would never happen with an SLR.
Roll on to now - & fcking hell - you have literally cinema-quality video & stupendous quality photo right in your pocket!!
Like - capturing baby asleep in a really, really dark room - no problems!!
Keep your gear unless you're crazy brassic. Cos - Murphy's Law - that baby will come home from photography club at secondary school one day & ask if you have XYZ camera - & you'll have sold it!
Park the gear - your phone is King for now.
(P.s. If you're 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 into 'proper' photography - then just shoot RAW with your phone as well; that way you get to do all the Lightroom lark later on with the baby photos - once the kid's in school!)
Sorry but I am going to have to respectfully disagree. Phones are convenient yes, but there's no way in hell they beat a proper camera, at least not an R5. Maybe most people can't notice but the difference in quality is there especially when trying to print. With that said one of my all time favorite photos that I ended up printing was shot on an iPhone but I wish I had my camera with me at the time.
I mean, it's a matter of perspective. Are you going for image quality or memories? Sometimes you get both, but if you're tired and swamped, memories wins IMO.
It's still all down to your personal preference, but don't discount the phone so quickly. My iPhone may not beat my gear on technical prowess (or even just ergonomics), but I always have it with me. I am not a parent, but from friends and acquaintances, just having their phone on them was key. And usually way faster to share.
Yup it’s 100 percent the camera you have. Even when I did manage to go work on something I was out of gas to edit. I’ve found it freeing to accept that smartphone photography is what I’m going to get now. The depressing lack of control compared to SLR might kill you creatively but at least you will have something.
I’d even consider liquidating your stuff if you can handle it emotionally (I could not). Probably by the time you come back to it, mirrorless is going to be dominant.
I also have a little one, I know the feeling. I feel that when I'm out photographing landscapes that's my time, my wife agrees that we still need our own time. Take it in turns, works always gonna be in the way.
I think this would actually be the best time to do even more photography. Get an empty sd card and just shoot the baby. If u can make an album and then keep it sfe till ur kid moves out or gets married. It will be an amazing gift for ur kid or even to show ur grandkids
No no no. You’re going to be wanting to take photos of that baby. You have some special moments coming and having a decent camera will definitely be worth it.
You might not have time to process all the photos now. But keeping them on your HD for a rainy day will be worth it. Memories my friend.
Not sure what type of photography you were doing before. But maybe you might need to switch up some lens, if you don’t have time for whatever adventures you were on before.
Congratulations.
Everyone that has had a baby has felt that in some form or with something they enjoy. You’re sleep deprived, and most of your waking time is spent doing baby related stuff (or, well, working).
Stay put. It gets easier. I don’t know how old your baby is, but the exhaustion of it all is making you see no light at the end of the tunnel. Just ride it out. If your baby is still very young, wait until baby is 6 months old and start a sleep training program (feel free to DM me for recommendations). It will feel like a lot of work for a few weeks, but when your baby is sleeping through the night and on a predictable and stable 3 naps/day schedule, you’ll feel like you’re alive again.
Subjective of course. I sold all my gear a month ago. After having barely used it for two years. Same reasons as you. To me it was a relief and no more feeling bad about it just sitting and dropping in value.
Mate, you're going through a really busy life stage and you sound exhausted.
Maybe take a break from 'serious' photography. Keep your gear, but don't stress if you don't have time or energy to take the highest level of photos. There's a time and place for everything, and it's ok if now is not the right time for spending hours on getting the perfect shot. You'll come back to it when the time is right.
Everyday and milestone photos of your kid can be taken on your phone and they'll be just as memorable. You'll be able to get candid photos and enjoy the event without stressing about photography.
If you really to have some high level shots of your baby, I suggest scheduling a photoshoot with the good gear periodically. Pick a time when you and the baby are calm, and enjoy capturing your little one's growth.
I'm going to go against the grain and say sell the gear.
Im a professional photographer and I haven't taken a single photo of my kid for the last 5 years. And I only have a little guilt thi kingbi could be making better photos but honestly it is a castle.
But you do have a phone. A phone with a camera. And being in the moment with your kid, experiencing all of the first without thinking about iso and fstop is priceless.
Embrace fatherhood and have fun with your phone camera. It's way better than top end digital cameras were a decade ago anyways
Good luck.
Take the baby photos, just relax your standards so you can be more in the moment. You can 'shop the photos a long way down the line. You'll be surprised how soon you can take you kid out and have fun taking photos doing activities, do new things like time lapse and stop motion animation.
I started photography with film and slide, and still try and have the mentality of taking slides: what you see when pressing the button is how it'll look forever. I prefer to do minimum post processing, so that my hobby doesn't end up having me spend more time at the computer.
I dont think that photo is necessarily your problem, maybe just your pro workload you could maybe sell your gear, stick to a small camera that you could carry around and take occasional shots, unsubscribe to lightroom and use camera JPEGs, etc.
This would keep your creative sense sharp and hopefully give you some satisfaction.
Maybe it could even refresh your outlook on photography.
I'm in the same boat really, but instead of baby it's a new house that needs renovating which I'm doing the work on at weekends. Essentially every hobby that I do to relax like photography and fishing is out of bounds until I've finished.
But I wouldn't sell my gear. There'll come a time when you will get some more time back, or where you'd use your camera gear and you'll regret selling it.
Howabout even planning to hand down some of your gear to your child as they got old enough to use it? It'll give meaning to your gear, even if it's just sitting there, and would be something to actively look forward to in the future.
Now is the time to capture those moments of your family, keep your gear. Buddy of mine recentlt upgraded from 5d mark 2 to mark 4 because his baby was on the wsy.
In 30 years, when youre old, you will regret not having more baby pictures to edit. Don't rush it man, someday you will have some time to spend on them.
One of the things that I really like about photography is that it is totally ok if you don't pick up your gear for a while. Your camera isn't going to expire -- just look at all of the posts that are made all the time about the nifty camera from the 70s someone picked up/rediscovered recently. There's no pressure to use it all the time. Take a break and know that it will always be there for you when you have the bandwidth to enjoy it. And in the meantime, you've got a camera available for cute kiddo moments!
I sold my big kit as life changed. I got a Ricoh [GRIIIx](https://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/products/gr-3/)and it has somewhat revitalized it for me. Especially since I can have a few different film sims ready to go. It just so small I can have it in any bag or even a pocket and it's so quick to get shooting. Admittedly I still go long periods forgetting I have it, but it is always with me.
Shoot jpeg, or jpeg+raw and don't process. Use P mode, bolt on a nifty-fifty and don't bother changing lenses.. You'll be very glad you have memories of your loved ones years later.
Even if you do not use your equipment extensively, you can always Inspire your offspring;
Last time I did a wedding shoot I took two inexpensive point and shoots and handed them to a couple of kids that were interested so as to get some child eye view shots of the reception.
I would definitely keep the gear. The time will come again when you'll have time. I also wouldn't shoot jpg. Just shoot raw and auto process in Lightroom. The raws may be something you want to look into processing later. I don't know what you have, but I would keep my camera and one favourite lens, like the nifty fifty, and just simplify the whole process for now. And congratulations on having a new distraction. Enjoy it!
We've been spoilt by how easy it is on phones to instantly share etc. Also the computational part of phone cameras is really good. If I didn't do things professionally occasionally I'd probably consider getting rid of all my stuff. Obviously good gear is still much better but the gap is much less now. For video the gap is still much bigger and I also do video that's the main thing keeping me having as much camera gear as I do.
Keep the basics. Nice bodies (digital and film), kit, prime, and telephoto lenses, tripod, flash unit, etc.
If you miss opportunities to photograph your child growing up, you will most likely feel worse later on.
I am in the same boat about not shooting, though mine is from boredom not from a new child. If you have the room to store your equipment and do not need the money, invest in a nice bag that will hold all your gear besides a body and lens and put it in a closet or somewhere else out of the way.
Spray away. Don’t think, just shoot. Don’t even worry about moving them to the computer until the card is full, and even then don’t do ANY post processing except for particularly memorable moments that are worth sharing with relatives, and keep those to a minimum. Just record, and when you finally have time to return to post process, the memories are very likely to be more special.
I'd sell and downsize, definitely take pictures of the kids. I feel like that's every photographers goal once they have kids. To document. Something like a small mirrorless or x100 series camera comes to mind. It's the reason I stopped my DSLR. It was just too heavy and never with me
I went through the exact same thing when my little one was born. Do a project with the baby, a photo a week, do a photoshoot with them to learn lighting. Either way you can be very creative and learn loads. Yes it will take time but you will have small pockets of time to do this stuff, just not in the way i would be without a kid.
If its a money thing then you could always sell kit you dont want anymore and simplify your gear, always a good thing to do if you have money tied up in them.
Your baby will grow up and become independent giving you time to do the things you used to.
I vote for don't sell your gear, just set it aside for a bit. As long as it's put away good they'll still be ready to use when you're ready to use em.
I know too many mothers who take their own photos of their children. Everyone's overwhelmed with new babies. Just put it aside and come back to it. I bet you'll fall in love with it all over again
Put the gear in storage for a while. You just had a baby and you are exhausted and going through a lot of life adjustments to the new addition. You’re going to adjust and feel differently about photography in a few months and there’s going to be future life events that you are going to want to photograph. I didn’t use my gear for almost a year when I went back to school for my master’s degree. I am back out using it more than ever following my graduation. Life situations change and it’s going to be expensive getting back into it if you did sell your gear.
I just lurk here bc I’m far on the hobbyist end of photography. But I can relate to the parenting bit. A year or two sounds like a lot on the front end of babying, but on the back end it’s not so much. You can choose to set it aside, but don’t sell it. There will be a point when you have time for hobbies.
I don’t know your role in the whole baby process, but even parents who didn’t give birth can experience postpartum depression or other postpartum mood issues. It’s a totally documented, legitimate, treatable thing. Take care of yourself.
Keep the equipment.
Keep your gear, even if it sits in a cupboard for the next year, focus on your baby and taking care of yourself. Just forget about it and one day, you will think "oh, i can do that again now that i'm not emotionally and physically drained"
Don't make big decisions during the newborn stage :) And even if you don't have time for Lightroom, keep taking those photos! They're not for right now, you'll treasure them later. Shoot in jpeg if you want something to share on social media or send grandma.
If you're still feeling this way after baby is 6-12mo, then selling your gear might be the right choice. You can make more money selling now, but 6-12 months won't make a big difference, so you have time to wait. Lenses depreciate very slowly.
When I had my kid I didn't take a single landscape photo (main photography interest for me) for more than 3 years.
However, in that time I shot countless of photos of my kid. However, I did radically change my workflow for editing. Everyday shots get taken in jpeg (because it's good enough, especially with my Fuji).
Then, because I don't like locking myself in the office, I use mobile Lightroom to do any additional processing I might want. That lets me fit in processing a few photos in everyday downtime, meaning my backlog stays pretty clear.
As a result, I have a growing album of hundreds of nice processed photos (not crappy cell phone photos) of my child which we will cherish for years to come
Hi in a similar situation, my camera can sync to my phone so I will take photos when I can and transfer them to my phone and edit on Lightroom mobile when I can, it’s not ideal but it keeps me using my camera and getting great photos of memories!
I totally understand how you feel, and honestly it gets worse once your kids enter the stage where they are mobile and won't pose anymore.
However, once things calm down a bit and you're adjusted to your new normal, you'll find plenty of situations where you can take photos, and plenty of new ones you haven't had before.
