BetterPhoto Q&A
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Education

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December 15, 2005

If your daughter was able to pull a high GPA for two years, she can pull it for another two and get a Bachelor's Degree. That would be the wisest course of action.

If she is really interested in becoming a photographer, she should get her B.A. in Business or Marketing. The techniques of photography are fairly easily learned; it is the eye for photography that takes more effort and really cannot be taught as much as encouraged. If she has the raw talent, then she can develop it outside of a formal college program.

A business degree will be infinitely more marketable (employable) than a photography degree, and even if her dream is to become a full-time photographer it will be of more help. If she gets her MBA she can get a marketing job within the industry, make good money, and enjoy photography to her heart's content. But she is young and this is not the time for her to limit her horizons.

Look online here and order some of the books, or take an online class or two... but realize that unless you own your own studio and have a decent client base, or have an extensive collection of scenics you can sell, you'll be lucky to crack $30k a year in salary. It will be drudge work, too, and she'll most likely spend more time standing in a mall photographing kids on Santa's lap and less time enjoying the photography she loves. I know of no better way to kill a love for an avocation than to turn it into a vocation.

Most photographers who make a good living have a day job and their photography is a hobby/supplement to their income. Even Ansel Adams, perhaps the greatest photographer of all time, lived from paycheck to paycheck for most of his adult life, not finding financial security until his 50s.

The photography world is a dog-eat-dog world. Your daughter will be far better prepared for life if she has an education that allows her the financial freedom to pursue her dreams. If she's a great photographer and is the one in a million whose talent will make her rich early, then she has lost nothing by getting that business degree. If she's like most of the rest of us, that degree will mean the difference between struggling all her life and having a good life.

The best way to prepare for life is to have a Plan B in case Plan A doesn't work. If Plan A is to become a pro photographer, then get the 4-year Business degree, save a little $$, and go to New York for a year or two and try to break into the business. If it doesn't work out, then she can always get a job with that degree (Plan B) and enjoy photography.

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December 15, 2005

For myself I really puzzled over whether it was worth it to go to a Photography Program, when I first was looking into Photography as a Career. Photography schools are very expensive and then you also need all the equipment too.

What I did was phone around local photographers and interviewed them. At the time 100% of the ones I talked to told me that they were self taught. They told me that school would be a waste of my money. Also that Photography is all about trial and error and natural talent.

At first I wasn't sure if I agreed with them. There's just something about having that degree from a prestigious school. But my husband made a very good point when he said (I'm parapharsing here) Which school you went to means to a client that you can take pictures; what they really care about most is can you take the kinds of pictures they are looking for. Your portfolio shows your talent and ablilities to a client clear as day. Almost anyone can learn the theory of Photography, but how they apply that theory is what will set them apart as a great photographer. The latter can only come with, natural talent, practice and more practice built upon a good foundation of knowledge.

So here's what I decided on doing after much thought. I did a combination of school, and learnig from various books. I took some courses to understand all the basics of how light, film, and my camera all work together. I did this through correspondence from a school in New York. I could do this course while I worked PT and it was I think around $700 for the whole thing. (You have two years to complete it.) I learned a ton and was left with a fabulous foundation. At this point if I wanted I could have challenged the first year courses at one of the local Photography schools by showing them my portfolio. Which would have saved me a ton of money.

Ok, so that course left me with an excellent base to work from. What now? From there I bought books on advanced lighting, exposure, posing etc...
I also praticed alot. I wanted to do people photography, but I needed people to practice on. So I offered friends and family free photoshoots with prints at cost. With every shoot I got better, and had opportunties to experiment with the things I was learning from my books.

And presently I have a great knowledge of photography and just opened my own studio a few months ago. This Christmas I didn't advertise, but I kept getting calls. It was from word of mouth only!

So for me instead of spending beaucoup dollars on school; I was able to spend that money on film, cameras, lighting equip etc... that I needed.

I love to learn from books though and am very motivated. My sister is a smart girl, but for her, she knows that she learns better when motivated by a teacher. So everybody is different that way.

Secondly there is something to be said for the school setting as it provides a community of photograpers that one can learn and be inspired from. Better photo fills that void for me and I have also met alot of other photographers in my local area through the years.

Lastly, as your daughter progresses in her knowledge the equipment she will need to practice on is expensive. Studio lighting for example. Most schools have studios that they let the students use. So she can learn on the equipment before she has to buy it. Because I saved so much $$$ on tuition we could afford to buy that equipment ourselves. We are big into researching things (my husband actualy ended up learning about photography along with me. :) He's actually very good. I'm competitive, so he keeps me on my toes)

BTW the way I live now in Seattle, but orginally I'm from Vancouver, BC and there are a couple of excellent photography schools there. They may be a cheaper alternative if your daughter must live away from home anyway.

People come from all over the world to go to this school. It was one of the ones I was considering:
http://www.focalpoint.bc.ca/

I have been told that this school is the top one for commerical photography in Canada:
http://www.langara.bc.ca/

Anyhow I hope this helps you and your daughter. I can understand how tricky of a choice this can be.

Blessings,
Michelle

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December 15, 2005

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December 15, 2005

While I agree with John in that anyone entering this field (and it's very very competitive) should have some training in business, marketing, accounting, psychology, fine art, and business law. All of which can be studied as an undergrad. So, as John suggested, a broad undergraduate education is helpful for a lot of reasons, including preparing you to seek work in the industry whether as a wedding photographer, photojournalist, industrial photographer, portrait studio, etc. ad infinitm.

And, like any other field or profession, you can either starve or do extremely well. I've been fortunate throughout my career but it ain't always been easy either. If your daughter works hard, develops her skills and creativity, does well academically and shows versatility in her photographic work, although she'll have some dues to pay when she graduates, I'm reasonably certain that if she makes a strong effort, she'll land a gig that'll pay the rent and keep food on the table.
o
Also, as you may know, our industry has been changing significantly over the past several years (in my view both for the better and worse). A good solid 4 year degree helps one survive I think, on a number of levels and also leaves some maneuvering room in the event of a post-grad career change.

Among the advantages to a formal program in photography is to help instill some academic and creative disciplines, plus the advantge of having other students to interact with regarding your work and theirs.

As far as what school and reputation, quite honestly, people rarely ask me where I trained as a photojournalist. While I work for a major publication, I take freelance assignments, usually for commercial and advertising work. In most instances, a photographer is retained based on the strength of their portfolio and their abilities to carry out the concept someone has for the assignment. So, when someone asks me what school I went to, it's usually because like you, they're simply interested in finding out about various college level programs.

If your daughter decides to pursue this field, I very much recommend that she visit prospective schools, attend a photographic class or two at various levels, talk with other students, professors, academic advisors and someone in the school's placement office along with considering additional factors / criteria she might have before even applying.

If she finds a program that will teach her the fundamental technical photographic skills that she can build on in a program that seems to inspire and nurture creativity, maybe that's the program for her. If not, she's always got the right to change her mind, right?

Be well.
Mark Feldstein
"feldstein@attglobal.net"

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December 15, 2005

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December 20, 2005