Anyone here have a (higher level) degree in Photography?

[tirediron]

I have 30+ years of hands-on experience and have attended many seminars and workshops, and am always willing to learn. From anyone. A degree in photography? Yeah... sure... okay. As soon as someone can explain to me how the final exam will be graded. Seriously... photography is an art. You can teach the mechanics of lighting, exposure, etc and you can teach compositional theory but at the end of the day, the results are purely subjective.

I would submit that the degree had little, or more likely nothing to do with your decision about which photographer to hire, and attitude and presentation did. If you want to spend money on a photographic education, then take business and entrepreneurship training, basic accounting & marketing and spend your evenings watching Creative Live and Adorama TV for information on the technical side of things.

As for dedication, well I suppose spending four years at school does show a certain type of dedication, but IMO, those four years could much better be spent learning and growing your business and gaining real world experience.

YMMV

Well, that's awesome you are always willing to learn even though you have so much experience already. I clicked the link and took a look at some of your recent work and well.. there's just nothing about it that sets it apart (in my humble opinion of course) I think that's more important than the work being technically perfect. Since it says: ​Tell me what you think I figured I would. I also think that it's very traditional, which is good for some people (probably the vast majority).

I guess I just proved your point then that the results will always be subjective Some people love my work, and others think it's awful. I don't have a huge body of work yet, though. And I'm always willing to try new things. Let me know what you think of mine when you can. Don't be too harsh, but be honest of your opinion of course!

Fair comment; I know that my biggest failing as a photographer is lack of creative 'vision', but I like to think that I provide my clients with what they want. You have some nice work on your 'site, and while it's not necessarily to my taste I can appreciate it, but I suspect that my client base is probably significantly older than yours; for whatever reason, probably 3/4 of my retail clients are in the 65+ range, and the more traditional, studio-style seems to appeal to them.

 

[sm4him]

On the extremely rare occasions in the past decade when I've needed to actually "hire" a photographer (or when I've helped someone else decide who to hire), I cannot remember ONE single instance when I even paid any attention to whether or not the person had a Photography degree.
The biggest factors in making my/our decision were:

1. Portfolio/Body of Work. A person may have NO formal training but do excellent work; conversely, a person may have a degree and maybe even some technical proficiency but not produce anything I'd want to hang on my wall.
Portfolio is at least 90% of the decision-making process for me. Education is 0% of the process.
2. Price. Assuming the work is what I like, can I afford them? Can I really "afford" to go with someone "cheaper?" (Recognizing that "cheaper" might also mean lower-quality prints, less time spent on quality edits, etc) If it's just, say, pictures of ME to give my mom, I'll probably go with cheaper. If it's a wedding photographer for my son (which I don't foresee a need for anytime soon!!), I'm going to get the very best I can possibly afford.
3. Personality/Attitude--Do I "click" with this person? Do I like the way they handle themselves? Do they seem confident and able to handle whatever a shoot might deal to them? Are they rude or arrogant? Do they seem like a pretty ethical person to me?
4. Contract. What are the terms of the contract?

My point is, there are a lot of things I might consider when hiring a photographer, but education isn't likely to be one of them. Therefore, I'd make the argument that it isn't all that important to have a degree IN photography.
I DO think it's good to educate yourself though--going beyond what you can learn on your own and participating in workshops, classes, seminars, etc. are great ways to really increase your technical expertise or even find new areas of photography you might want to offer services in.

If I were going to get a degree, it would be in Business. Oh, look, I HAVE one of those!

 

[KmH]

I paid $400 for 11 shots and a 1.5 hour session with a photographer with 8 years of experience and a degree. I paid this amount because I respected her way of doing business and work.

Is this the photographer that didn't bother with a contract, a model release signed by you, made no effort to protect her copyrights, and supplied you with the Raw files?

None of that is good business.

If she is using images of people made in private in her portfolio to promote her 'business'. but has no written contract or valid model releases on file, I sure hope she has a good attorney on retainer.
A Digital Photographer's Guide to Model Releases: Making the Best Business Decisions with Your Photos of People, Places and Things
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ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography




As mentioned, if you want to have a viable retail or commercial photography business a business/marketing (MBA) degree is likely more worth having than a MFA degree.

 

[keyseddie]

Fine art degree majoring in photography is not just about photography. A lot has to do with understanding and appreciating fine art and the history as well. There isn't as much practical photography as one would have wished. However it provides a deeper understanding of how art is being defined.

Excellent advice. If you wish to be a photographic artist you need to have a solid foundation in art. However there are a lot of photographers out there who are not artists who make a good living in photography. There are also a ton of really talented artists that can't make a living because they don't know how to run a business.

I have two masters degrees. I purchased one for my daughter and one for my son. They were paid for with my cameras and my talent as an artist, as all else I own was purchased.
Like tirediron, I'm still learning. I did it by apprenticing with a top commercial guy and a top wedding guy. I got them coffee, loaded film, learned lighting ratios,rushed to the 4 hr lab with transparency film to process, cleaned their toilets and learned how to do the nuts and bolts of photography and learned the business aspects before there was even any thought about becoming an artist. Fast forward to now. Buy a camera on Monday and learn to make a watermark over the weekend. Now you have the word photography in your name and you're in business. If it was that easy everyone would be a photographer. Oh, wait...everyone is.