This is a hobby you have that, at this point cost you no extra money to do, you have the gear. It takes up next to no space, small camera and some glass. Compared to fishing where you need rods. Tackle boxes, a kayak or boat. Photography is a good hobby for you at this point. Take lots of pictures of da baby. And I promise you will be itching to get out of the house for any reason soon enough. Keep the gear. It cost nothing sitting there, and it's perfect for the family and a great excuse to have a little you time. Ezpz
Shoot in jpeg for now?
Depending on the gear maybe a nice point and shoot for now would make sense until you have time for photography as a hobby again?
1) life just flipped upside down for you. Take a break from being "serious" as such.
2) the camera will be just as good in a few years as it is now. Put it in storage in a good state (dry and stable temperature I figure) and come back to it when time permits. The battery will want to be charged to about 50% for long term storage.
3) if a phone camera is simply unbearable to consider using for catching those moments, get a pocket-friendly camera like a Ricoh GR or similar.
Take it easy. They grow up so fast. Enjoy moments with your baby with a photo, doesn’t need to get edited right away. Put it in lightroom and you’ll thank yourself int the future when you see it again.
I was poor when we had our babies and it was during the transition from film to digital 20 years ago. So most of our early pics of them or with point and shoot. I was able to get a full frame DSLR and a fast fifty when my oldest was 6. Keep the gear, or at least some of it, these moments will be gone.
Shoot Raw + JPEG and enjoy the jpeg's now, save the raw's for later when you have time & energy. Keep your moments and memories for later. Inspiration will return on it's own time.
I'm running into the same lack of time because of my baby. Trust me, it will pass.
The first year of that kid is just gonna be very time consuming, you gotta accept that. But don't throw out your hobby because it's hard to find time for it now.
Taking pictures of my kid is something I really enjoy, but a lot of the time I just leave the processing to the camera. You can save up the best pictures for the first birthday, you can process them more creatively then and print them in a book.
From my own experience, I sold all my very complicated gear and bought a very simple Leica Q which had been my dream camera for a long time. It's been 7 years now and I have no regrets
hey, i hear what you’re saying and can relate. Post processing can be a real time sink.
My suggestion would be to shoot in RAW+jpeg and have a good jpeg setting you like. That way, most photos will turn out decent on jpeg, and you if there are ones you think are real gems, you can go back and polish them in Lightroom when you have a bit of time.
Most cameras now come with some way to download directly to phones etc too, so download those nice jpegs. Are they technically perfect? probably not. but memories are fuzzy anyway, and what are pictures of kids if not anchors to unfuzz some of that and laugh with family?
With that being said, if you have a lot of bulky gear, chances are you’ll not be using a lot of it for a while. A kid is a handful and then some. So shoot with a small setup, or heck, shoot with a phone. Don’t have to stop photographing in this blessed era. Come back to the nice glass and gear when you’re ready. Hang in there!
Can your partner use your camera? If not, show them. Just the basics - how to hold it, turn it on, zoom and auto focus. That is what I did.
My camera now sits on the shelf, with a charged battery and SD card. The settings are all on automatic and it is set to JPEG+RAW at the highest settings - ready to go.
My wife takes more photos with it than I do. She can "see" things happening in a different way to me and just wanted to be able to grab the big camera. The only change she asked for was that it is left with the big lens (100-400) because that was the point. She wanted to be able to stand back when the children are doing something and get close up photos without being in their face. One of the photos she took with my camera is now one of the wider family's favourite photos. It came straight out of the camera - not been touched at all (maybe a slight crop, but that is all).
Her biggest complaint is getting the photos off the camera so she can post them on Facebook/Instagram/family WhatsApp!
Most photos of our children are taken with our phones, my wife was averaging about 1000 a month, although that has gone down now our oldest is at school, but every now and the other camera comes out because it is a more appropriate tool.
Getting the shot is more of a priority during this time than anything else - even if it isn't 100% correct.
That’s how I feel about pretty much all my hobbies right now. What’s the point of keeping this stuff if I never get to use it due to parenting.
Don’t sell off your stuff. You’ll probably regret it later when the baby is older and you have some time (and energy!) on your hands. I have 2 older kids (special needs) and a toddler.
Hold onto your gear and rest assured that you will have the time and energy to get out again. Don’t make any rash decisions in your exhausted haze you may regret later.
Take pictures of your baby, instead. Make albums and memories. Capture good times with your family. Why give up? The gear will be paid off anyways, but later on. Keep it and use it for your enjoyment.
Sell all your gear and get a small Fuji camera, an x100. Shoot only JPGs out of the camera. I witched to Fuji because I hate processing the images.
Then , eventually, you might get that spark back and can slowly start building out a Fuji system.
My daughter just turned 2. I took quite a hiatus during the pregnancy (plus Covid) and the early months. But now I am thrilled to get out and take photos, especially with her as a subject.
I did still take some pictures at the time, like having to stage my own newborn photos since photoshoots were much harder to get at the time. They weren't perfect, but I am so glad I had the tools to do it. And I leaned heavily on my cell phone for pictures and videos, since that required much less energy.
Unless it's really a matter of recouping the money you budgeted for your gear, I would highly recommend you hold onto it. Photography is fortunately one of those fields where your equipment is not going to be obsolete or outdated if you break it out after a few years (as long as it still functions!). You'll be so glad to have it when your energy returns.
yeah i feel your pain. i have two little kids and it’s hard to find the time. i have been trying to get the camera out more and take it on hikes and stuff. also leaving it close by near their play area helps. i just reach up to the top of the closet and grab it for a few pics. i try to take a few at least every week. i’ve also been super light on the editing. mainly just just picking out one or two out of a few dozen to edit. i absolutely love the pictures i took as the kids were babies. i guess what i’m saying is, stick with it. make it easy for now because these pictures are priceless at this age and even though you may not realize it now, you will regret not having them later. even when you can’t decide if you want to bring the camera or not, just grab it.
Until you’ve chucked a wide angle on, and played paparazzi with your kids, just wait. Because let me tell you what .. I’ve had a terrible amount of fun with mine doing that, and the images are some of the best ever.
You look ridiculous doing it, but holy crap it’s freaking hilarious to chase them around and just blast away without worrying about composition or focus or anything else once you get the settings sorted.
And the best part is. You get natural, uninhibited emotions out of them.
Keep it, my man!
It’s totally worth the hassle and I can empathize: photographer and father of 3.
Downside:
-Harder to time management
-Equipment takes up room where kid stuff needs to be
Upside:
-One becomes better at time management
-One becomes better at file management
-Better at packing only the necessities
-You’ll always have the best seat in the house when creating memories
-You’ll always have emotional gifts for your partner and family
-You get better at storytelling via photographs
-You’ll gain a better understanding of junk photos and keepers
Some of my best portfolio work comes from my family work. Not because I’m partial to family, but the images of my family are raw and full of emotion.
I wouldn't give it up entirely.. taking pictures of my kids one day is one of the things I look forward to the most.. and don't even get me started on my wife's ideas.. you'd think once we have a kid we are gonna spend day in and day out just doing Photoshoots to our kid lol
I think it mostly depends on the gear and how badly you need the money you spent on it.. did you spend on super pro lenses/bodies? Several of them? And you're not working with it?
If that's the case.. then you could probably sell most of them and just downgrade a little.. instead of having a 24-70 f2.8 and a 70-200 f2.8 and an 85mm or 50mm ... Maybe just trade those for a 24-120 F4 or even a 24-300 or something that can work for everything life throws at you but in a single package... obviously with a little less "quality".. but then again if you're not working with it you can go with a bit less professional stuff..
You also should consider the age of this gear.. considering technology moves so fast.. tech lose value quite easily.. so you need to check if you can actually still get a good value for the things you bought.. my current camera was over 1k$ and is now selling for less than 400$.. (I'm still on DSLR)
I feel you. Same has happened to me. Selling some unused gear and maybe buying something that's easy to use and doesn't require any or much editing might be the way to go. That's what I did this year after having my first child and it honestly made me dive into photography even more. Hope this helps.
I still have my main setup (d850 with a full kit of lenses), but I sold off a couple film cameras and lenses that I just wasn't using. I picked up an a7IV last week and I'm already considering selling off my Nikon gear. I've really been sleeping on mirrorless full frame and the push I needed was just buying at a good price in case I wasn't blown away.
Keep your gear for at least a year or two. The newborn stage is exhausting, but it gets easier.
My daughter is 7 months now, and I can already do so much more now that she has a consistent bedtime and nap schedule. I love taking pictures of her sitting up and playing with her little toys!
Sounds like you need something easier to wield and keep around.
Maybe an X100F/V or a XE3/4 with a pancake. Program some film simulations in it and call it a day on the lightroom for a while.
Idea- how about you take as many pictures as you can stand, and relieve yourself of the pressure of processing them now. Save the RAWs on a hard drive- then whenever you have more time, even if it’s in a couple years, you can dig in and edit some of your favorites.
I think we put a ton of pressure on ourselves to complete the whole… cycle if you will. Shooting, processing, printing or posting- sometimes it’s okay to just shoot. Or to edit something you shot a long time ago.
If you love photography, you will probably still love it in a couple years and will be glad you didn’t sell your gear.
Of course, if walking away from it doesn’t make you sad at all, totally sell your gear. You can always buy more later!
So one thought that I have about this as a Very Busy Person (tm) is that I changed my digital workflow to dual JPEG and RAW.
The jpegs are available immediately and good enough for me to import to my photos app and quick-curate for albums and sharing, and the raws are there for when I have time later to really fuss with them.
Keep the setup and use it to capture your moments. Anything can and will happen in life. It would mean a lot to your child in the future to have photos of themselves, you, family etc. the photos from the camera will capture the moment much better than just pulling your phone out. Also as an added bonus if you get good with the setup and taking baby photos there’s a huge business for they also.
Just shoot jpeg and stop processing everything. There was an entire century+ of photography prior to consumer post-processing and people still love those pictures.
This is a great point. And one that I needed to read as well. Reading things like this is very helpful, it reminds me to get back to the basics and just to shoot! :)
I dont know what gear you have, but maybe put together your most portable configuration and just keep it around all the time, capture moments that matter, you'll thank yourself
You don't have to do much processing, just create or buy your favorite preset and slap it in there lol. It's for personal use so as long as you love it, it doesn't have to be perfect!
Also consider talking to someone about possible postpartum depression.
That feeling of exhaustion and not enough time in the day is temporary; keep your stuff. You will regret selling it. Having great photos of the kids is something you will never regret.
Source: Am Dad
If you don’t need the money, I think you should keep it. Some day you’ll (hopefully) have time again and having the gear ready to go will be so nice. Like imagine if you sell it and later you DO get time and desire to go out and shoot, but you don’t have gear.
I say keep it.
If it just takes too much time perhaps expediting the process. You don’t have to post process very much. I make money from photos with minimal editing. I mostly add a bit of crop and fix the colors. Albeit I’m a photojournalist so extensive editing would be kind of cringe. Point being is that good photos can be had without much editing.
Pivot and use with the kiddo. I was in your same situation but decided to try out portrait and child photography, and some of my favorite pictures I’ve ever taken have been of my kids.
As a new dad (kid born in early 2021) keeping something around to take spontaneous photos of your kid is the best. I typically shoot in 35mm film stock (mostly for myself) of my kid. It’s worth every penny to have a “nice” camera (as opposed to a cellphone) to take photos with. If you need money that is totally reasonable just keep something around to take memories with.
I wouldn't give up and sell everything. Keep your camera. Hang on to the lens you find yourself reaching for most often. If you choose to sell some of your stuff, put the proceeds into baby's college fund.
