Mother telling me to forget photography

[2WheelPhoto]

Wish I'd have listened to my parents back in the day

 

[skieur]

These people who change every 5-7...why is it? Poor choices? Boredom? Unhappiness? Disillusionment?

No, it is like riding a wave! At one point television production was big and I was making a lot of money from that area: producing, directing, shooting, script writing, etc. Then computer animation was popular with companies and organizations and I got into that, profitably. Public relations became important later aind I benefitted from that trend as well. Multi-language media became popular and that was fine too, because I could work in several languages.

In terms of learning: I had a background in photography, learned audio and television production, multi-media productions and presentations, and I picked up several languages and writing skills at university, so I went with the flow so-to-speak in terms of the trends and as a result had fun as well as made money.

skieur

 

[Ballistics]

Go to school for an in demand field and take photography as your electives. That's what I am doing.

 

[Forkie]

...I don't want to sound rude, but you've had your entire life to consider a career...

Why don't people reflect over their lives?...

I think that's a little harsh - he's only 18. My mother decided she wanted to be a nurse when she was 35, after after about 15 years of accounting.

My whole life, I wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force. My dad was in the Force, so were both my grandfathers, so the background was there. Then when I was 16, I discovered beer, girls and the drums, so I went to Music college. After that, I found that getting a paid job as a drummer was nigh-on impossible, so did various admin and customer service jobs for 10 years. During that time, I turned 24 and remembered I wanted to be a pilot, looked into it and found I was too old to join the Air Force. That was the end of that.

I'm now 28 and found my photography job 18 months ago and at the moment, I love it and hope it's the first rung of the ladder to better, more creative photography jobs, maybe even my own business one day. But who knows, in 5 years time, I might come across something else that catches my interest and decide to do that instead, or decide that actually, I'd like to keep photography as a separate hobby to my work.

There is no deadline for deciding what you want to do and there is no rule about how long you should do it for. It is not irresponsible not to have decided yet and people should be free and flexible, particularly with looming end of the financial stability of the universe, to try different things and build up different skills so you can adapt to whatever your working life may (or may not) bring.

 

[Village Idiot]

So i'm 20 next month and my mum just had 'that talk' with me about how i need to think about a career now and pay rent, which is understandable. I was planning on doing a 2 year photography course at college, but she says i won't get a career from it so theres no point and i should just look for a full time ICT sort of job and forget about my hobbies. I feel like my life is over and im being forced into becoming a robot working for the man in something i don't want to do forever but i know this is what most people do and i shouldnt complain, just want peoples thoughts on what i should do?

I had a plan that i could do the course and get a part time job aswell ( the course is 4 days a week )

Tea bag the *****!!!

I'll go back to reading the rest of the thread now...

 

[Compaq]

The truth sometimes is hard to hear. That is just my personal opinion, of course, what I wrote, and I'm sticking with it. I'm 20 years old now. Perhaps we do things differently in Norway than in the states or any other part of the world, but staying home working to earn money and find out what you want to do, that's just being lazy IMO. I probably wanted to be a pro football player when I was little, perhaps even until I turned 12 or something. Our mind's changing, and many people want a change of scenery after many years in the same job.

Now, I don't know about the OP, or you or any others, but I've always taken school seriously. It may be unfair, but I really can't stand those people who say "school is pointless, I don't need trigonometry, who cares about history" and skips class after class. I get angry and irritated when I think of them, honest! I've done my best in school, chosen those subjects I think I will enjoy and those I will need later when I start my education. In our equivalent to high school, I chose maths, chemistry and physics. Guess what, I found that chemistry really was something I enjoyed doing and now I'm just starting my second year of my bachelor's degree in chemistry, planning to go on to my master's in two years, maybe even further - only time will tell.

I'll claim that I, and everyone else, have had the possibility to think and reflect over what one is interested in since 8th grade and on up to (Norwegian standards) 13th grade (third year high school). I chose to start directly on my education, and I'm really glad I did. Six years I've thought about what I wanted to do, and natural sciences popped up each and every time. I ended with chemistry.

