I am thinking of giving up University to become a Photographer

[Bitter Jeweler]

*insert various face palm memes here*

 

[Photo Marksman]

Thank you all for your input, so what can I do while at university to work on my photography?

See if they have a photography club at school. Would be sweet if you could get access to a darkroom too. Carrying your camera around will attract the attention of other photo people or thieves...

Oh, my Pentax takes SDHC not film. Yes there was a model and photo club but I am scared of joining it because the president is not a nice person and we have some history.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

:roll:

 

[Trever1t]

I am thinking of giving up University to become a Photographer

followed by....

functions of the camera remain a mystery to me

Don't mean to be insulting but I joined this forum to learn from some real experienced photographers. Seems lately the popular threads are all persons without concept of reality....and their posts get 100's of responses while other serious threads go unanswered.

I understand youthful excitement but GET REAL!!!


take a cue, take the cotton from your ears and put it in your mouth. Read, learn, even dream but damn it, be realistic!

 

[KmH]

Thank you all for your input, so what can I do while at university to work on my photography?

If you're not a self-starter, self-employment is probably not for you.

You will have to sacrifice some of your social life and other interests to pursue this additional field of study.

Basically, you need to understand how a camera and lens works, how the exposure triad is used to control exposure, how a photograph works (visual image composition). The camera has several sub-systems you need to be familiar with including the light metering system and it's modes (usually 3), and the auto focus system with its various focus and area modes.

Then there is the sub-set of knowledge that involves photographic lighting using reflected, continuous, or strobed light using wired, optical, or radio triggering devices to synchronize the light with the camera.

You mentioned portraiture, so lighting and posing will be critical skills to acquire.

 

[Photo Marksman]

Thank you all for your input, so what can I do while at university to work on my photography?

If you're not a self-starter, self-employment is probably not for you.

You will have to sacrifice some of your social life and other interests to pursue this additional field of study.

Basically, you need to understand how a camera and lens works, how the exposure triad is used to control exposure, how a photograph works (visual image composition). The camera has several sub-systems you need to be familiar with including the light metering system and it's modes (usually 3), and the auto focus system with its various focus and area modes.

Then there is the sub-set of knowledge that involves photographic lighting using reflected, continuous, or strobed light using wired, optical, or radio triggering devices to synchronize the light with the camera.

You mentioned portraiture, so lighting and posing will be critical skills to acquire.

Can you give me some advice as to how to gain these skills? Perhaps books to read?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I can see the money you gave the university was well spent.

 

[Fujito]

If you have these connections then utilize them and build a portfolio.

Everyone and their mom wants to drop everything and become a photographer when they get their first SLR. I see it all the time on Facebook. The question is how do you differentiate yourself from everyone else? Photography is not all too different from writing. Every writer has a voice which is apparent throughout all of their writing. Similarly, photographers develop a style that makes them at least somewhat unique.

 

[Photo Marksman]

Sorry if I sound a bit weird but I am not a native speaker of english.

 

[Destin]

Subscribe to blogs. Do you have a gmail account? If so set up a google reader account, and then use it to keep up with a bunch of photography blogs that post good info.

Some of my favorites are:

DIYphotography.net
thephotoletariat.com
Fstoppers.com
strobist.blogspot.com

They all post a heap of useful information, and even a seasoned pro could learn something or appreciate some of the posts. There are a million more blogs/sites out there but these are some of the best.

 

[~Stella~]

Get a business/marketing degree (while working on improving your camera skills) so you can manage your photo business effectively if you decide to go that route. And should the photo thing not pan out, you still have a perfectly good, functional, degree to use.

 

[thingsIsee]

I am thinking of quitting my job and becoming a race car driver, (at 50 yrs old) what do you think.

Get your degree and learn as much from school, other people, and life – then as time goes by and you have been shooting and gaining experience and knowledge and $$ you can set up a studio take several hundred shots, improving every time, earn a little on the side, master lighting, exposure, posing, people skills, communication, business skills, and many other things too long to mention and then maybe you could be a photographer who can make a living at it maybe not.

Once in a while even a blind squirrel finds a nut

 

[molested_cow]

You are in a school.

See if there is photography major. If there is, take an intro course.

Seriously, one thing that education should be teaching isn't knowledge, but the ability to acquire it. That said, seems like you need more school, so stay and finish it.

There is no right or wrong to knowledge. Doesn't mean reading certain books or going through certain classes will make you an expert. Ultimately, you have to find your own ways to learn, because school only lasts so long before you realize there's no one to spoon feed you.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Ultimately, you have to find your own ways to learn, because school only lasts so long before you realize there's no one to spoon feed you.

That's why god created inter tube forums.

 

[Forkie]

...Unfortunately I have had no training in Photography and while I use the manual mode, focus manually sometimes, adjust the ISO, the Aperture and the Shutter Speed the other functions of the camera remain a mystery to me...

Yet you're willing to give up university to try and make money from photography?

DON'T DO IT!

Make photography your hobby and make it your goal to learn it in your spare time. Join a photography club, go out at weekends with your camera and explore it. It takes years to become a class photographer and not even all class photographers make money.

DO NOT quit university for this. You might as well quit university to built a lunar lander, since you know the same amount about it. Learn the basics, get to enjoy it, then work on your technique and ONLY THEN, should you even faintly consider it as a profession.

Edit: Start by taking photos of things you're interested in - Obviously, I don't know your interests, but some suggestions might be: Cars, Planes, Boats, Plants/Flowers, Birds, People, Buildings, Shapes and Colours, Landscapes, Live Bands - Combine photography with another of your interests and it'll make it much more fun to learn.

I love birds (I'm not a bird spotter though, got it?!), therefore I take a lot of photos of birds - obviously I want to take the best photos I can of them, so I will take a day out at the weekend now and again to improve my photos of just birds by trying out different settings, positions, times of day and seeing how this affects my photos, then when I start to see improvements, I apply the things I've learned to photographing other things.