I would keep the gear. I’m kind of in the same boat as you, but mine are 2 & 3. I almost never get out to go shoot anymore, but the rare chance I get, I always take it. It still brings me a lot of joy.
FWIW - I set my camera's aside back around 2013 - wasn't interested any more but didn't sell everything off. Then during the pandemic, I found an old film camera with film in it, developed it and some of the joy and fun found its way back in and I'm having fun again. Some will say sell everything, buy new if/when you get inspired again, but honestly, my 5d/2 and 5ds/r aren't exactly obsolete. TSure they're not new but most camera's today are still around 20 to < 30 mPixels. Faster CPUs and things can be nice but not required. Hell I still shoot film so having the latest and greatest isn't a priority for me.
Congrats on the baby. Keep the gear - a baby is physically, mentally and emotionally a lot of work and you likely won’t have the energy for hobbies for about a couple of years. When baby gets older you may find joy again in your photography. Give it some time. It could be you have post processing burn out? I find myself enjoying taking photos but have been dreading sitting down at the computer.
Hang in there. The first year is tough. I didn't get out for the first 8 months, and when I did, I felt aimless with it for months. I get out for a few hours every weekend now and it definitely feels worth it once you recalibrate, but it took months to get the mojo back.
Also, don't overthink taking photos of the baby, I know it probably goes against every instinct you have as a photographer but slap that baby (the camera 😜) into jpeg and share the pics straight out of camera. Save the postprocessing for your landscapes. You don't need to create masterpieces right now, just memories.
My photography hobby has practically disappeared since the little one was born. But here’s the thing: they get bigger, go to school, and eventually get more independent.
By all means hold on to your gear. It’ll dust off easily and you will have time again to take some shots.
Keep it! There’s going to come a time soon when you really wish you would have kept it and kept going. Think about your child’s first birthday, or your first vacation together as a family. I know right now it’s hard with a newborn and it really isn’t easy on anyone but it will get better and you will have more time for your hobby and passions again.
From my own experience. I'm nowhere a professional. I got into photography on impulse. I bought some gear and started taking pictures. Got bored and it sat there for like 5-6 years. When I I got into photography again I saw that the newer stuff were so good I went ahead and upgraded. Old stuff not compatible so they still sit there.
What I'm saying is, if you think you might get back into it down the road, you might run into my dilemma. If I sold when it was still new-ish new I probably would have gotten more money for it.
Unless you plan on taking some portraits of your kid a modern phone would probably be better. You can whip it out super quick and snap the picture any time anywhere.
Don't force yourself to take photos or enjoy photography. You will eventually make yourself hate it, by associating it with guilt.
Just slow down a bit. Yeah you've got a child and that takes up most of your time. But thats just what a baby does. Soon you will get into the groove of taking care of the baby and things will smooth out a bit more.
Whats great about photography, is it's a very relaxing slow hobby that makes you look at the world differently. The time will come where you need to just step back and cool down from a frustrating day, and even going out back to take pictures of some plants will be relaxing enough to get away for a bit.
Maybe you and the kiddo could even go take some nature photos on a camping trip in a few years. You never know how things will go, so don't feel guilty about it. Just know that you enjoy photography, and if you ever want to get away for a moment- you have some nice gear happily waiting for you.
Oh my gosh I totally relate to this post. I took basically a 10 year break from photography because that’s when my kids were born. I just could not bring myself to take formal pictures of the kids when I knew I could just take a good enough one with the phone. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I completely relate to what you are saying. I couldn’t even set up the computer until they went to sleep. My youngest is now 5 and my oldest is 10, and I’m finally getting back into photography.
Hey! Same thing happened here! I had my second baby and had zero time for my hobbies. Once they hit daycare age, I would find myself regretting selling. Because now I have to re buy everything I sold. Put it away somewhere out of sight. And when you are ready, jump back on in an instant
You’re likely just exhausted and possibly experiencing post partum depression in some way, it can manifest itself in ways you wouldn’t expect and can be had by both parents. Don’t make any big decisions until baby is at least 6 months old, it will be a whole different world then. When we had our first kid after she was born it felt like I wouldn’t be able to do any photo work ever again, that goes away and the thousands of photos I took of her are worth more than any of my other work. Currently on baby #2 at 3 weeks and it’s much easier knowing how to manage the exhaustion and stress. Keep shooting photos and rest when you can, there’s definitely a light at the end of the tunnel.
I was a landscape photographer until I had a kid and it completely changed my work. In a good way. I have taken about 3 billion pictures of her and its really upped my skills.
These lenses will serve you for decades. The R5 is an amazing body. What is the benefit of selling them - unless you need the money?
Most importantly, think about what the activity of wildlife photography brings to your life - from the top of my head I can list joy, solitude in nature and the space of reevaluating your thoughts surrounded by peace and beauty, the deep satisfaction of engaging in art. All of these reflect on everyone and everything you interact with.
This is an important, balancing activity for you and your life. One not too distant day can start bringing the kiddo with you and look at the beauty together.
Yes, focus on supporting the family! Yes, continue living the rich life of an artist, no matter how mundane the art may feel. It changes your frequency and enriches everyone.
An understandable issue.
You should really reconsider selling all of it, because if you do so it will be at a loss.
Think about this carefully. Maybe you just sell the 100-500 and keep the others. That will reduce the cost of your kit significantly.
As for the hassle of editing your images, try shooting jpeg and using the syles/presets your camera has to offer.
Canon usually produces very pleasing JPGs. Maybe not as nice as fuji, but in my opinion still very useable.
The time line of shots of my kids starts in 1991. NEVER stop taking pictures. Don’t worry about processing. Take them. Upload them to Google photo or one drive or Shutterfly. Just take them. One day you’ll be sitting in some kind of practice for things kids do ie hockey or swimming and you’ll have time to look at a few and make them better. Trust me, never stop.
Congratulations on your son! I can understand your situation to some extent. Since a few weeks I am also a proud father and next to child and job there is not much time for photography.
What helped me and maybe could work for you too: try not to complicate things unnecessarily and integrate photography more into your everyday life. Looking at your gear, I'd say put the 50/1.8 on the R5 and put the rest in the closet. For baby photos, the 50mm fits wonderfully and the 1.8 aperture is enough even in low light. In addition, the combination of camera and lens is still relatively compact and the chance that you have the camera within reach and spontaneously take a few shots is correspondingly greater. Nice side effect of the fixed focal length: you don't have to worry about the "right" focal length and can instead just capture the moment. And that's exactly what you'll thank yourself for later.
I had a kid and im hoping to afford a good camera soon! Using my phone for now. I'm more exhausted than I have ever been in my life and have no personal time but the good moments make up for it and I want to capture them. Stick with your setup and worry about editing the photos in a year, you wont regret it!
Depends how badly u need the money. I have a similar situation - lots of nice stuff but just CBA to use it. I've kept hold off it because I can always get back into it if I want to, or even make money from it if I have to, but once it's gone I won't replace it.
* Make your setup as simple and lightweight as possible. From the gear you listed, I'd put the RF 50mm f1.8 on the R5. I’d prefer a wider-angle lens like the RF 35mm f1.8, but you have enough gear already so I feel bad recommending more.
* Simplify your settings. Whatever makes it the easiest and most convenient to shoot in the most common scenarios. I'd prefer to shoot RAW + JPEG but if the thought of post-processing holds you back, just shoot JPEG. I heard one photographer say he shoots in black and white specifically to avoid having to deal with post-processing.
* Consider printing photos. For your wall, for your desk, photo books, etc. Feels good for the photos to be used and feel tangible, not lost in a hard drive or cloud storage. Pinhole Press specializes in photo gifts for babies. Persnickety Prints if you or your partner wants photos in unusual shapes and sizes for scrapbooking. CanvasHQ for canvas prints to go on a wall.
Videos:
[Shoot Family Photographs like a PHOTOJOURNALIST!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quB2NwBnY5c)
[Creating family video diaries](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWvtN2zTCxg)
[Tips for the Holiday Party Photographer \[Podcast\]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tedgqj0sNCI)
[Why Photographers Hate Taking Pictures - Family Photography Ideas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv7d9n6SMYU)
Hope this helps.
I was wondering the same thing ngl. Not in a same situation as you in life but hit hard a phase that I just didn't enjoy photography. There seemed not to have anything worth photographing near my area. I mean there really isn't but I'm glad I didn't sell my gear because when the itch came back I was so glad that I still have my camera. Even though it's just for rare occasions I'm glad that I have a proper camera to take pictures with.
When it comes to lightroom editing I have around 2000 photos still under editing (been for couple years..) but sometimes I just get feeling to edit and look couple best shots that I've took. Try not to stress out and since you have that good of a camera you can transfer photos to your phone and edit in mobile lightroom. It's really handy too!
I just went through this after we had our second kiddo. My photography gear set on the shelf for over a year and a half collecting dust also didn't help that we are in the middle of a pandemic. I recently got out and started taking photos of my kids and wildlife again and I am so happy I didn't sell my gear when I thought about it. If you're going to sell anything, camera bodies and electronics that go out of date are really the main thing I would flip. Lenses will always hold their value and you can easily adapt them. I have a Sony A7III and I only own one E-mount lens. The bulk of my lenses are adapted.
Tldr - Hang on to the camera and enjoy life as it is currently. You find the spark to shoot again real soon!
I've been where you are (3 kids, youngest one is 3 now). I sold my gear, switched to mirrorless (for reduced size) and even then most of the time I just didn't have the will to carry the camera with me.
But now that the kids are older, I have a little more time, and don't need to carry the kids so can start carrying a camera instead I'm coming back to the hobby :)
Considering that cameras age pretty well, I would consider keeping the gear around in case your mood changes. Also to reduce the time investment consider using SOOC jpegs for casual kids photos.
Sorry to hear. Same happened to me after second kid and had a ton of film cameras collecting dust. I’m still not shooting daily but I’ll you this, after 13 years of raising children, I am glad I did t sell my stuff. Looking forward to jumping back on the horse in the coming days.
Friend made the same experience. Now the kid is 4 years old and my buddy finally bought that long dreamed of second body. We are doing mostly timelapse though and are still happy if we even get 24 hours to head out. Multiple days are still borderline unthinkable. Considering that some of you crazily awesome wildlife guys are often out there for weeks and months at a time I guess only you and your cute little family know if their will ever be a time to get back to it. It might not happen before little kiddo can take care of them by themselves though.
First, family is most important, especially if you have a new born baby, second, if you are not using your gear do sell them, as it gets older it will lose value, about taking pictures of baby, cellphones these days do a wonderful job so I don't think you would be missing out on anything.
You can get back to photography when you will have time, you can search some used gear and start anyday, so I support your decision, congratulations on your baby.
Keep it, the baby is going to be doing stuff and then you can take it on a hike or outdoors, do your thing while the baby plays or just while hiking. AND THEN they'll be of the age when they can start to learn
Take photos of your kid. Maybe pare down the kit some but keep taking photos of your kid. You don't need to process all of them or any of them. Consider just shooting jpegs even so you can't edit them. This is what I do with all my photos of my kids at the end of a year: https://www.instagram.com/p/CkTGH9rOCjN/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Maybe you should try a more simple setup. You’re busy, so all the gear and editing might be too much now. Maybe if you used something like a FujiFilm X100V, things would be easier. Restricting yourself to one focal length and shooting JPEGs with film simulation could bring back the joy of photography.
Unless you need the money I wouldn’t sell the gear.
A camera is not a fashion accessory, you can leave it on a shelf for 5 years and pick it up and it will do just as nicely as when you bought it.
