Michael |
High school preparation could someone tell me please how a person gets into a career of photography? i'm writing a research paper so far entitled "Stepping Stones of a Photographer’s Education". I would appreciate any help you could give me in any of the following areas: 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) 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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Michael A. Bielat |
Some quick information: 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. - 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 specific fields through which you can direct your major towards. Some common fields are: - 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! - 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) Other than that, LLC (limited liability corporations) are popular with photography businesses.
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Michael A. Bielat |
I did the whole rags to riches so to speak. I am only 24 and started my company when I was 22. 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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Michael |
hey thanx that helps quite a bit! that's exactly what i've been looking for! so are you saying that it really doesn't matter if you go to school as long as you can market yourself and know how to take good pictures? also, what was all that about DBA? I didn't quite get that. thanx, that was good advice, that helps me with my research paper. michael PS. is your middle name Alan?
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