Scholarships or Grants?

Meeskephoto · Oct 31, 2013

Hey guys, I am a photography student and I am really trying to put together a good kit and maybe a photo trip over Christmas break, I was wandering if anyone knew of any grants or scholarships available for photo students so I could fund something of the sort? Even competitions or anything where I could earn some photographic bucks.

rexbobcat · Oct 31, 2013

Meeskephoto said:
Hey guys, I am a photography student and I am really trying to put together a good kit and maybe a photo trip over Christmas break, I was wandering if anyone knew of any grants or scholarships available for photo students so I could fund something of the sort? Even competitions or anything where I could earn some photographic bucks.

Indiegogo
Kickstarter

Usually with grants and scholarships, the organization funding ten wants something in return.

Hence, they're granting you money for a specific and substantial project

KmH · Oct 31, 2013

I checked the NEA - National Endowment for the Arts - for individuals they only have

[h=3]Translation Projects[/h]Translation Projects enable recipients to translate work from other languages into English. Non-matching grants are for $12,500 or $25,000, depending upon the artistic excellence and merit of the project.
Deadline: Dec 9, 2013
Notification: Aug 2014
Earliest Start Date: Nov 1, 2014 - See more at: http://arts.gov/grants/apply-individuals#sthash.ZYTCEVEc.dpuf

If you applied now, it's not likely you could get a scholarship or a grant until sometime around the middle of 2014, if that soon.
Do you have any experience writing scholarship or grant proposals? It's usually a competitive process.
Poorly prepared proposals/applications usually get put in the round file.

Be aware, TPF does not allow crowd funding links like Indiegogo, and Kickstarter.

Meeskephoto · Nov 1, 2013

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I am somewhat familiar with writing grants, I did one in high school for a senior project. I will have to look into what you have suggested, maybe get on Google bit more. It would be really helpful to earn some sort of side money to support my photography stuff because it is quite the expensive hobby/profession.

KmH · Nov 1, 2013

Actually photography is a relatively inexpensive hobby and profession.

Check out how much a set of good golf clubs are, and how much greens fees are.
About $2200 for a regular set of Taylor Made brand golf clubs, $2800 for the Tour Pro grade stuff.
$200 for a carry bag, $100 - $200 for golf shoes, $25 for a golf glove, $30 to $75 for a dozen golf balls.

Tiller · Nov 1, 2013

KmH said:
Actually photography is a relatively inexpensive hobby and profession. Check out how much a set of good golf clubs are, and how much greens fees are. About $2200 for a regular set of Taylor Made brand golf clubs, $2800 for the Tour Pro grade stuff. $200 for a carry bag, $100 - $200 for golf shoes, $25 for a golf glove, $30 to $75 for a dozen golf balls.

Or just got to yard sales and buy everything you could need for under $50!

Meeskephoto · Nov 2, 2013

KmH said:
Actually photography is a relatively inexpensive hobby and profession.

Check out how much a set of good golf clubs are, and how much greens fees are.
About $2200 for a regular set of Taylor Made brand golf clubs, $2800 for the Tour Pro grade stuff.
$200 for a carry bag, $100 - $200 for golf shoes, $25 for a golf glove, $30 to $75 for a dozen golf balls.

Most hobbies are going to cost yuh if you pursue them. Photography is not the worst of it that's for sure. But as an insolvent college kid it's a little tough. Anything would be. I was pretty shocked when I first saw that pro lenses were in the $1,000 range, top end cameras $3,000 range, photoshop $300 bucks. Not saying I need all that but that is why I would ever classify it as any form of expensive.

However I could use some lenses and photoshop. tehe. That's why I'm perusing the web for some grants or scholarships.

The_Traveler · Nov 2, 2013

Your estimates for top end photo gear were low.

I think you need to be much more realistic when looking for a scholarship or grant. Typically these kinds of aid support proven or provable talent to do something specific.

The chances of finding a source of funds to buy equipment and fund a trip to take pictures for a student is immeasurably small unless you bring something very specific to the table that will make the project worthwhile.

KmH · Nov 2, 2013

Adobe has student pricing.
Students can get the entire CC suite of applications for $19.99 a month. Download Photoshop CC by joining Creative Cloud today | Adobe Photoshop CC
Non-students pay $19.99 a month for a single application, or $49.99 a month for the entire suite.

Meeskephoto · Nov 2, 2013

The_Traveler said:
Your estimates for top end photo gear were low.

I think you need to be much more realistic when looking for a scholarship or grant. Typically these kinds of aid support proven or provable talent to do something specific.

The chances of finding a source of funds to buy equipment and fund a trip to take pictures for a student is immeasurably small unless you bring something very specific to the table that will make the project worthwhile.

I am aware of how challenging it may be, and my low chances. Just thought it would be nice to know what my options are. Worth a shot.

KmH: oooohhhh that's a sweet deal, I'll have to check that out. When you pay by the month and you finish your subscription, do you get to keep the photoshop app or does it all go away?