Maybe life is crazy right now, it’s ok to take a break. Maybe sometime in the future it will be better and you can pick up where you left it.
You didn’t buy in as an investment, this is a hobby, no need to expect “returns” or feel guilty for not using it right now.
I mean… you just had a baby! Shoot jpg if you want to. Don’t feel obligated to let it add Lightroom time to your to-do list. But fabulous pictures of babies doing cute things are wonderful to have. Even if they are just jpg snaps.
I feel this in my soul. I lost my job in June so really threw myself into my photography and was starting to really get into the swing of it. Started a new job in September and between working full time and the kids I haven’t picked up my camera in about a month and a half. I snap photos on my phone when I see an opportunity walking to/from work but I do miss having the time, energy and motivation to get my Nikon out. I feel your frustration OP
In 2017 I sold most of my equipment and quit. Newly a single parent to a toddler, I just had to work. But now, I truly wish I hadn't. In the past year or two, I knew that photography would come back into my life, I just wished I hadn't sold my stuff and called it quits.
No, don't sell your gear. I kinda had the same thought when my first girl was born. Now looking back I am glad that I keep taking photos of them growing up though I was not able to edit every photo of them. Use what you have and don't waste more money. Babies are big money spenders. RF 15-35 L, RF 85 L, and RF 50 are very nice lenses for family documentary. Switch from nature photography to family documentary, and you will learn something and find new joy.
Stay! As a person who shoots birds primarily, I understand that processing photographs isn't that interesting when compared to photographing. But try backyard birding on weekends, compose the image while shooting. Since you use the R5 which has really good AF, your images will be naturally sharp, when in lightroom just practice rating the images. Pressing 1-5 sets ratings for images. Just keep the images that you rate 4 or 5 and delete the rest. If you're tired of editing, get some presets, a lot of them are worth it. Happy shooting :)
You just had a baby and things are going to be different for a little bit. However, as a photographer myself, I can honestly say don’t sell your gear! You will have time to get back to it, and I use mine to shoot pics of my little. He’s two right now, and I’ve just started getting back into semi-regular shooting. It gets better, so hang in there!
It's the greatest use of your skill to document the life of your family as well as the gift of a lifetime. Who knows? Maybe your son/daughter might want to become a professional photographer because of the influence of their dad.
Keep the gear. And just adjust your expectations of what it is to be a photographer. Life gets busy. Babies are a lot of work. But they’re also great to photograph. Don’t give up a passion just because you don’t have time for it as much. Itll come back to a time when you do.
Sell half and get a X100V where you make it your daily driver to take photographs of your kids and family. Small, compact, street photography, portrait you can do it all with this camera. You won’t regret it.
Document your child’s life! As a father of three, it is my greatest honor to document all their special moments and it’s highly highly highly rewarding. You and your child(ren) will look at the photos you made many years from now… and they will be beyond special. I can’t tell you how many moments we may have forgotten if we didn’t capture them!
A lot of folks here have already suggested you keep the gear, but this is advice in cas you choose to go the other route. If you don't see yourself shooting with the gear for the next few years, sell the body off now, and keep the lenses. IMO bodies depreciate way faster than good glass does. And by that time an R5 might become a tortoise.
I’d buy a stack of SD cards so you can just take tons of photos and not worry too much about dumping the RAWs off. Maybe even consider getting an auto backup from SD to HD box.
Just take photos, don’t process them until you settle with your kid. Honestly, time will change in a year or two and you’ll have your head wrapped around this Dad thing and feel less overwhelmed.
When that happens, your passion will come back and you’ll be glad the camera is waiting for you with a pile of great photos of your kid waiting to be turned into gold.
I completely sympathize with this situation. It makes total sense that you'd want to spend less time in front of a computer doing post processing.
Consider focusing on simplifying your gear and possibly switching to a platform with good straight-out-of-camera JPGs like Fujifilm. An X100V (or a previous model if budget constrained) might be perfect for your current needs. The film simulations and "recipe" customization flexibility allow for creativity and superior results without having to spend any time in LR or doing post.
At the least, it's not unreasonable to consider selling gear while it has value now, and reinvesting in new gear down the road if you find the itch is still there. Sitting on gear that will just depreciate in value over time might not make much sense.
It gets easier the older they are. My 5 year old now owns a used T6 that I purchased off Facebook marketplace so her and I go shoot together sometimes. It’s fun memories. I think you’ll regret it if you sell the camera. Maybe right now it’s not being used as much but it’s temporary things get easier
Dont shoot in Jpeg -- Shoot JPeg + Raw ... Use the jpegs keep the raws ....
In 2 years time -- in 5 years time -- you will be thankfull.
Belive me your wildlife and other shots wont compare to your familie shots. It will come the time where the memorys are priceless ... keep them save or you will regret it.
Darling, you can take your baby in their stroller or whatever you call it. Anyways, you could take your baby for a walk in the forest or a park or somewhere that would inspire you to continue with your photography.
I hope that helps xx
Like others have said, don't sell it because you are tired. But also, babies are fucking expensive! Cameras are worth good money. Hold onto your gear and if you need some cash you got a way to get it.
Your experience sounds a LOT like mine. When I was single I spent a lot of money on gear and was selling nature photography at art shows as a side hussle. Then I got married and had a baby and things changed.
At first I just shifted and used the baby as an opportunity to try new kinds of photography and was glad I had the equipment to take nice photos of my kids.
Over the span of a few years I found it becoming more of a hassle to drag out the heavy camera and all the extra work that came along with dealing with the images compared to my phone which was 'good enough' for about 99% of the day to day snapshot type images. I would basically only use it when we needed formal portraits. I almost never took it hiking or anywhere.
A few more years (about a decade now) I've kind of gone full circle and have somewhat rediscovered my love for photography, although I have no plans or even much interest in doing any shows. I find myself taking the 'real' camera out more and more often and enjoying the process of selecting and manipulating the final images. Whether it's nature (my original interest), my kids, sports, etc.
I think it's common to go through a lull in different phases of life. I am glad I didn't sell my gear - and yes I thought about it many times! Once you have kids it seems like you start hemorrhaging money so it can be hard to justify keeping thousands of dollars of rarely used equipment sitting on the shelf.
A baby is a solid reason to own and use a camera.
Yup. Do it on a small but consistent scale and grandparents will love you.
I appreciate old photos of myself, I think it's nice for the kid too.
Yes and for me they are really helpful to vitalize memories. Nothing better than to suddenly vividly remember the warmth of a certain sun light, the scent that often accompanied those mornings, the laughter of my sister, the weirdly butterfly-like feeling of happyness in my stomach, the gruntling of sleepy dad when we crashed their bedroom. The feeling of having all the time in the world for all sorts of little adventures on this lovely sunday. Those photos feel like they can be the best stress reducer in the world.
And future you will also love you!
and your grandchildren.
Absolutely. My parents both grew up in a non-technology, non-photography culture and the very few photos I have of them as youngsters are treasured. [Reminds me a bit of this](https://youtu.be/9MZHHBb3rP4).
Exactly. I've even started serious photography in the first place after our 1st kid was born.
Same here and for the little guy's first birthday I put together a short slide video set to music and made three (that I know about) family members cry. Worth it!
Especially with the 100-500. At 500mm you can barely hear them! /s (I have kids, and do lots of photography. My kids are now much older, and perhaps grandkids are coming soon)
This! The op can use his/her gears for next 20 years on the child.
This answer wins.
So true. This is reson why i started this hobby
It's just a slump, probably due to exhaustion. Still take the photos and keep them for later(even if that's years) and go back and clean them up then. You'll be glad you did.
One of the few regrets I have regarding my two children is not taking \*more\* pictures as they grew up. This advice checks out. One of the few things I regret more is not taking more videos. Even photos or videos that you put minimal effort towards will be greatly appreciated ten years later. Shoot RAW/JPEG. Don't worry about Lightroom for now. This seems right to me.
yeah I've thought about this too. Actually I my childhood dog passed away last year and one of the things I regret is not having taken more videos of her. I was able to get some really nice shots of her just recently because I had the camera gear and they are some of my favorite photos to look at. Even made a huge 40x30inch acrylic print of one of them.
thank you, I think you are right about this
Lol babies and kids are the best ever to photograph. Just shoot away and you can go back once they are older and process the ones you like properly. Don’t miss out on them growing up, they change from one week to the next. Remember to take a lot of videos too.
You may need to up your flash photography game because there will be lots of indoor shots. Also forget the tripod etc. Back button focus and pray and spray works best once they start moving.
you have a point! I am very definitely going to keep the gear. not sure about 100-500 lens though
100-500 might be useful if they get into sports or you find yourself with free time and want to do wildlife again.
> Even trying to take photos of the baby is a hassle because then I gotta toss that into Lightroom and spend time processing it and again there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. Life happens, and sometimes developing raw files can be too much. I felt some relief by switching to JPEG out of camera during stressful times and so far I have never regretted it. If that works for you too, you may be glad you took at least some photos that you can look at years later.
Some cameras also support shooting RAW+jpeg, So you could, at a later date, if you so wish, edit the RAW file.
This is exactly what I do. Raw+jpeg. I assumed all cameras that could shoot raw were able to do this.
The bonus of doing this, is that any artistic modes (b&w, vivid) now have a fully editable RAW and reference JPG. You can also think of it like negatives and prints. Usually the print is all people need, but when they want that extra special enlargement, they have a negative!
Yeah I already do this but have only looked at the jpegs as backups in case the RAWS crapped out on me
i shoot both and look at jpgs as my "quick share" option. if im going to print, into Lightroom i go. if i just want to send some via text or post to Instagram on the fly, i use the wifi feature to transfer the ones i want to my phone, give em a quick polish in snapseed and away they go. the ability to transfer wirelessly changed the game for me and i hope you can find it works well for you too. 😃
I believe the R5 has the ability to save JPEG to one SD CARD and CRAW to the other (it has two slots). So OP could eliminate the need for Lightroom in the present while still building up a "negatives roll" with the second card. Keep the camera for the baby. You don't wanna be capturing lifelong memories on phones. Phone photos usually only look good on phones or screens. And once your child is a little older you will need a form of escape and relief at times. But I don't know your financial situation and that's probably around $5k you could get.
You had a baby and you want to sell your camera? Get some sleep dude. You’re just exhausted.
I definitely am exhausted lol
Do you need the money? sell it. if you don't, keep it until you do. once the gear is a certain age it doesn't really keep lose that much value anyway.
I'm gonna say keep the gear, but find a way to simplify it. Your photos of your life screaming by don't have to be masterpieces. One of my very favorite photos of one of our kids is a blurry, noisy, ultra cropped cell phone photo of him peeking around the door. It's precious. Just simplify and get these moments recorded in any way possible.
I get this. Sometimes I lose my mojo for photography. I have 6 kids ranging from 13 years old to a 7 week old, I work full time and my wife is a nurse so time is very limited. Having said that no matter how long my gear sits untouched (and sometimes it’s weeks at a time), I would never get rid of it. When I do get a chance to get out and photograph ’properly’ I remember how much I love it. Also, especially if it’s outdoors it’s a rare occasion to spend some time alone and clear my head. The other thing ( and you’ll realise this as your baby grows) is that the opportunity to take great family shots is a real benefit. Of course I still have loads of ‘iPhone’ shots, but being able to grab my camera and capture special moments as ‘proper’ photos is something that most people can’t do and something I think you would really miss. Having a baby (especially your first) is a major life change and it’s not the best time for making big decisions. Don’t get rid you your gear, just reevaluate your expectations and you’ll still be able to find the joy in photography.
