# Photography Careers....



## rawrmonster91 (Jul 24, 2008)

First off, let me introduce myself.
I'm Kacey, and I'm 17. I start college this Fall, and I desperatly want to major in photography. Nothing else interests me as much as taking pictures (not much of a people photographer-I have issues with "posing") ...however, I just recently had a baby girl, and I have to have a steady income. I don't want to  have good paydays some days, and then no money come in another...if you know what I mean. It just can't happen. The father isn't in the picture, so it's just on me to support her financially. 

I enjoy working with Photoshop as well, I just recently got into it though. 



What I want to know is if anyone can suggest any good careers that I can try out, research, consider, anything...that consist of PHOTOGRAPHY. 

Thank you.


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## Big Mike (Jul 24, 2008)

Welcome to the forum.

I can't say for sure, but from what I can tell...photography careers are not the most stable occupations.  Schooling and education is a good thing, but that doesn't guarantee you a job when you are done.  Really, you don't need any sort of formal education to work in photography...so even if you did have a degree, you would be competing with people who don't have any formal education...and your degree might not even be an advantage for a lot of potential jobs.
It's not like a doctor, lawyer, engineer, electrician...where you need to have education and certification.

The more common advice that I hear, is to apprentice with a pro photographer and learn on the job.  

What kind of photography are you thinking of doing?  What you would like to do?
A lot of money can be made shooting weddings or portraits, and to be successful doing that, you need to know how to run your own business.  That might even be more important than being a good photographer.  So in this case, you might be better off taking business classes, rather than photography classes.

There are photography jobs where you work for other people...photojournalist or studio/commercial photographer for example...but there is a lot of competition for those jobs and the pay probably sucks until you can work your way up...and that might mean moving to where the jobs are.

No matter what type of job, the ability to be a good salesperson...to be able to sell yourself to potential clients or employers, is the biggest key to success.

My personal advice (take it or leave it) would be to get some schooling in something that you know can get you a job that pays well enough to support you (& baby etc).  Then you can keep photography as a hobby and maybe a part time way to make money.  I have a good day job, and I shoot weddings & portraits on the side.  It would be a lot harder to make a living on photography full time and it certainly wouldn't be steady work all the time.


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## *Mike* (Jul 24, 2008)

I'm with Big Mike on this one...  

If stability is most important, then photography is a tough road to make work.  But, it can be a nice supplemental income, and many people love keeping it that way.  I'm a full-time wedding and portrait shooter - and I wouldn't recommend it.  The odds are just too stacked against you being able to make a living at it.

Focus on developing a marketable skill set that you can rely on, and continue to develop your photography as a personal interest aside from that.  Eventually you may be able to join the two... I just wouldn't bank on it.  )


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## rawrmonster91 (Jul 24, 2008)

I apprieciate the honesty, and that was my original plan...to major in something that brings  in good income and is stable...and do photography on the side, I was just hoping maybe there was something out there... hm. :/ Darn. 
Alright, back to step one, of finding the "major" career......
*sigh*

Graphic design, or something like that...would those be stable? Or no? 

My major interest is scenery photography. Wildlife, outdoors, stuff like that. Again, I don't do well with the "posing", so people is outta the question.


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## *Mike* (Jul 24, 2008)

Don't write off shooting people just b/c of posing!  Posing is a skill, just like a lot of other things in photography.  It is learned.  )    People are where the money is - usually.  Landscape, fine-art, etc., is incredibly hard to profit off of...

Education?  I'd suggest business or communication.  Both offer a lot of flexibility in ultimate application, and they can both be applied to your entrepreneurial endeavors.


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## Big Mike (Jul 24, 2008)

I agree with *Mike* (great minds think alike  )

Business or communications are a good bet.  

Landscape and nature shots are probably some of the hardest ways to make money in photography.  Firstly, there are millions of other people shooting these things and much fewer people buying them.  Unless somebody hires you to shoot some specific landscape, you would pretty much be relying on selling the image/photo.  That is a hard way to make money.  A better way to make money is to sell the service of professional photography.  When we sell a wedding or a portrait session or cover an event...what we are doing is selling the service...and yes, a big part of that is the images, but the big part of the income is from the service.  

And yes, don't discount shooting people.  Posing people is a skill that can be learned, probably easier 'on the job' than in school but either way, it can be acquired.


