What's the right partway to becoming a photographer?

[Aakajx]

I want to know where I should start, I want to become a professional on day and get paid for my photographs. I do know these things take time. I just don't know where to start from. I'd like to get a certificate but I have heard online courses are crap and not worth doing?

i have a professional photographer that will be teaching me the beginners guide into photography but I want to learn more so I can become a great photographer.

 

[Designer]

IMO, a certificate doesn't do what a fine portfolio will do.

You need connections. Yea, once in a while a job will simply drop into your lap, but those are pure luck, and I don't advise waiting around for luck.

Get a really fine portfolio, communicate with people who actually buy photographs, and learn the business side of it.

 

[Aakajx]

Yes but how do you learn ? I've read up on the internet and I've got a book. This forum is helpful but a lot of people have different opinions.

 

[pgriz]

If you're approaching it as an art form, then there's lots to learn from THAT perspective, including what is currently being exhibited in various galleries, and probably more importantly, WHY. If you're approaching it as a business, then a different calculus needs to be in place - what niche are you going to be filling in the market, who are your potential customers, and why will you be their preferred/desired vendor? The first may be hugely satisfactory and rewarding, but with minimal or no income. The second could (potentially) be very lucrative, but you'll be dancing to the tunes of your clients. It truly is a rare person who can do both.

 

[robbins.photo]

First, beat a guy to death with his own shoes. Then present yourself and one of the bloody shoes to Steve5d and beg to become his padawan learner.

Lol, ok no, not really. In all seriousness though, I guess the first question to answer is what sort of photography career is it that your hoping for? Something in journalism, working for yourself and shooting weddings, family portraits, sports photography, etc..

I'm guessing that the many pro's who dwell here could probably give you more specific answers if they knew what type of photography career it is your interested in - me, I'm a dedicated amateur so my advice would be more from a general point of view as opposed to from personal experience, but I'm sure there are folks here more knowledgeable on the subject than I who could probably offer some advice/war stories.

 

[The_Traveler]

My guess is that everyone here who is a skilled photographer has spent hundreds of hours learning how to use his/her camera, read books on composition, looked at thousands of pictures of successful photographers of all genres, taken tens of thousands of pictures in every situation and edited thousands of pictures so they reach their potential.

Start by learning how to use your camera, know all the settings you need to use, take pictures of everything around you until you can get good acceptable pictures in any situation - or at least know the situations where you can't get good exposures.
At the same time start reading about composition.
At the same time, start looking at pictures and the critiques until you develop some idea of what a good picture is.

There is no short way.

 

[Aakajx]

I'd like to work for myself just doing family portraits, sports and wedding pictures. Are courses online worth doing?

 

[Tailgunner]

My guess is that everyone here who is a skilled photographer has spent hundreds of hours learning how to use his/her camera, read books on composition, looked at thousands of pictures of successful photographers of all genres, taken tens of thousands of pictures in every situation and edited thousands of pictures so they reach their potential.

Start by learning how to use your camera, know all the settings you need to use, take pictures of everything around you until you can get good acceptable pictures in any situation - or at least know the situations where you can't get good exposures.
At the same time start reading about composition.
At the same time, start looking at pictures and the critiques until you develop some idea of what a good picture is.

There is no short way.

I spend half my time taking pictures and the other half reading Lew's replies. Hopefully I'll be a professional one of these years

 

[The_Traveler]

I'd like to work for myself just doing family portraits, sports and wedding pictures. Are courses online worth doing?

It's really impossible to give you answers to specific questions about your future or career because none of us, except you, know anything about your current equipment, your experience, your knowledge or your talent.

There is NO easy way and trying to take a single course or read a book will not get you there.

 

[jhnmoore]

I'd like to work for myself just doing family portraits, sports and wedding pictures. Are courses online worth doing?

Last year I started working for myself as a photographer doing family portraits and weddings. My chemistry degree wasn't much fun so I thought I would give it a shot while I'm young before settling for a life in the lab. I managed to rent a room that had been used as an office for a big shop next door. Not much to look at from the outside, but it's cheap and a decent size. Spent many hours doing up the inside. It's just one big room so I painted it all white, a section in the corner has a white floor for my studio area, nice sofa and chairs that a friend managed to get me for free, and I bought a fancy projector to show clients their pictures. Got a couple of studio lights and that was that.

That said, setting up a studio was the easy bit. There are a couple of decent studios in my area, so finding a niche is very important. I got half way through my renovation project when I had the realisation that it's all well and good putting a couple of flashes in a white room, but making it a profitable business is another thing. I wanted to sell a complete product, not just digital copies or prints, so I looked at the price of getting the prints framed by the shop up the road. It was way more than I was hoping. It was gonna put my costs up a heck of a lot. To cut a long story short I ended up buying a used morso guillotine, used cassese underpinner and a logan mat and glass cutter so I could make my own frames. Now I can make great quality frames at about 1/5th of the price I would pay my local framer. It keeps my prices very competitive, but still with a good margin, and my clients can get exactly what they want.

It's worked out well for me. I'm making more now than I would have as a chemist.

You can check out my wedding and studio photos here.

 

[snowbear]

Are courses online worth doing?

This may be a way to get a few basics like the exposure triangle and some composition types.

 

[Aakajx]

Thanks all. I'm not expecting to be a pro in a few months. I just want to know what I should do to become better, gain knowledge and become a great photographer. Do you need a certificate when you doing your own work?

 

[Gavjenks]

Then present yourself and one of the bloody shoes to Steve5d and beg to become his padawan learner.

I'm pretty sure the jedi would frown on randomly beating strangers to death with shoes.

@OP:
I would stop worrying about my exact professional goals if I were you, cause it's going to be awhile anyway. Just figure out a very rough idea of the sort of stuff you are interested in shooting, and practice it a whole bunch for now, without any particular end goal in mind for the immediate future. You don't even know if it's really for you yet anyway or how long it will take to get the knack for it, so just treat it like a hobby temporarily, I say.

If you are interested in eventually making money though, you will need to know how to shoot people. So be sure to make it a hobby of shooting photos of PEOPLE in particular. Not barns. But otherwise, yes. Just dive into it. Get a friend or spouse or whatever as a subject if you're shy. if you're really shy, read a book or three on composition and portraiture, then the friend. Then you can graduate onto portraits of neat looking people you meet on the street, or people from somewhere like ModelMayhem, or low-key "time for prints" gigs with acquaintances who might want something like senior portrait but don't have much money, and the like.

 

[jenko]

I'd like to work for myself just doing family portraits, sports and wedding pictures. Are courses online worth doing?

I'm in the US, so it may be completely different here from Australia.

Here, where I live in NC, if you want to pursue "commercial photography" --weddings, family, couples, standard portraits, sports, products, medical, etc. than you would go to a technical school. A two year program. The advantage is you build a portfolio in the process of earning your degree, the instructors are very well connected, there's a mandatory mentorship, and you learn the standard procedure for these types of shoots: lighting, posing, post-processing, etc.

Not to imply that every commercial photographer completes a program like this, but since you mentioned taking classes or finding a pathway, this would be the best bet in my area. Maybe your region has something similar?

 

[runnah]

This is how we become photographers stateside.