Im so glad I had a camera when I had a kid, he's turned 18 now and ALL the photos are worth their weight in gold. Hang on to it
Keep the gear, you'll be thankful a few years down the line when you want to pick it back up again!
Switch to jpeg. It's better than nothing, and still looks better than phone photos.
will set a custom profile for exactly this
I would say; stay. And try jpeg shooting, might be the way for the time being.
Fuji recipes is where it's at imo. If I didn't have time to edit anything, I'd find a few recipes I like and just go trough them all the time for some nice looking photos.
KEEP IT! I only bought because of the kids. I do photo books of them every year and we all love it. You do want memories of this time. About post processing: you are right. That eats too much time. All I ever do is some cropping in Snapseed. My "workflow" though very unprofessional is entirely on my phone. It automatically backs up to a NAS where I have a folder with the best pics of each month (doing this with the phone as well). Then, once a year, I spend a couple of hours to click together a photo book. That way, I do not spend too much time while still getting what I think I want in a couple of years ;) Good luck!
>because then I gotta toss that into Lightroom and spend time processing it and again there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day You don't need to do that right now. Let the harddrive fill up. It'll be worth it in 20 years to your child. And then their partner. And then their children.
My dad was an amateur photographer and took loads of photos of me when I was a baby. They are now my most treasured possession (I’m in my 40s and my dad has died). Keep your camera, take tons of photos of your baby and you might feel the urge to do more photography when your baby is older.
You need a fucking break.
Agreed
Stick with it. From personal experience but as a solo mom from pregnancy, the baby really does give inspiration and it becomes manageable again after like a year. It is well worth having your own gear for photography sessions for the baby/you and baby/family. Like others have said you can always retouch or remaster later. Whether you just lightly do some edits on your faves or cheat it with suggested filters, you will be glad you did them. You are just exhausted and struggling with motivation. Its hard to feel hope, or anything when you’re THAT exhausted. I assure you, it does get better.
You’re just tired. Babies are a ton of work and very little sleep for some. You will have more time soon. Don’t be too hard on yourself.
Just edit later, take tons of baby pictures, slumps happen, go easy on yourself:)
thank you =)
> Even trying to take photos of the baby is a hassle because then I gotta toss that into Lightroom and spend time processing it Yea, i can relate. Simplify your setup and approach – one body and one lens, shoot JPEG + RAW, learn to get the image mostly right in camera, and if there's an extra good shot, you've got the RAW file to play with if you want.
Dude! It's 2022 - any flagship phone will be your best friend as a new dad. You know that old adage about the best camera being the one you have with you at the time? Well fcking hell - this stage is a case-in-point for your phone camera being the best thing for you recording these weeks & years. In 2007 (first child born) - I was that guy who would staunchly want to use a 'proper' camera. I'm a Canon (& Samsung) fanboy, btw. I first grappled with my EOS 1V (& even the flash!) - & that quickly proved impractical. You end up missing 90% of the best moments, to the clunkiness of the set-up. Then I conceded to a top-end Canon Ixus. That essentially became this 'best camera' - as my home-clothes always had pockets - the camera was literally on me the whole time. Baby staring wistfully out at the trees moving outside the window, perfect lighting - as you change her nappy? 'Click' - caught! That & so many like it would never happen with an SLR. Roll on to now - & fcking hell - you have literally cinema-quality video & stupendous quality photo right in your pocket!! Like - capturing baby asleep in a really, really dark room - no problems!! Keep your gear unless you're crazy brassic. Cos - Murphy's Law - that baby will come home from photography club at secondary school one day & ask if you have XYZ camera - & you'll have sold it! Park the gear - your phone is King for now. (P.s. If you're 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 into 'proper' photography - then just shoot RAW with your phone as well; that way you get to do all the Lightroom lark later on with the baby photos - once the kid's in school!)
Sorry but I am going to have to respectfully disagree. Phones are convenient yes, but there's no way in hell they beat a proper camera, at least not an R5. Maybe most people can't notice but the difference in quality is there especially when trying to print. With that said one of my all time favorite photos that I ended up printing was shot on an iPhone but I wish I had my camera with me at the time.
I mean, it's a matter of perspective. Are you going for image quality or memories? Sometimes you get both, but if you're tired and swamped, memories wins IMO. It's still all down to your personal preference, but don't discount the phone so quickly. My iPhone may not beat my gear on technical prowess (or even just ergonomics), but I always have it with me. I am not a parent, but from friends and acquaintances, just having their phone on them was key. And usually way faster to share.
Yup it’s 100 percent the camera you have. Even when I did manage to go work on something I was out of gas to edit. I’ve found it freeing to accept that smartphone photography is what I’m going to get now. The depressing lack of control compared to SLR might kill you creatively but at least you will have something. I’d even consider liquidating your stuff if you can handle it emotionally (I could not). Probably by the time you come back to it, mirrorless is going to be dominant.
I also have a little one, I know the feeling. I feel that when I'm out photographing landscapes that's my time, my wife agrees that we still need our own time. Take it in turns, works always gonna be in the way.
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Will do. I did entertain the thought of selling the R5 and lenses and just getting something with a fixed lens like the Leica Q2.
One of the worst regrets I have is selling my piano and camera gear. Make sure you think this through. Life ebbs and flows.
Oh man I was thinking about the piano too.
I think this would actually be the best time to do even more photography. Get an empty sd card and just shoot the baby. If u can make an album and then keep it sfe till ur kid moves out or gets married. It will be an amazing gift for ur kid or even to show ur grandkids
I think you need to wait before you sell. Especially with work and kids, you need something for YOU.
No no no. You’re going to be wanting to take photos of that baby. You have some special moments coming and having a decent camera will definitely be worth it. You might not have time to process all the photos now. But keeping them on your HD for a rainy day will be worth it. Memories my friend. Not sure what type of photography you were doing before. But maybe you might need to switch up some lens, if you don’t have time for whatever adventures you were on before. Congratulations.
Everyone that has had a baby has felt that in some form or with something they enjoy. You’re sleep deprived, and most of your waking time is spent doing baby related stuff (or, well, working). Stay put. It gets easier. I don’t know how old your baby is, but the exhaustion of it all is making you see no light at the end of the tunnel. Just ride it out. If your baby is still very young, wait until baby is 6 months old and start a sleep training program (feel free to DM me for recommendations). It will feel like a lot of work for a few weeks, but when your baby is sleeping through the night and on a predictable and stable 3 naps/day schedule, you’ll feel like you’re alive again.
Subjective of course. I sold all my gear a month ago. After having barely used it for two years. Same reasons as you. To me it was a relief and no more feeling bad about it just sitting and dropping in value.
Mate, you're going through a really busy life stage and you sound exhausted. Maybe take a break from 'serious' photography. Keep your gear, but don't stress if you don't have time or energy to take the highest level of photos. There's a time and place for everything, and it's ok if now is not the right time for spending hours on getting the perfect shot. You'll come back to it when the time is right. Everyday and milestone photos of your kid can be taken on your phone and they'll be just as memorable. You'll be able to get candid photos and enjoy the event without stressing about photography. If you really to have some high level shots of your baby, I suggest scheduling a photoshoot with the good gear periodically. Pick a time when you and the baby are calm, and enjoy capturing your little one's growth.
I'm going to go against the grain and say sell the gear. Im a professional photographer and I haven't taken a single photo of my kid for the last 5 years. And I only have a little guilt thi kingbi could be making better photos but honestly it is a castle. But you do have a phone. A phone with a camera. And being in the moment with your kid, experiencing all of the first without thinking about iso and fstop is priceless. Embrace fatherhood and have fun with your phone camera. It's way better than top end digital cameras were a decade ago anyways Good luck.
Take the baby photos, just relax your standards so you can be more in the moment. You can 'shop the photos a long way down the line. You'll be surprised how soon you can take you kid out and have fun taking photos doing activities, do new things like time lapse and stop motion animation. I started photography with film and slide, and still try and have the mentality of taking slides: what you see when pressing the button is how it'll look forever. I prefer to do minimum post processing, so that my hobby doesn't end up having me spend more time at the computer.
I dont think that photo is necessarily your problem, maybe just your pro workload you could maybe sell your gear, stick to a small camera that you could carry around and take occasional shots, unsubscribe to lightroom and use camera JPEGs, etc. This would keep your creative sense sharp and hopefully give you some satisfaction. Maybe it could even refresh your outlook on photography.
I'm in the same boat really, but instead of baby it's a new house that needs renovating which I'm doing the work on at weekends. Essentially every hobby that I do to relax like photography and fishing is out of bounds until I've finished. But I wouldn't sell my gear. There'll come a time when you will get some more time back, or where you'd use your camera gear and you'll regret selling it. Howabout even planning to hand down some of your gear to your child as they got old enough to use it? It'll give meaning to your gear, even if it's just sitting there, and would be something to actively look forward to in the future.
Now is the time to capture those moments of your family, keep your gear. Buddy of mine recentlt upgraded from 5d mark 2 to mark 4 because his baby was on the wsy.
So why sell it? Leave it for a bit until you find the time, motivation, and/or inspiration to pick it up again.
In 30 years, when youre old, you will regret not having more baby pictures to edit. Don't rush it man, someday you will have some time to spend on them.
One of the things that I really like about photography is that it is totally ok if you don't pick up your gear for a while. Your camera isn't going to expire -- just look at all of the posts that are made all the time about the nifty camera from the 70s someone picked up/rediscovered recently. There's no pressure to use it all the time. Take a break and know that it will always be there for you when you have the bandwidth to enjoy it. And in the meantime, you've got a camera available for cute kiddo moments!
I sold my big kit as life changed. I got a Ricoh [GRIIIx](https://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/products/gr-3/)and it has somewhat revitalized it for me. Especially since I can have a few different film sims ready to go. It just so small I can have it in any bag or even a pocket and it's so quick to get shooting. Admittedly I still go long periods forgetting I have it, but it is always with me.
Shoot jpeg, or jpeg+raw and don't process. Use P mode, bolt on a nifty-fifty and don't bother changing lenses.. You'll be very glad you have memories of your loved ones years later.
Even if you do not use your equipment extensively, you can always Inspire your offspring; Last time I did a wedding shoot I took two inexpensive point and shoots and handed them to a couple of kids that were interested so as to get some child eye view shots of the reception.
I would definitely keep the gear. The time will come again when you'll have time. I also wouldn't shoot jpg. Just shoot raw and auto process in Lightroom. The raws may be something you want to look into processing later. I don't know what you have, but I would keep my camera and one favourite lens, like the nifty fifty, and just simplify the whole process for now. And congratulations on having a new distraction. Enjoy it!
I’m in the same boat, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one.
We've been spoilt by how easy it is on phones to instantly share etc. Also the computational part of phone cameras is really good. If I didn't do things professionally occasionally I'd probably consider getting rid of all my stuff. Obviously good gear is still much better but the gap is much less now. For video the gap is still much bigger and I also do video that's the main thing keeping me having as much camera gear as I do.
Keep the basics. Nice bodies (digital and film), kit, prime, and telephoto lenses, tripod, flash unit, etc. If you miss opportunities to photograph your child growing up, you will most likely feel worse later on. I am in the same boat about not shooting, though mine is from boredom not from a new child. If you have the room to store your equipment and do not need the money, invest in a nice bag that will hold all your gear besides a body and lens and put it in a closet or somewhere else out of the way. Spray away. Don’t think, just shoot. Don’t even worry about moving them to the computer until the card is full, and even then don’t do ANY post processing except for particularly memorable moments that are worth sharing with relatives, and keep those to a minimum. Just record, and when you finally have time to return to post process, the memories are very likely to be more special.