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## Mystwalker (Jul 24, 2008)

Big Mike said:


> I agree with *Mike* (great minds think alike  )


 
Me three!!  

Great if you can earn a living doing something you love.
But from what I've seen and read, photography is a VERY competitive field.  You need to be a salesman, diplomant and an artist.

"best" career field I can think of is "nursing" - supposed to be big shortage of nurses in next 10 years - maybe all current nurses going into photography field?    My wife is a nurse so I know this as fact.

Accounting positions also supposed to be in demand - I do not see this though.


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## rawrmonster91 (Jul 24, 2008)

Mystwalker said:


> Me three!!
> 
> Accounting positions also supposed to be in demand - I do not see this though.



Y e a h . . . .
My mom thinks I should consider majoring it accounting...since I did/do all their companies bookkeeping and online banking and stuff. I don't know though... Sit in an office all day punching numbers and such? What a drag...


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## Renair (Jul 25, 2008)

Hi Kacey, firstly welcome to the forum and congratulations on your baby girl, reading the above posts, I am surprised no-one said it before!  he he.  Well a good one to start with is portraits of children, you have your model already.  Also Mike's idea about working with a PRO is good for experience, but not as a new mother, maybe later down the line.  You need to think of something you can do from home at the start.  Maybe admin work for a photographer, learning the business side of things first so you can spend time with your daughter and also get a good insight into the business end, this will also allow you to make some contacts.   Then later you can go into your wildlife, landscape etc.  You will probably end up taking photos the rest of your life, so there is loads of time to learn.

In the meantime, the New York Institute of Photography offer professional photography courses that are correspondence, this way you work at your own pace and learn the skills.  The initial outlay is $178 up front, then $50 a month for 19 months, but its affordable.....   I hope this helps a little and again, congratulations on the baby.


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## NMLHaley (Jul 25, 2008)

I just checked out the New York Institute of Photography website. Has anyone here used this program? Something about it sounds too good to be true. I'd love to hear more if anyone can speak about it.


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## Big Mike (Jul 25, 2008)

> I just checked out the New York Institute of Photography website. Has anyone here used this program? Something about it sounds too good to be true. I'd love to hear more if anyone can speak about it.



I don't know about any 'current' members, but there have been a few who have signed up for those courses.  

Unfortunately, from what I remember, most of them drop out/don't finish.  

From what I gather, a person needs to be really self motivated.  If you aren't accustomed to that type of 'distance' learning, it's really hard to stick with it.


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## JaimeGibb (Jul 25, 2008)

I have to agree with the above.

I am an education major and almost switched my major to photography. But the more I looked into and thought about it, the more I realized that that wasnt the best choice.

First of all, with an education degree, Im almost guaranteed a steady income teaching. Also, Photography is somehting that can be mastered without formal schooling. Apprenticing with a pro, reading books, practicing...and then, once you really knoe what you are doing, and maybe if you are making enough money from it, the "main" job can be dropped. But, youll always have that degree to fall back on. 

I still have 2 years of school to go, and im 23, I learned the hard way  

Would you be interested in getting a teaching degree? That way you could have your summers and weekends free to practce and master photography, and stay home with your daughter.

Good luck with you and your baby girl, I wish you all the luck in the world!!


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## JodieO (Jul 25, 2008)

Big Mike said:


> and to be successful doing that, you need to know how to run your own business. That might even be more important than being a good photographer.


 
It *IS* more important IMO... having the business end is WAY more important to be succesful and profitable.


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## Renair (Jul 25, 2008)

You do need to be motivated all right for an NYIP Course.  I did one back in 1993 before digital took off and found it very valueable.  But then again I am motivated, I dont get up early for the right light, I stay up all night for it!!!!!


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## Bifurcator (Jul 25, 2008)

I had a GF who did one back in the 60's.   I followed it. It wasn't terrible. 

But anyway. If you want a steady career in photography I think teaching is one of the steadiest. Doing catalogue work on contract is good. Hooking up with a large real-estate firm or an architect or doing birth images for a hospital, working for a newspaper or magazine,  and etc. Any established group, organization, or company that has a steady call for photographs on a regular basis (and might need a salaried photographer) would be more steady then going freelance or trying to open up your own business.