The heart of it, I believe, is that most people are not reflecting over their lives. What's their purpose, what are their dreams (not new hobbies). You must go deep! I know what I want in my life, age 20. I dare say that's better (assuming of course it's good to know what one want) than most. I have a couple of hobbies I enjoy, photography seems to be manifesting nicely. I also enjoy traditional wet shaving, hiking and living in the nature, fishing and all that stuff. There's only one thing I don't have in life I wish I had.

That's my opinion, anyway...

 

[Ballistics]

...I don't want to sound rude, but you've had your entire life to consider a career...

Why don't people reflect over their lives?...

I think that's a little harsh - he's only 18. My mother decided she wanted to be a nurse when she was 35, after after about 15 years of accounting.

He's 20.

 

[spinningbarefoot]

Are you good, and do you truly enjoy photography? Do you see yourself doing it for a living? Go ahead!

-foto~phreak~4eva-

 

[Forkie]

...I don't want to sound rude, but you've had your entire life to consider a career...

Why don't people reflect over their lives?...

I think that's a little harsh - he's only 18. My mother decided she wanted to be a nurse when she was 35, after after about 15 years of accounting.

He's 20.

Ah ok. My point still stands.

 

[Nickhadad]

If you have serious talent go for it. If you want something bad enough you'll make something out of it. Whether you're serious enough and have the resilience to withstand such a harsh industry is a whole different animal. The main reason for going to art school is to make connections, get opinions from aspiring artists and teachers, and gain motivation. If you stray off into a different field, yes you can pursue photography as a hobby but it's going to be hard to find time to really sit down and work on it to make it your main focus. In school your main focus would be photography making it hard to slip off that path. I agree with the others though in having a backbone. Don't just go all out and then when **** hits the fan have no income. Remember art school is expensive and the years following its completion are going to be working to pay off your debts.

 

[Corto]

Join the military, save up your money. Then do whatever you want.

Everything has a price. How you decide to pay for it is up to you and no one else.

 

[MLeeK]

More resurrecting long dead posts?

 

[thereyougo!14 2]

I'm with those that say start earning some money. Put plenty aside so you can get the best start in the future with good equipment. My career isn't photography but it is something that took me 20 years to turn into a career that used to be a hobby. Having a real life before living the dream can help you live the dream in a more realistic and focused way.

 

[Postman158]

Thanks for the replies, guys. This is so hard, money is tight and i need to help out but i don't want to waste my creative side anymore and just wake up one day retired sat in my garden thinking i didn't do **** with life because i didn't take a chance.

If money is tight, and you plan on going to college anyways, do like others have said; get a degree in business or graphic design or something, and learn photography on the side. I have my degree in Fire Science, and learned everything I know about photography from numerous self bought books, the photo forum, and just talking to local photographers. You'd be better off having a degree in something rather than a certificate from a photography trade school you know? You can get an AA/AS degree in the same amount of time as that 2 year photography school. The photography is just the icing on the cake, if you're passionate enough about photography, you'll make it work on top of your degree.

 

[GrantH]

Get any sort of job that interests you. I can tell you by experience, college isn't always the answer. When I entered college in 05 I didn't know what major I wanted to go into but I enjoy engineering type stuff, mechanics. I got into the courses, hated the details. I got into Geography and absolutely love it. I've been done for a year and STILL don't have a job. Self-employment may be your greatest option if you are self driven, already skilled, and have PEOPLE SKILLS! What type of photography do you enjoy? Portrait and artistic work are saturated in most areas but that's not to say you can't do it. If she wants money, make money. When you make money at your day job, make more money on the side. The point when your side work doubles your day to day work...quit your day to day work. Or keep it. You may enjoy the break from your "hobby" career. It may even be a position you can get your own business known.

Work at AutoZone and want to shoot cars? Let those people know that come in looking for older car parts.

Work at BestBuy? People come in asking questions? Tell them you can offer lessons for so much an hour for basics, and show them around their camera.

Work for a studio. Portrait work is daily. Learn the biz, start your own, do better than your mentor/boss.

If you want to make money in photography, do it. It may not be easy, but it's not impossible.