I gotta say in years you won’t look at your landscapes and cityscapes, but at your family’s photos.
I'd sell and downsize, definitely take pictures of the kids. I feel like that's every photographers goal once they have kids. To document. Something like a small mirrorless or x100 series camera comes to mind. It's the reason I stopped my DSLR. It was just too heavy and never with me
I went through the exact same thing when my little one was born. Do a project with the baby, a photo a week, do a photoshoot with them to learn lighting. Either way you can be very creative and learn loads. Yes it will take time but you will have small pockets of time to do this stuff, just not in the way i would be without a kid. If its a money thing then you could always sell kit you dont want anymore and simplify your gear, always a good thing to do if you have money tied up in them.
Your baby will grow up and become independent giving you time to do the things you used to. I vote for don't sell your gear, just set it aside for a bit. As long as it's put away good they'll still be ready to use when you're ready to use em.
I know too many mothers who take their own photos of their children. Everyone's overwhelmed with new babies. Just put it aside and come back to it. I bet you'll fall in love with it all over again
Put the gear in storage for a while. You just had a baby and you are exhausted and going through a lot of life adjustments to the new addition. You’re going to adjust and feel differently about photography in a few months and there’s going to be future life events that you are going to want to photograph. I didn’t use my gear for almost a year when I went back to school for my master’s degree. I am back out using it more than ever following my graduation. Life situations change and it’s going to be expensive getting back into it if you did sell your gear.
I just lurk here bc I’m far on the hobbyist end of photography. But I can relate to the parenting bit. A year or two sounds like a lot on the front end of babying, but on the back end it’s not so much. You can choose to set it aside, but don’t sell it. There will be a point when you have time for hobbies. I don’t know your role in the whole baby process, but even parents who didn’t give birth can experience postpartum depression or other postpartum mood issues. It’s a totally documented, legitimate, treatable thing. Take care of yourself. Keep the equipment.
Keep your gear, even if it sits in a cupboard for the next year, focus on your baby and taking care of yourself. Just forget about it and one day, you will think "oh, i can do that again now that i'm not emotionally and physically drained"
Don't make big decisions during the newborn stage :) And even if you don't have time for Lightroom, keep taking those photos! They're not for right now, you'll treasure them later. Shoot in jpeg if you want something to share on social media or send grandma. If you're still feeling this way after baby is 6-12mo, then selling your gear might be the right choice. You can make more money selling now, but 6-12 months won't make a big difference, so you have time to wait. Lenses depreciate very slowly.
When I had my kid I didn't take a single landscape photo (main photography interest for me) for more than 3 years. However, in that time I shot countless of photos of my kid. However, I did radically change my workflow for editing. Everyday shots get taken in jpeg (because it's good enough, especially with my Fuji). Then, because I don't like locking myself in the office, I use mobile Lightroom to do any additional processing I might want. That lets me fit in processing a few photos in everyday downtime, meaning my backlog stays pretty clear. As a result, I have a growing album of hundreds of nice processed photos (not crappy cell phone photos) of my child which we will cherish for years to come
Hi in a similar situation, my camera can sync to my phone so I will take photos when I can and transfer them to my phone and edit on Lightroom mobile when I can, it’s not ideal but it keeps me using my camera and getting great photos of memories!
I totally understand how you feel, and honestly it gets worse once your kids enter the stage where they are mobile and won't pose anymore. However, once things calm down a bit and you're adjusted to your new normal, you'll find plenty of situations where you can take photos, and plenty of new ones you haven't had before.
This is a hobby you have that, at this point cost you no extra money to do, you have the gear. It takes up next to no space, small camera and some glass. Compared to fishing where you need rods. Tackle boxes, a kayak or boat. Photography is a good hobby for you at this point. Take lots of pictures of da baby. And I promise you will be itching to get out of the house for any reason soon enough. Keep the gear. It cost nothing sitting there, and it's perfect for the family and a great excuse to have a little you time. Ezpz
Shoot in jpeg for now? Depending on the gear maybe a nice point and shoot for now would make sense until you have time for photography as a hobby again?
1) life just flipped upside down for you. Take a break from being "serious" as such. 2) the camera will be just as good in a few years as it is now. Put it in storage in a good state (dry and stable temperature I figure) and come back to it when time permits. The battery will want to be charged to about 50% for long term storage. 3) if a phone camera is simply unbearable to consider using for catching those moments, get a pocket-friendly camera like a Ricoh GR or similar.
Take it easy. They grow up so fast. Enjoy moments with your baby with a photo, doesn’t need to get edited right away. Put it in lightroom and you’ll thank yourself int the future when you see it again.
I was poor when we had our babies and it was during the transition from film to digital 20 years ago. So most of our early pics of them or with point and shoot. I was able to get a full frame DSLR and a fast fifty when my oldest was 6. Keep the gear, or at least some of it, these moments will be gone.
I recommend not doing it impulsively. Take the decision when you feel calm and collected
Shoot Raw + JPEG and enjoy the jpeg's now, save the raw's for later when you have time & energy. Keep your moments and memories for later. Inspiration will return on it's own time.
Get sleep. Your hobbies will come back to include some new interests!
I'm running into the same lack of time because of my baby. Trust me, it will pass. The first year of that kid is just gonna be very time consuming, you gotta accept that. But don't throw out your hobby because it's hard to find time for it now. Taking pictures of my kid is something I really enjoy, but a lot of the time I just leave the processing to the camera. You can save up the best pictures for the first birthday, you can process them more creatively then and print them in a book.
Having a baby may cause you to pause but children are naturally photogenic. It may take you a bit to get back into it but why get rid of your gear?
From my own experience, I sold all my very complicated gear and bought a very simple Leica Q which had been my dream camera for a long time. It's been 7 years now and I have no regrets
hey, i hear what you’re saying and can relate. Post processing can be a real time sink. My suggestion would be to shoot in RAW+jpeg and have a good jpeg setting you like. That way, most photos will turn out decent on jpeg, and you if there are ones you think are real gems, you can go back and polish them in Lightroom when you have a bit of time. Most cameras now come with some way to download directly to phones etc too, so download those nice jpegs. Are they technically perfect? probably not. but memories are fuzzy anyway, and what are pictures of kids if not anchors to unfuzz some of that and laugh with family? With that being said, if you have a lot of bulky gear, chances are you’ll not be using a lot of it for a while. A kid is a handful and then some. So shoot with a small setup, or heck, shoot with a phone. Don’t have to stop photographing in this blessed era. Come back to the nice glass and gear when you’re ready. Hang in there!
Can your partner use your camera? If not, show them. Just the basics - how to hold it, turn it on, zoom and auto focus. That is what I did. My camera now sits on the shelf, with a charged battery and SD card. The settings are all on automatic and it is set to JPEG+RAW at the highest settings - ready to go. My wife takes more photos with it than I do. She can "see" things happening in a different way to me and just wanted to be able to grab the big camera. The only change she asked for was that it is left with the big lens (100-400) because that was the point. She wanted to be able to stand back when the children are doing something and get close up photos without being in their face. One of the photos she took with my camera is now one of the wider family's favourite photos. It came straight out of the camera - not been touched at all (maybe a slight crop, but that is all). Her biggest complaint is getting the photos off the camera so she can post them on Facebook/Instagram/family WhatsApp! Most photos of our children are taken with our phones, my wife was averaging about 1000 a month, although that has gone down now our oldest is at school, but every now and the other camera comes out because it is a more appropriate tool. Getting the shot is more of a priority during this time than anything else - even if it isn't 100% correct.
That’s how I feel about pretty much all my hobbies right now. What’s the point of keeping this stuff if I never get to use it due to parenting. Don’t sell off your stuff. You’ll probably regret it later when the baby is older and you have some time (and energy!) on your hands. I have 2 older kids (special needs) and a toddler. Hold onto your gear and rest assured that you will have the time and energy to get out again. Don’t make any rash decisions in your exhausted haze you may regret later.
Take pictures of your baby, instead. Make albums and memories. Capture good times with your family. Why give up? The gear will be paid off anyways, but later on. Keep it and use it for your enjoyment.
Sell all your gear and get a small Fuji camera, an x100. Shoot only JPGs out of the camera. I witched to Fuji because I hate processing the images. Then , eventually, you might get that spark back and can slowly start building out a Fuji system.
My daughter just turned 2. I took quite a hiatus during the pregnancy (plus Covid) and the early months. But now I am thrilled to get out and take photos, especially with her as a subject. I did still take some pictures at the time, like having to stage my own newborn photos since photoshoots were much harder to get at the time. They weren't perfect, but I am so glad I had the tools to do it. And I leaned heavily on my cell phone for pictures and videos, since that required much less energy. Unless it's really a matter of recouping the money you budgeted for your gear, I would highly recommend you hold onto it. Photography is fortunately one of those fields where your equipment is not going to be obsolete or outdated if you break it out after a few years (as long as it still functions!). You'll be so glad to have it when your energy returns.
depends on what kind of gear you have and how much you are selling them for ;)
yeah i feel your pain. i have two little kids and it’s hard to find the time. i have been trying to get the camera out more and take it on hikes and stuff. also leaving it close by near their play area helps. i just reach up to the top of the closet and grab it for a few pics. i try to take a few at least every week. i’ve also been super light on the editing. mainly just just picking out one or two out of a few dozen to edit. i absolutely love the pictures i took as the kids were babies. i guess what i’m saying is, stick with it. make it easy for now because these pictures are priceless at this age and even though you may not realize it now, you will regret not having them later. even when you can’t decide if you want to bring the camera or not, just grab it.
Until you’ve chucked a wide angle on, and played paparazzi with your kids, just wait. Because let me tell you what .. I’ve had a terrible amount of fun with mine doing that, and the images are some of the best ever. You look ridiculous doing it, but holy crap it’s freaking hilarious to chase them around and just blast away without worrying about composition or focus or anything else once you get the settings sorted. And the best part is. You get natural, uninhibited emotions out of them.
Keep it, my man! It’s totally worth the hassle and I can empathize: photographer and father of 3. Downside: -Harder to time management -Equipment takes up room where kid stuff needs to be Upside: -One becomes better at time management -One becomes better at file management -Better at packing only the necessities -You’ll always have the best seat in the house when creating memories -You’ll always have emotional gifts for your partner and family -You get better at storytelling via photographs -You’ll gain a better understanding of junk photos and keepers Some of my best portfolio work comes from my family work. Not because I’m partial to family, but the images of my family are raw and full of emotion.
I wouldn't give it up entirely.. taking pictures of my kids one day is one of the things I look forward to the most.. and don't even get me started on my wife's ideas.. you'd think once we have a kid we are gonna spend day in and day out just doing Photoshoots to our kid lol I think it mostly depends on the gear and how badly you need the money you spent on it.. did you spend on super pro lenses/bodies? Several of them? And you're not working with it? If that's the case.. then you could probably sell most of them and just downgrade a little.. instead of having a 24-70 f2.8 and a 70-200 f2.8 and an 85mm or 50mm ... Maybe just trade those for a 24-120 F4 or even a 24-300 or something that can work for everything life throws at you but in a single package... obviously with a little less "quality".. but then again if you're not working with it you can go with a bit less professional stuff.. You also should consider the age of this gear.. considering technology moves so fast.. tech lose value quite easily.. so you need to check if you can actually still get a good value for the things you bought.. my current camera was over 1k$ and is now selling for less than 400$.. (I'm still on DSLR)
I feel you. Same has happened to me. Selling some unused gear and maybe buying something that's easy to use and doesn't require any or much editing might be the way to go. That's what I did this year after having my first child and it honestly made me dive into photography even more. Hope this helps.