Do what you love doing tho! Don't sell out. It'll potentially make all the difference in your and your child's happiness.


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## Robin (Jul 26, 2008)

I agree with everyone else, photography in general does not assure a steady income because photographers by nature are generally self employed and the industry is considered very competitive. The only thing I can think of is that some magazines or newspapers will hire in house photographers but gaining this position can be difficult and you may spend years doing freelancing first. Freelancing is also very common with magazines and newspaper so there's still no assurance there.

The only other thing I can think of is if you became a photography teacher. High schools, colleges/universities, art or photography schools employ full time photography teachers. But you may be required to obtain certain teaching degrees for some of these positions. Plus, my guess would be that there are more photographers willing to teach and have a steady income than there are positions to fill.

As for graphic design, this may offer a little more stablity but not much. I know large companies often employ in house design teams but again, it's a very competitive field and therefore is not necessarily as secure as someone in your position might want. And just as many graphic designers are also self employed.

I hate to say it but any kind of art-based field is not going to offer as much job security as you're probably looking for. As much as you may like art-based careers because lets face it, they are more interesting and exciting than sitting in an office all day, I think you're looking in the wrong areas and you need to look outside of anything art-based. 

I don't blame you if you're trying to avoid sitting in an office all day but here's some fields which aren't art based but won't chain you to a desk and don't usually involve being self-employed.

If you like kids/people: Teaching, nursing, physical therapist
If you like animals: Vet tech/nurse, SPCA, zookeeper or zoologist
If you like the outdoors: Park ranger


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## John_Olexa (Jul 26, 2008)

NMLHaley said:


> I just checked out the New York Institute of Photography website. Has anyone here used this program? Something about it sounds too good to be true. I'd love to hear more if anyone can speak about it.


 
Yes I did it. It was very good! it's even better now because of digital. Didn't have it yet when I took it.

Kacey, Later on once you get a grasp on photography, another thing to look at is shooting with a stock agency. Now you won't get rich from it but it can be good extra income after a few years. It's hard to start though! You will need at least 200 good images to start and can take a few years to start selling images. The good thing is you get to shoot a lot. They do all the work but take a cut of the money . Most go 50/50
average price to clients range anywhere from $100 -$1000! the fun part is find a subject you like to shoot. Most agencies like you to summit new images every so often. 

I shoot for Getty Images. I specialize in weather. I just got a royalty check the other day from 2 lightning images Getty sold over seas. Both images were shot back in 1998!!

I just want to point out that shooting stock is just as competitive as anything else. When I first started I chose weather for 2 reasons.*1:* I like it! and *2:* as a plus not many were shooting it at that time. Nowadays :er: everybody is a storm chaser :er::er: LOL.

I just wanted to give another option. You can do a google search on how to shoot for a stock agency. Theres a lot of pros & cons to it just like everything else. But it is something you can look into down the road.

John


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## cofphoto (Aug 3, 2008)

My name isn't Mike, and I support this message.  ~

Photography careers are quickly going the way of the dinosaur, mainly due to three factors IMO.  First, anyone can walk into Costco, spend $800 on a DSLR and call themselves a Photographer even though they don't know a thing about photography.  Second, nearly every digital camera these days comes with some version of Photoshop, whereas it used to cost $$$$ to buy it.  Lastly, if you ask me the general public's acceptance of subpar photography has grown by leaps and bounds due to the first to factors.  

The result is that more and more people are becoming Photographers, and less and less people are willing to pay what we would call "fair" pricing for high quality photographs.  For example, more and more people are unwilling to pay $5,000 for a high quality Wedding Photographer because one of the Bridesmaids has a new DSLR and says "I'll just shoot it for free and give you the CD".  The end result of course is that they spend $4,000 on flowers and $3,000 on a dress - and end up with nothing but crappy photos to remember their wedding day.

In the end, it's not impossible to make a living at portrait photography.  But it's getting harder by the day.  BUT, it's not that difficult to make a decent side living out of it.


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## icassell (Aug 3, 2008)

NMLHaley said:


> I just checked out the New York Institute of Photography website. Has anyone here used this program? Something about it sounds too good to be true. I'd love to hear more if anyone can speak about it.



A good friend at work did it.  She's an amateur, but wanted to improve her skills, which it did significantly.  She was very pleased.  I don't know how good it would be for training for a pro career.


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