Drifting is a good description; I've been sensing this myself. But is it drifting away from traditional or drifting towards something different? I thoroughly enjoy the technology and idea of digital, so it has a strong attraction.
None the less, I updated my enlarger and darkroom when I had the opportunity. Manufacturers are rapidly discontinuing products, and the time will come when that opportunity won't exist.
I don't lose any sleep over it. I have a huge number of interests, and my hobbies tend to rotate on a several year cycle. That way I stay excited about whatever I happen to be focused on at the moment. It's actually best when interests combine. I recently took up hunting for NGS benchmarks (those bronze elevation disks you find on high peaks and other places), and photographing both them and their surroundings. That gets me exercise, but also got me looking at landscapes again. Ordinarily I wouldn't go out hiking for the purpose of hiking, nor would I go out hiking for the purpose of looking for landscapes, but the combination of activities is more than the sum of its parts. OTOH, if I don't take a "serious" photograph for a couple years, so what? One thing I do, even if not actively photographing for a while is read. A lot. Both on the web and those old fashioned paper things. That way the brain stays at least somewhat sharp, should the urge to photograph strike.
I find it's easy to put off, but once you start it's easy. Sort of like laundry. I try to print when I have just a couple of shots. That lets me see them quickly, and keeps the printing sessions short.
Last year I let it build up, and had to spend too much time printing what I had. Then things got sloppy.
Now, mounting is another story; still have a nice backlog of that.
Let's say I offer to get you a set of your 3 favorite photographs of all time. You can hang them in your home, enjoy them for a lifetime, and later pass them along to your family as an heirloom - or even bequeath them to a museum so that future generations can enjoy a "Gift of Dan N".
All things being equal, which would you prefer, which would your descendants prefer, and which would the museum prefer: Epson inkjet prints, or hand-made darkroom prints on Silver or Platinum ?
For me photography is photography. I used a black and white darkroom and shot 35mm-4x5 since the 1960’s. Gave it up for lack of time when the kids were born, job demands, grad school, home maintenance, etc. Took it up again a few years ago now that I have a wee bit more time. I have always had a strong need to do something creative every day, and photography allows me to do that freely, providing I have some time. Well, years ago when I did it the “traditional way” I had lots of free time compared to now. The upshot is that the recent improvement in digital cameras and printing technologies has allowed me to shoot very satisfying photos in my precious little spare time. I can upload the files and get archival prints back a day or two later. I dry mount and matte them right away and enjoy my work a great deal. I never used to do color and now I shoot and print color for most of my images. I’m all set up to make prints 11x14 or smaller, so the current crop of DSLRs suite me just fine in terms of image quality. I still have my 4x5 which I intend to use for special shots that I would want to enlarge more than 9x13. I shoot everything from nature to portraits. So, to answer your question, I have “drifted away” from traditional photography, but certainly not from photography. In fact, I have produced more satisfying prints this last year than the previous 20.
To address Ken’s question: my current prints are all Fuji Archive or Kodak Endura. Both have excellent longevity for color images.
I think it's difficult to lose touch with something that we've enjoyed over long periods of time. My Dad was a biker, and so I grew up on motorcycles. I rode in the dirt until I was old enough to ride on the street. My Dad bought me a mint BSA Lightning when I was 15, and it was the first of many bikes I'd own and ride over the years. Bikes were an integral part of my life, so when I sold them all to move to Idaho, I knew I'd miss them, but I also knew I'd replace them. Well, 15 years later, my oldest son is a licensed driver, and wants a bike. It dawns on me that he doesn't remember my bikes, except through photos and stories, and that he has no memory of me riding, except for a few test rides of his various dirt bikes. I'm rambling now, but to make a long story short, sometimes our interests, and even passions go dormant for long periods of time, and we might not anticipate the circumstances under which they're reignited. In my 15 year lapse in riding I took up photography, built some houses, and raised three kids. My son recently acquired a 1981 Suziki GS450S, and is in the process of customizing it, which has inspired me to finish my long dormant Yamaha XS650 cafe project. It's a lot of fun to share ideas and swap parts with my son, and I can't imagine a more enjoyable way to get back in the saddle. One way in which this project will be different from previous ones, is that the photos will be much better. If something is pulling your attention away from photography, maybe it's for the best, and you should give this new interest your full attention, at least for the time being, but more probably, you should ignore my advice and do what you think best. Good luck to you in whatever direction you take.
i don't think you should ignore whatever it is you're drifting toward. it might be something that's fulfilling you in a way that photography hasn't been.
or you might just be burned out. i got totally burned several years ago, and decided to take a break. i studied music, bough a bass, and played all over new york's dive bars in a mediocre rock band. i had a blast! hardly thought about photography for three or four years. then something cought my interest and i got back into it little by little. the break helped give me some perspective, and it allowed me to do something else i always wanted to do.
now i'm taking a break from real life so i can concentrate just on photography. i don't have a big enough bank account to keep it up much longer, but it's been a great experience too.
my one regret is that during my rockstar sabatical, i made no effort to keep in touch with any professional contacts in the photo world. curators and editors that i'd worked with, or that were somewhat interested and wanted to see more work of mine over time. when i finally got back in touch with the institutions years later, i discovered that half these people had retired or moved on to some other place. seems obvious in hindsight, but it never occured to me at the time how temporary situations are, and how temporary relationships can be if you don't maintain them.
Well, for Valentine's Day my incredible wife bought me a nice Deardorff V8 with a 250mm wide field Ektar. Somehow I am motiviated, enthused and inspired to the point that I can't hardly maintain my demeanor in public. Wooo-Hooo-! (Sorry for the outburst)
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