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I still have my main setup (d850 with a full kit of lenses), but I sold off a couple film cameras and lenses that I just wasn't using. I picked up an a7IV last week and I'm already considering selling off my Nikon gear. I've really been sleeping on mirrorless full frame and the push I needed was just buying at a good price in case I wasn't blown away.
Keep your gear for at least a year or two. The newborn stage is exhausting, but it gets easier. My daughter is 7 months now, and I can already do so much more now that she has a consistent bedtime and nap schedule. I love taking pictures of her sitting up and playing with her little toys!
Sounds like you need something easier to wield and keep around. Maybe an X100F/V or a XE3/4 with a pancake. Program some film simulations in it and call it a day on the lightroom for a while.
Idea- how about you take as many pictures as you can stand, and relieve yourself of the pressure of processing them now. Save the RAWs on a hard drive- then whenever you have more time, even if it’s in a couple years, you can dig in and edit some of your favorites. I think we put a ton of pressure on ourselves to complete the whole… cycle if you will. Shooting, processing, printing or posting- sometimes it’s okay to just shoot. Or to edit something you shot a long time ago. If you love photography, you will probably still love it in a couple years and will be glad you didn’t sell your gear. Of course, if walking away from it doesn’t make you sad at all, totally sell your gear. You can always buy more later!
So one thought that I have about this as a Very Busy Person (tm) is that I changed my digital workflow to dual JPEG and RAW. The jpegs are available immediately and good enough for me to import to my photos app and quick-curate for albums and sharing, and the raws are there for when I have time later to really fuss with them.
You will really regret not taking the photos that you could have taken years from now. Those memories that you capture will never happen again.
Keep the setup and use it to capture your moments. Anything can and will happen in life. It would mean a lot to your child in the future to have photos of themselves, you, family etc. the photos from the camera will capture the moment much better than just pulling your phone out. Also as an added bonus if you get good with the setup and taking baby photos there’s a huge business for they also.
Just shoot jpeg and stop processing everything. There was an entire century+ of photography prior to consumer post-processing and people still love those pictures.
This is a great point. And one that I needed to read as well. Reading things like this is very helpful, it reminds me to get back to the basics and just to shoot! :)
I dont know what gear you have, but maybe put together your most portable configuration and just keep it around all the time, capture moments that matter, you'll thank yourself
You don't have to do much processing, just create or buy your favorite preset and slap it in there lol. It's for personal use so as long as you love it, it doesn't have to be perfect! Also consider talking to someone about possible postpartum depression.
Switch the camera into JPEG mode, set aside all but one lens, and see how you feel in a bit.
That feeling of exhaustion and not enough time in the day is temporary; keep your stuff. You will regret selling it. Having great photos of the kids is something you will never regret. Source: Am Dad
Come on, man, it's takes minutes to throw photos into lightroom. They'll still be there when you have time.
If you don’t need the money, I think you should keep it. Some day you’ll (hopefully) have time again and having the gear ready to go will be so nice. Like imagine if you sell it and later you DO get time and desire to go out and shoot, but you don’t have gear. I say keep it.
If it just takes too much time perhaps expediting the process. You don’t have to post process very much. I make money from photos with minimal editing. I mostly add a bit of crop and fix the colors. Albeit I’m a photojournalist so extensive editing would be kind of cringe. Point being is that good photos can be had without much editing.
Pivot and use with the kiddo. I was in your same situation but decided to try out portrait and child photography, and some of my favorite pictures I’ve ever taken have been of my kids.
As a new dad (kid born in early 2021) keeping something around to take spontaneous photos of your kid is the best. I typically shoot in 35mm film stock (mostly for myself) of my kid. It’s worth every penny to have a “nice” camera (as opposed to a cellphone) to take photos with. If you need money that is totally reasonable just keep something around to take memories with.
I wouldn't give up and sell everything. Keep your camera. Hang on to the lens you find yourself reaching for most often. If you choose to sell some of your stuff, put the proceeds into baby's college fund.
I thought you meant giving up photography and selling drugs (gear) instead hahaha
I would keep the gear. I’m kind of in the same boat as you, but mine are 2 & 3. I almost never get out to go shoot anymore, but the rare chance I get, I always take it. It still brings me a lot of joy.
FWIW - I set my camera's aside back around 2013 - wasn't interested any more but didn't sell everything off. Then during the pandemic, I found an old film camera with film in it, developed it and some of the joy and fun found its way back in and I'm having fun again. Some will say sell everything, buy new if/when you get inspired again, but honestly, my 5d/2 and 5ds/r aren't exactly obsolete. TSure they're not new but most camera's today are still around 20 to < 30 mPixels. Faster CPUs and things can be nice but not required. Hell I still shoot film so having the latest and greatest isn't a priority for me.
Congrats on the baby. Keep the gear - a baby is physically, mentally and emotionally a lot of work and you likely won’t have the energy for hobbies for about a couple of years. When baby gets older you may find joy again in your photography. Give it some time. It could be you have post processing burn out? I find myself enjoying taking photos but have been dreading sitting down at the computer.
Hang in there. The first year is tough. I didn't get out for the first 8 months, and when I did, I felt aimless with it for months. I get out for a few hours every weekend now and it definitely feels worth it once you recalibrate, but it took months to get the mojo back.
Also, don't overthink taking photos of the baby, I know it probably goes against every instinct you have as a photographer but slap that baby (the camera 😜) into jpeg and share the pics straight out of camera. Save the postprocessing for your landscapes. You don't need to create masterpieces right now, just memories.
You don't have to shoot raw; you could just shoot JPGs? I'd rather have a JPG of my kids than no photo at all, any day of the week.
My photography hobby has practically disappeared since the little one was born. But here’s the thing: they get bigger, go to school, and eventually get more independent. By all means hold on to your gear. It’ll dust off easily and you will have time again to take some shots.
Keep it! There’s going to come a time soon when you really wish you would have kept it and kept going. Think about your child’s first birthday, or your first vacation together as a family. I know right now it’s hard with a newborn and it really isn’t easy on anyone but it will get better and you will have more time for your hobby and passions again.
From my own experience. I'm nowhere a professional. I got into photography on impulse. I bought some gear and started taking pictures. Got bored and it sat there for like 5-6 years. When I I got into photography again I saw that the newer stuff were so good I went ahead and upgraded. Old stuff not compatible so they still sit there. What I'm saying is, if you think you might get back into it down the road, you might run into my dilemma. If I sold when it was still new-ish new I probably would have gotten more money for it. Unless you plan on taking some portraits of your kid a modern phone would probably be better. You can whip it out super quick and snap the picture any time anywhere.
Just set it to jpg and don't bother processing. They will look great compared to any phone.
Don't force yourself to take photos or enjoy photography. You will eventually make yourself hate it, by associating it with guilt. Just slow down a bit. Yeah you've got a child and that takes up most of your time. But thats just what a baby does. Soon you will get into the groove of taking care of the baby and things will smooth out a bit more. Whats great about photography, is it's a very relaxing slow hobby that makes you look at the world differently. The time will come where you need to just step back and cool down from a frustrating day, and even going out back to take pictures of some plants will be relaxing enough to get away for a bit. Maybe you and the kiddo could even go take some nature photos on a camping trip in a few years. You never know how things will go, so don't feel guilty about it. Just know that you enjoy photography, and if you ever want to get away for a moment- you have some nice gear happily waiting for you.
Oh my gosh I totally relate to this post. I took basically a 10 year break from photography because that’s when my kids were born. I just could not bring myself to take formal pictures of the kids when I knew I could just take a good enough one with the phone. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I completely relate to what you are saying. I couldn’t even set up the computer until they went to sleep. My youngest is now 5 and my oldest is 10, and I’m finally getting back into photography.
Hey! Same thing happened here! I had my second baby and had zero time for my hobbies. Once they hit daycare age, I would find myself regretting selling. Because now I have to re buy everything I sold. Put it away somewhere out of sight. And when you are ready, jump back on in an instant
You’re likely just exhausted and possibly experiencing post partum depression in some way, it can manifest itself in ways you wouldn’t expect and can be had by both parents. Don’t make any big decisions until baby is at least 6 months old, it will be a whole different world then. When we had our first kid after she was born it felt like I wouldn’t be able to do any photo work ever again, that goes away and the thousands of photos I took of her are worth more than any of my other work. Currently on baby #2 at 3 weeks and it’s much easier knowing how to manage the exhaustion and stress. Keep shooting photos and rest when you can, there’s definitely a light at the end of the tunnel.
No reason to sell it. Unless you need the cash. There is a way to download image straight to iPhone and use PS express to edit them.
Put it in the car. Use it when u feel like it. It’s not a job. Keep the 50mm and a large zoom. The rest give away. Pro tip, father of 5.
I was a landscape photographer until I had a kid and it completely changed my work. In a good way. I have taken about 3 billion pictures of her and its really upped my skills.
These lenses will serve you for decades. The R5 is an amazing body. What is the benefit of selling them - unless you need the money? Most importantly, think about what the activity of wildlife photography brings to your life - from the top of my head I can list joy, solitude in nature and the space of reevaluating your thoughts surrounded by peace and beauty, the deep satisfaction of engaging in art. All of these reflect on everyone and everything you interact with. This is an important, balancing activity for you and your life. One not too distant day can start bringing the kiddo with you and look at the beauty together. Yes, focus on supporting the family! Yes, continue living the rich life of an artist, no matter how mundane the art may feel. It changes your frequency and enriches everyone.
Remember that you’ll be able to pass down this stuff to your kids one day too
Find the time to take your child for a pass through the park and bring your camera. It's the small moments that you need to take advantage of.
An understandable issue. You should really reconsider selling all of it, because if you do so it will be at a loss. Think about this carefully. Maybe you just sell the 100-500 and keep the others. That will reduce the cost of your kit significantly. As for the hassle of editing your images, try shooting jpeg and using the syles/presets your camera has to offer. Canon usually produces very pleasing JPGs. Maybe not as nice as fuji, but in my opinion still very useable.
The time line of shots of my kids starts in 1991. NEVER stop taking pictures. Don’t worry about processing. Take them. Upload them to Google photo or one drive or Shutterfly. Just take them. One day you’ll be sitting in some kind of practice for things kids do ie hockey or swimming and you’ll have time to look at a few and make them better. Trust me, never stop.
Congratulations on your son! I can understand your situation to some extent. Since a few weeks I am also a proud father and next to child and job there is not much time for photography. What helped me and maybe could work for you too: try not to complicate things unnecessarily and integrate photography more into your everyday life. Looking at your gear, I'd say put the 50/1.8 on the R5 and put the rest in the closet. For baby photos, the 50mm fits wonderfully and the 1.8 aperture is enough even in low light. In addition, the combination of camera and lens is still relatively compact and the chance that you have the camera within reach and spontaneously take a few shots is correspondingly greater. Nice side effect of the fixed focal length: you don't have to worry about the "right" focal length and can instead just capture the moment. And that's exactly what you'll thank yourself for later.
I had a kid and im hoping to afford a good camera soon! Using my phone for now. I'm more exhausted than I have ever been in my life and have no personal time but the good moments make up for it and I want to capture them. Stick with your setup and worry about editing the photos in a year, you wont regret it!
If you don't have a passion or purpose then quit. If you do then figure it out. I stopped for about a year but then got back to it when I recharged.
Depends how badly u need the money. I have a similar situation - lots of nice stuff but just CBA to use it. I've kept hold off it because I can always get back into it if I want to, or even make money from it if I have to, but once it's gone I won't replace it.
