BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: New Answers

High school preparation

Choosing a field to major in

High School education

Choosing a school (if at all)

Photography as a business (such as salary or what goes into a typical day)
or any thing else that is related to becoming a photographer

if you can think of anything else, that would be nice since I am not sure of all that goes into becoming one. thanks for the help in advance,

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February 27, 2007

First off, it takes a lot of hard work. Nothing is this world is easy. You could do what I did and have some degree (I am a software Engineer by day, also helps with Photoshop skills) where you major in and get a job in so you always have a steady paycheck, and have photography as a home-based business to make extra money. Or you could go all the way and make it your main one and only job.
- One can start after being formally educated in photography and went to school for it. A lot of great, talented photographers are even self taught. They basically started photography as a hobby and grew from there. All in all, if you are good at what you do then you will be successful if you market yourself properly.

- I know my High-School offered photography classes. I took the 2 they offered and then did an independent study for my third class in photography. From there I took photography classes in place of all my electives in college.
There are schools that really focus on Photography and other visual art. Do a google search and you will see some college names like "Hallmark" or "Brooks" University. A lot of other colleges do have Fine Arts majors and you can learn there.

- There are specific fields through which you can direct your major towards. Some common fields are:
Advertising, Aerial, Commercial, Digital imaging, Editorial, Fashion, Fine Art, Forensic, Architectural, Industrial, Medical, Photo Chemistry, Photojournalism, Portrait Photography, Scientific Photography or stock photography and more...
I would suggest a minor in business to help with you on the other side of having a business. Finances, accounting and marketing will be more important. You will find that taking the photograph is the easy part! It will be getting clients, having them keep coming back and then having to budget your profits and work to actually pay the bills and be able to eat on top of that...
It all depends on what you feel passionate about or what you feel you could use and market the most. Find your niche and that will tell you what direction to venture off into.

- My typical day involves me working at the place I am employed at designing software. The place is small and they are really cool so if I get a phone call on my cell phone they don't mind. The calls would be potential clients who I could sometimes go a week or two without any hits. They tell me what they want and we schedule a meeting and sign a contract and get the money. 99% of my clients are for weddings. No matter what area you live in, from bankrupt cities to Hollywood, people get married! So there will always be a market for your services, if you are reasonably priced for the area when starting up and GOOD!
- I also found that my area has a demand for sports photography like sports leagues, karate schools and stuff like that.

- Find the demand, address the demand and you will get jobs. Have a good easy to navigate website (I like designing the Flash websites personally but have to scale things down to ensure everyone who looks at it doesn't need popcorn or to install 15 things, or buy a new computer to view it. That was a bummer).

- People are concerned with what type of job you do, how reliable you are and most importantly what you charge! They don't care much about the other stuff.

- You would need equipment too. Depending on what type of company you want will determine how you get the money for equipment. I have a DBA for my business (stands for doing business as)
It is the most simple and basically allows people to write checks for my company name and not just myself.

Other than that, LLC (limited liability corporations) are popular with photography businesses.

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February 28, 2007

I booked jobs (a hockey league and karate school) before I had the digital SLR / just film and before I had studio lighting.

I charged my equipment and after the jobs, had the money to pay off the equipment. From there, I kept some profit while used the rest to make my equipment better or to get more essential stuff for the business.

Hope this helps. Best of luck with what you do.

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February 28, 2007

PS. is your middle name Alan?
i think I saw your website.

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March 01, 2007