So I Wanna Be a Photographer

brklynside

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After drowing in a career I dislike for the past six years, I'm finally ready to make some sort of plunge. I'm using business school as a safety, but, in all honesty, I'd love to make a go at is a photographer/photojournalist. With my only training being an Intro. to B&W class at the School of Visual Arts, how should I go about furthering this? Should I get an undergrad degree (already have one in sociology)? Should I buy a digital camera (still using/learning the trusty Canon EOS ElanIIe)? Should I take a workshop?

Before plunging into corporate America, I'd love to see if this photography thing can happen.

Any thoughts, advice, warnings, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

A man can dream.....
 
I'm in the same boat.

To make money you need to have logistical business sense. No one is going to teach you your creativity at school, so you either have it or not. I'd say learn the ins and outs of photography on your own and concentrate on business in school. I was just having this conversation with a professional photographer yesterday. I was asking how the market is for photographers. He said he knows some very talented photographers that aren't making anything because they don't have the business sense of which jobs to take, which ones not to....how to be efficeint, how to pay the company bills, etc. On the other hand, he also knows some average photographers that are making good money because they have good business sense. Remember, it's a business.

One thing I've found out it to shoot, shoot, shoot. Practice and get better and invest in good equipment. Wedding photogs, portrait photogs, commericial photogs and product photogs all pretty much use medium format. Really the only professionals using 35, or similar resolution digital, are journalists and artists...neither of which make much money at it.
 
Thanks.

Perhaps an MBA will actually create a safety net (one that'll drop me 100k into debt) financially in the long run as well as help further the photo career. Not a bad combination.

Ok, at the end of this month I'm due my yearly bonus. It should free up maybe $1000 that I'm willing to drop on photography equipment.

Here's what I've got right now:
--Canon EOS ElanIIe Camera
--28-80 lens that came with camera
--50mm/1.8 Canon lens
--70-300 Sigma lens (kinda sucks)

I can't decide what I should do next: get a digital camera (if so, how much will I need to spend for quality), pick up one or two new lenses for my Canon....something else?

Aside from just strolling around the city and snappin' random pics, I do a lot of concert photography. However, I want something that'll just help round out what I've got.

Thoughts?
 
Well, MBA's aren't what they were 10 years ago. There are a ton of out of work MBAs right now. So just get a good solid foundation....no need to get 100K in to debt.

Second, what kind of photography do you want to do? If you want to get paid, I'd say go with medium format...you can then go with a digital back if you want. I have a 35mm SLR and Olympus digital and have been looking for ways of making money without investing in medium format and specialty equipment...and I just can't figure it out. Every where I turn they are using medium format. Newspapers are generally ok with 35 mm, but magazines usually require medium.
 
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lemme see if i've figured out how to display a photo....
 
You could go to school for journalism.

Look for a job in a small lab that does custom and pro work.
This is going to be the junk work – you could network with the customers (kiss butt)

An internship at a newspaper or magazine – lots of butt kissing
 
Do a lot of photographers go to school for Journalism? I assume a lot of photojournalist do.

Whenever I've brought up additional education to photographers, I'm always met with, "don't go to school, just continue taking pictures."

In any event, what are the better schools for photojournalism?

Thanks all.
 

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