Photography School

jonathon94 · Mar 29, 2012

I have a current issue, and I hope I posted this in the right forum. I currently have a 2.0 gpa and am a senior in college. I was a bit of a late bloomer in determining what career path I wanted to go into. I live in georgia but having issues find a tech school that provides photography as a Course but also seems to post Student Work that I feel best shows the past students' work. Do you guys have any ideas as to what school I could look into. It has to be a tech school as we are not financially strong and as you can tell by my gpa, I will probably not get a scholarship and I'm already looking into loans.

DiskoJoe · Mar 29, 2012

To be honest and very serious with you I would advise you to retake some English courses. Your grammar is poor in a written text form and this will come back to haunt you for a life time. No matter what type of business you get into you will need to be able to have very effective communications in oral and written form. This is even more crucial when one goes into private business. You are the business and have to present yourself in a manner that could assist you best in financing your endeavors.

Tee · Mar 29, 2012

In state or out of state?

2WheelPhoto · Mar 29, 2012

What town in Georgio are you in may help people to suggest a school house.

I attend USF in Tampa, its a state university and its a fraction of the cost of the degree mill "Art Institute"

Mrgiggls · Mar 29, 2012

I have to be honest here....a young person trying to decide on how they will feed and clothe themselves for life should probably not choose Photography unless they are EXTREMELY passionate about the art and are 10,000% committed.

If it's what you truly live and breathe, go for it. You'll find a way.

But the best advice I can think of (so right there, you should have low expectations), is get a college degree that you can rely on to keep you employed and off of beans, rice and Ramen noodles. Absolutely keep shooting and loving photography and if circumstances allow, make your hobby something more. But with todays economy and job market, unless you are a trust-fund baby, an artistic profession is a risky endeavor.

EDIT: Also, if you enroll in a tech school you won't qualify for most Government grants. And as my roommate is finding out: loans+Accociates Degree from a tech school does not always = a job that will pay the bills and the loan payments. An accredited university degree (even associates) carries more weight in the job market.

cgipson1 · Mar 29, 2012

Pleae read this and dont make the same mistake!

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...000-00-free-700-00-nikon-thoughts-please.html

APHPHOTO · Mar 29, 2012

I'm not sure what the previous poster was getting at as far as needing to take an english course. Didnt see anything wrong with what he wrote.

pgriz · Mar 29, 2012

Charlie, he didn't think that he was making a mistake. Right up to the end of the thread.

Jonathon, the photography is a trade. If you want to earn a living, you either work for a salary, or you work your own business. If salary, you need to know who would employ you and then pick up the credentials that would help you get the job. If you are thinking of owning your own business (either retail or as a photographer for hire), you need to know business first as it will be 80% of your time, with photography being maybe 20%. Working for a salary is easier than working your own business, but you have very little control over your life. Working your own business can be very stressful, and you have just a little bit more control over your life. I gotta tell you, there are easier ways to put bread on the table.

cgipson1 · Mar 29, 2012

APHPHOTO said:
I'm not sure what the previous poster was getting at as far as needing to take an english course. Didnt see anything wrong with what he wrote.

It does not follow the basic rules of grammar for one thing. It is probably ok for an informal communication here, but would never cut it "in the real world"!

Tee · Mar 29, 2012

What about a degree that encompasses photography but is not the sole job such as media, public relations, communications, and marketing/ advertising? I retire from job #1 in a year and am going to finish my degree in marketing and take a couple photography courses as electives. That way I'll get some formal training in photography but the bread on the table will be from marketing.

jonathon94 · Mar 29, 2012

Thank you everyone for your replies, and in such a fast fashion

. I may have shown bad grammar but that is not because of my writing skills per se, more that I was limited in time at the start of this post. I see everyone is suggesting to stay away from photography because of the poor economy, just how bad is it? Mrgiggls, I was not aware that tech schools are not covered in government grants, I will have to look into that. My only other choice is a field in computers, although I'm not sure which field to enter. Computers are more or less a natural talent of mine but I hate 'Foundation Courses' and would prefer to work with computers rather then learning classes that I doubt would help me.

cgipson1 · Mar 29, 2012

Jonathon.. if you are "very financially strong"... I would suggest a real school, if you can find one that will take you with that GPA. Tech school would be a waste of time. A four year Art degree won't necessarily help you be a better photographer.. but it would expose you to a lot of concept and ideas that would help. If you work harder at it, you can even bring that GPA up!

jonathon94 · Mar 29, 2012

Oh dear! I apologize, I seemed to have made a mistake during the writing of my original post. I mean't to say that we are not financially strong.

cgipson1 · Mar 29, 2012

jonathon94 said:
Thank you everyone for your replies, and in such a fast fashion . I may have shown bad grammar but that is not because of my writing skills per se, more that I was limited in time at the start of this post. I see everyone is suggesting to stay away from photography because of the poor economy, just how bad is it? Mrgiggls, I was not aware that tech schools are not covered in government grants, I will have to look into that. My only other choice is a field in computers, although I'm not sure which field to enter. Computers are more or less a natural talent of mine but I hate 'Foundation Courses' and would prefer to work with computers rather then learning classes that I doubt would help me.

Why do you think knowing the foundations of something like computers won't not help you? You have to be able to walk before you can run!

Tech schools are covered in government financing.. they also provide about 50% of the defaulted student loans, since they don't teach anything worthwhile.. and you cant get a job after you graduate (so you can't pay those loans off, can you!)

cgipson1 · Mar 29, 2012

jonathon94 said:
Oh dear! I apologize, I seemed to have made a mistake during the writing of my original post. I mean't to say that we are not financially strong.

Did you read that thread I posted about the $46,000.00 Associates Degree? You really need to!