The school of hard knocks is the best one for learning the business and art of photography. Fortunately for the talented ones and not so fortunate for the wannabes is that your images themselves define your work, along with integrity, a strong work ethic and business acumen.

 

[mmaria]

What I have to say here isn't gonna help anyone, but I just needed to vent a bit. Thank you!

I spent 17 years in school. It ruined everything good in me (not really everything but you get the point) I would never go to school related to photography. I cherish it and keep it away from everything that isn't enjoying in it. I have a luxury to do that. I don't do it for living, I do it for me.

For you... I guess, simple, I just don't see the need for doing it, but go for it if you'd like!

 

[rexbobcat]

I wouldn't get a Masters in Photography. You won't make anymore money if you do, and you won't learn any more about the craft than you could from assisting established photographers and practicing. And that option is a lot cheaper too.

If you want to learn how to do photography you would probably be benefited more by undergraduate classes as well.

Otherwise you're just paying for someone in the graduate program to deem whether or not your thesis project is "art" enough for you to get a piece of paper.

 

[weepete]

If you want it go for it. It probably won't enhance your buisness directly but it may open some avenues and give you a different way of looking at things, or at least an ability to look at things in a different way if you want.

Never in my life have I considered more information a bad thing.

 

[Designer]

The things people CAN learn in school often turns out to be NOT the things one assumed would be taught.

Learning art of any sort could be of value in the long run if you can apply it to the art of photography. Without knowing the curriculum of a photography degree program, I cannot comment on the possibility that what you learn there will help you with a photography business. Since photography is a combination of art and technical knowledge, then adding all that into creating a business means a multi-disciplinary approach. If the college teaches a multi-diciplinary program, then it will probably be a good thing.

 

[Rob99]

I skimmed this thread but, I have a mfa in photography from scad. I teach at a post secondary level.

The one and only reason I can think of to have a graduate degree in photography is if you want to teach. Trust me, you don't want to teach ha.

 

[Light Guru]

The only reason to get a masters in photography is if you plan on teaching photography at a college level.

 

[kundalini]

[h=2]Anyone here have a (higher level) degree in Photography?

[/h]Probably doesn't count, but yes, I do.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

if you're going to start a business, it would probably be wise to know how to business...

That's a good point. Business degrees are very useful, not only for photography

A business degree is useful so you can get a job when you don't make it as a photographer.
You should also minor in marketing, to make you more attractive to a future employer.

 

[elizpage]

I have 30+ years of hands-on experience and have attended many seminars and workshops, and am always willing to learn. From anyone. A degree in photography? Yeah... sure... okay. As soon as someone can explain to me how the final exam will be graded. Seriously... photography is an art. You can teach the mechanics of lighting, exposure, etc and you can teach compositional theory but at the end of the day, the results are purely subjective.

I would submit that the degree had little, or more likely nothing to do with your decision about which photographer to hire, and attitude and presentation did. If you want to spend money on a photographic education, then take business and entrepreneurship training, basic accounting & marketing and spend your evenings watching Creative Live and Adorama TV for information on the technical side of things.

As for dedication, well I suppose spending four years at school does show a certain type of dedication, but IMO, those four years could much better be spent learning and growing your business and gaining real world experience.

YMMV

Well, that's awesome you are always willing to learn even though you have so much experience already. I clicked the link and took a look at some of your recent work and well.. there's just nothing about it that sets it apart (in my humble opinion of course) I think that's more important than the work being technically perfect. Since it says: ​Tell me what you think I figured I would. I also think that it's very traditional, which is good for some people (probably the vast majority).

I guess I just proved your point then that the results will always be subjective Some people love my work, and others think it's awful. I don't have a huge body of work yet, though. And I'm always willing to try new things. Let me know what you think of mine when you can. Don't be too harsh, but be honest of your opinion of course!

Fair comment; I know that my biggest failing as a photographer is lack of creative 'vision', but I like to think that I provide my clients with what they want. You have some nice work on your 'site, and while it's not necessarily to my taste I can appreciate it, but I suspect that my client base is probably significantly older than yours; for whatever reason, probably 3/4 of my retail clients are in the 65+ range, and the more traditional, studio-style seems to appeal to them.

And mine are almost all under the age of 30 (with the exceptions of the 50th anniversary) so have a different demographic we are targeting. That's awesome you are able to do that. I bet you get a lot of business! I wish I had my own studio to work in. Do you have your own, or do you rent? What is the protocol for that sort of thing?

 

[elizpage]

if you're going to start a business, it would probably be wise to know how to business...

That's a good point. Business degrees are very useful, not only for photography

A business degree is useful so you can get a job when you don't make it as a photographer.
You should also minor in marketing, to make you more attractive to a future employer.

Who said I won't? Or did you mean "you" in a rhetorical sense?

Right now, photography isn't my primary gig and I never intend for it to be unless I were to get a degree for it. I might be interested in teaching it at a university level though.

 

[elizpage]

I skimmed this thread but, I have a mfa in photography from scad. I teach at a post secondary level.

The one and only reason I can think of to have a graduate degree in photography is if you want to teach. Trust me, you don't want to teach ha.

Why not? Is teaching not rewarding?

I was considering the MFA program at SCAD. How was it?