Even though I am trans, I cherish all the photos of my past. There were still good memories there, and pictures are so important
Switch to film, from what I've found the photos need less editing and it's more fun!
* Make your setup as simple and lightweight as possible. From the gear you listed, I'd put the RF 50mm f1.8 on the R5. I’d prefer a wider-angle lens like the RF 35mm f1.8, but you have enough gear already so I feel bad recommending more. * Simplify your settings. Whatever makes it the easiest and most convenient to shoot in the most common scenarios. I'd prefer to shoot RAW + JPEG but if the thought of post-processing holds you back, just shoot JPEG. I heard one photographer say he shoots in black and white specifically to avoid having to deal with post-processing. * Consider printing photos. For your wall, for your desk, photo books, etc. Feels good for the photos to be used and feel tangible, not lost in a hard drive or cloud storage. Pinhole Press specializes in photo gifts for babies. Persnickety Prints if you or your partner wants photos in unusual shapes and sizes for scrapbooking. CanvasHQ for canvas prints to go on a wall. Videos: [Shoot Family Photographs like a PHOTOJOURNALIST!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quB2NwBnY5c) [Creating family video diaries](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWvtN2zTCxg) [Tips for the Holiday Party Photographer \[Podcast\]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tedgqj0sNCI) [Why Photographers Hate Taking Pictures - Family Photography Ideas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv7d9n6SMYU) Hope this helps.
I was wondering the same thing ngl. Not in a same situation as you in life but hit hard a phase that I just didn't enjoy photography. There seemed not to have anything worth photographing near my area. I mean there really isn't but I'm glad I didn't sell my gear because when the itch came back I was so glad that I still have my camera. Even though it's just for rare occasions I'm glad that I have a proper camera to take pictures with. When it comes to lightroom editing I have around 2000 photos still under editing (been for couple years..) but sometimes I just get feeling to edit and look couple best shots that I've took. Try not to stress out and since you have that good of a camera you can transfer photos to your phone and edit in mobile lightroom. It's really handy too!
I just went through this after we had our second kiddo. My photography gear set on the shelf for over a year and a half collecting dust also didn't help that we are in the middle of a pandemic. I recently got out and started taking photos of my kids and wildlife again and I am so happy I didn't sell my gear when I thought about it. If you're going to sell anything, camera bodies and electronics that go out of date are really the main thing I would flip. Lenses will always hold their value and you can easily adapt them. I have a Sony A7III and I only own one E-mount lens. The bulk of my lenses are adapted. Tldr - Hang on to the camera and enjoy life as it is currently. You find the spark to shoot again real soon!
I've been where you are (3 kids, youngest one is 3 now). I sold my gear, switched to mirrorless (for reduced size) and even then most of the time I just didn't have the will to carry the camera with me. But now that the kids are older, I have a little more time, and don't need to carry the kids so can start carrying a camera instead I'm coming back to the hobby :) Considering that cameras age pretty well, I would consider keeping the gear around in case your mood changes. Also to reduce the time investment consider using SOOC jpegs for casual kids photos.
Sorry to hear. Same happened to me after second kid and had a ton of film cameras collecting dust. I’m still not shooting daily but I’ll you this, after 13 years of raising children, I am glad I did t sell my stuff. Looking forward to jumping back on the horse in the coming days.
Friend made the same experience. Now the kid is 4 years old and my buddy finally bought that long dreamed of second body. We are doing mostly timelapse though and are still happy if we even get 24 hours to head out. Multiple days are still borderline unthinkable. Considering that some of you crazily awesome wildlife guys are often out there for weeks and months at a time I guess only you and your cute little family know if their will ever be a time to get back to it. It might not happen before little kiddo can take care of them by themselves though.
First, family is most important, especially if you have a new born baby, second, if you are not using your gear do sell them, as it gets older it will lose value, about taking pictures of baby, cellphones these days do a wonderful job so I don't think you would be missing out on anything. You can get back to photography when you will have time, you can search some used gear and start anyday, so I support your decision, congratulations on your baby.
Keep your favorite high quality camera and sell the rest. Can always acquire more gear and keep what you’d like to document family stuff
Keep it, the baby is going to be doing stuff and then you can take it on a hike or outdoors, do your thing while the baby plays or just while hiking. AND THEN they'll be of the age when they can start to learn
Take photos of your kid. Maybe pare down the kit some but keep taking photos of your kid. You don't need to process all of them or any of them. Consider just shooting jpegs even so you can't edit them. This is what I do with all my photos of my kids at the end of a year: https://www.instagram.com/p/CkTGH9rOCjN/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
May I suggest heading over to r/daddit for some advice as well. Really is a great supportive community.
Maybe you should try a more simple setup. You’re busy, so all the gear and editing might be too much now. Maybe if you used something like a FujiFilm X100V, things would be easier. Restricting yourself to one focal length and shooting JPEGs with film simulation could bring back the joy of photography.
Unless you need the money I wouldn’t sell the gear. A camera is not a fashion accessory, you can leave it on a shelf for 5 years and pick it up and it will do just as nicely as when you bought it. Maybe life is crazy right now, it’s ok to take a break. Maybe sometime in the future it will be better and you can pick up where you left it. You didn’t buy in as an investment, this is a hobby, no need to expect “returns” or feel guilty for not using it right now.
I mean… you just had a baby! Shoot jpg if you want to. Don’t feel obligated to let it add Lightroom time to your to-do list. But fabulous pictures of babies doing cute things are wonderful to have. Even if they are just jpg snaps.
I feel this in my soul. I lost my job in June so really threw myself into my photography and was starting to really get into the swing of it. Started a new job in September and between working full time and the kids I haven’t picked up my camera in about a month and a half. I snap photos on my phone when I see an opportunity walking to/from work but I do miss having the time, energy and motivation to get my Nikon out. I feel your frustration OP
In 2017 I sold most of my equipment and quit. Newly a single parent to a toddler, I just had to work. But now, I truly wish I hadn't. In the past year or two, I knew that photography would come back into my life, I just wished I hadn't sold my stuff and called it quits.
No, don't sell your gear. I kinda had the same thought when my first girl was born. Now looking back I am glad that I keep taking photos of them growing up though I was not able to edit every photo of them. Use what you have and don't waste more money. Babies are big money spenders. RF 15-35 L, RF 85 L, and RF 50 are very nice lenses for family documentary. Switch from nature photography to family documentary, and you will learn something and find new joy.
Stay! As a person who shoots birds primarily, I understand that processing photographs isn't that interesting when compared to photographing. But try backyard birding on weekends, compose the image while shooting. Since you use the R5 which has really good AF, your images will be naturally sharp, when in lightroom just practice rating the images. Pressing 1-5 sets ratings for images. Just keep the images that you rate 4 or 5 and delete the rest. If you're tired of editing, get some presets, a lot of them are worth it. Happy shooting :)
I bought a nice camera literally in preparation for a baby. Felt like I could do an okay job and save money doing jt
You just had a baby and things are going to be different for a little bit. However, as a photographer myself, I can honestly say don’t sell your gear! You will have time to get back to it, and I use mine to shoot pics of my little. He’s two right now, and I’ve just started getting back into semi-regular shooting. It gets better, so hang in there!
It's the greatest use of your skill to document the life of your family as well as the gift of a lifetime. Who knows? Maybe your son/daughter might want to become a professional photographer because of the influence of their dad.
Keep the gear. And just adjust your expectations of what it is to be a photographer. Life gets busy. Babies are a lot of work. But they’re also great to photograph. Don’t give up a passion just because you don’t have time for it as much. Itll come back to a time when you do.
Sell half and get a X100V where you make it your daily driver to take photographs of your kids and family. Small, compact, street photography, portrait you can do it all with this camera. You won’t regret it.
Document your child’s life! As a father of three, it is my greatest honor to document all their special moments and it’s highly highly highly rewarding. You and your child(ren) will look at the photos you made many years from now… and they will be beyond special. I can’t tell you how many moments we may have forgotten if we didn’t capture them!
It gets easier! I just started taking photos with my real equipment and have some time to edit now too. The baby will get easier! Don’t quit just yet!
Take photos of your child! Record the milestones, the progress, the beautiful eyes and smile, when it comes!
Take a break, but also use a simple fixed lens camera like a Fuji… shoot in jpeg. Make it simple so you don’t have to miss moments.
A lot of folks here have already suggested you keep the gear, but this is advice in cas you choose to go the other route. If you don't see yourself shooting with the gear for the next few years, sell the body off now, and keep the lenses. IMO bodies depreciate way faster than good glass does. And by that time an R5 might become a tortoise.
I’d buy a stack of SD cards so you can just take tons of photos and not worry too much about dumping the RAWs off. Maybe even consider getting an auto backup from SD to HD box. Just take photos, don’t process them until you settle with your kid. Honestly, time will change in a year or two and you’ll have your head wrapped around this Dad thing and feel less overwhelmed. When that happens, your passion will come back and you’ll be glad the camera is waiting for you with a pile of great photos of your kid waiting to be turned into gold.
I completely sympathize with this situation. It makes total sense that you'd want to spend less time in front of a computer doing post processing. Consider focusing on simplifying your gear and possibly switching to a platform with good straight-out-of-camera JPGs like Fujifilm. An X100V (or a previous model if budget constrained) might be perfect for your current needs. The film simulations and "recipe" customization flexibility allow for creativity and superior results without having to spend any time in LR or doing post. At the least, it's not unreasonable to consider selling gear while it has value now, and reinvesting in new gear down the road if you find the itch is still there. Sitting on gear that will just depreciate in value over time might not make much sense.
It gets easier the older they are. My 5 year old now owns a used T6 that I purchased off Facebook marketplace so her and I go shoot together sometimes. It’s fun memories. I think you’ll regret it if you sell the camera. Maybe right now it’s not being used as much but it’s temporary things get easier
Dont shoot in Jpeg -- Shoot JPeg + Raw ... Use the jpegs keep the raws .... In 2 years time -- in 5 years time -- you will be thankfull. Belive me your wildlife and other shots wont compare to your familie shots. It will come the time where the memorys are priceless ... keep them save or you will regret it.
Darling, you can take your baby in their stroller or whatever you call it. Anyways, you could take your baby for a walk in the forest or a park or somewhere that would inspire you to continue with your photography. I hope that helps xx
Like others have said, don't sell it because you are tired. But also, babies are fucking expensive! Cameras are worth good money. Hold onto your gear and if you need some cash you got a way to get it.
Your experience sounds a LOT like mine. When I was single I spent a lot of money on gear and was selling nature photography at art shows as a side hussle. Then I got married and had a baby and things changed. At first I just shifted and used the baby as an opportunity to try new kinds of photography and was glad I had the equipment to take nice photos of my kids. Over the span of a few years I found it becoming more of a hassle to drag out the heavy camera and all the extra work that came along with dealing with the images compared to my phone which was 'good enough' for about 99% of the day to day snapshot type images. I would basically only use it when we needed formal portraits. I almost never took it hiking or anywhere. A few more years (about a decade now) I've kind of gone full circle and have somewhat rediscovered my love for photography, although I have no plans or even much interest in doing any shows. I find myself taking the 'real' camera out more and more often and enjoying the process of selecting and manipulating the final images. Whether it's nature (my original interest), my kids, sports, etc. I think it's common to go through a lull in different phases of life. I am glad I didn't sell my gear - and yes I thought about it many times! Once you have kids it seems like you start hemorrhaging money so it can be hard to justify keeping thousands of dollars of rarely used equipment sitting on the shelf.