I'm still only a freshmen at high school, but I've been thinking about my career options. and what exactly do I have to do to become a professional photographer? like do i have to go to art collage? how long will it take? what type of photography is there to do and how much will it pay? if you can anser any of these questions, please feel free too!! Interesting question. Depends on what kind of photographer, and what kind of talent you have. Before I start, I have seen so many photojournalist go into studio photography because they just didn't have the right eye.
There are different kinds of photographers. Some work on great technique, others want to tell a story though image which requires dynamic creativity at a moments notice.
The aim is always a great photo, great composition, and such, but the best way to find out what you might like is just pick up any old camera and start shooting. If you see something coming out, try to find a good entry-level camera to expand your skills.
I would recommend a good old fashion 35 mm SLR (I started with a Pentax K1000-as manual as you can get), with little automatic features, manual focus and a variety of cheap lens and filters for various effects.
If you decide to take it to the next step, take some photography classes in high school and college. If you want to go photojournalism, you are going to need your undergraduate degree to even get an interview.
Most new photographers work for free, or hardly anything. Most start out shooting the local sporting events, and going on's for the idea of giving or selling to the local news for credit. Once you build a portfolio, you will also build a client base that will one day hopefully start paying you for your endeavors.
Talent and experience says the most. Well-rounded is ideal. But it all starts with the interest.
The other part is to network with the local photographers in your area. If you shoot football games, you will meet a few shutterbugs. They will give you some ideas about what you can expect in selling shots and getting jobs at various newspapers. At least for you, most local newspapers are so cheap, they welcome new people for just the savings. I am a Freshman in High school too and I also want to be a professional photographer. I am not possitive but I think you have to go to College for 4 years but I AM NOT SURE! Good luck! Art college may or may not pay off. It could be a convenient place to learn what you need, but hardly necessary.
First, you need an "eye." You need to learn to recognize, and create, compositions that are striking.
Second, you need to understand photography. You need a camera that has full manual controls, and you need to know the theories behind the operation of those controls. The interrelation between depth of field, aperture settings, and shutter speeds. Circles of confusion. Zoom ratios, color temperature, filter factors.
Third, you need some business sense. Professional means you get paid, which means finding a niche and working the market.
Go to your local mega book store. Buy a couple of books of artsy photos and study them. Buy a book on photography, something that gets fairly technical towards the end. And buy a book on running a home business. Spend $100, actually READ the material, and you'll be in a position to start.
Much cheaper than college! you dont need an "eye". composition and so forth can be learnt. just like maths and languages........
To be a professional you need the technical ability with a camera to always get the shot/shots, the artistic abillity to record or create as per a brief. Business and marketing skills are paramount to eat.......Combine the above and you get repeat business and word of mouth, add an on-going marketing and business plan and your in business. It is best to go to photography school if you want to become a professional photographer. It doesn't have to take 4 years. At the Art Institute it takes less than 2 years to get an associate's and 3 years to get a bachelor's. There are many different types of photography to choose from... commercial, wedding, portrait, nature, fashion, photojournalism, fine art, etc. The pay depends on who you work for.
Best of luck :o) Rochester Technical Institute has one of the top schools for this.
Randolph tech is also good.
I would start at high school and see if they have anything, or when you graduate try your local community college as a starter program.
Most arts schools will make you train as a Multi-Media Artist which will allow you to have a very wide view of commercial arts, including computer graphics, videography, photography, and maybe things like charcoal, oil, watercolor, sculpture, and even metalworking! And do'nt forget Technical Writing.
While this may seem like a distraction, these other skills can make you much more creative and thus a better problem solver, very useful when you have to create a new angle for a clients product.
These skills can also be useful in case the photography job market gets thin, you could use them to fall back on. And if you fail to be a profitable photographer, you may find a job at an ad agency or as a videographer for the local TV station.
If your really interested at least get a good camera, one that can accept different lenses, like a Nikon, Canon, or Fuji.
Of course they are expensive with lenses costing what a regular digital camera costs, but you will probably need the flexability and accuracy of interchangable/specialized lenses.
A small "Deck of Cards" type digital camera would be a good starter camera, to see if you have the "Eye", to visualize and capture high quality shots, and is also a good "stealth" camera for getting "Candid" portraits in informal settings and places that a real camera rig may not be welcome.
The higher the resolution (6+ mega pixels & more will be required) for almost any high quality photos to be used in any
type of commercial (ie: money making) venture.
A laptop for location shooting is often used to view, edit, and store your work.
A great desktop computer, perhaps a Mac, along with a program like Photoshop, will be needed to fine tune and manipulate your proof product, adding things like borders, watermarks, additional graphics, and textures or to convert files to be acceptable for your clients (newspapers, printers, and disc manufacturers etc).
And do'nt forget a high quality Photo-Grade printer, with the ability to print a format larger than the 4" X 6" size that you can get at any drugstore. 8" X 10" size prints are a minimum for presentation, and 11" X 14" is more the standard for portraiture and wedding settings.
Pay is comensurate (= to) skill > If you have the "EYE" to capture great shots you will be rewarded, but few photographers that I'm aware of have become rich.
I think Ansel Adams left his negatives to a school in Arizona, New Mexico or Nevada, and there you can acually use his negatives to make a personalized print from them.
Types of photography include:
Wedding, Portraiture, Nature, Commercial, School, Sports, Fashion, Product, Advertising, Industrial, Realty, Investigative, Cruise and many others!
Good Luck and "Say Cheese" if you are working for your self you need to be just as good at marketing as you are at photography.
best thing is to start with magazines there is 1000 of them and they all need images
send out a low res portfolio to mags that use the images you shoot. all images have to be spot on or you wont get a look in. don't be fooled it is hard work and my take some time bot it is a good place to start
if you need any more info have a look this web site
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/selli...
if you don't know were to start or don't know where to look for inspiration it is hard, a good place to start is stock image suppliers like this one
http://www.alamy.com/showcase/default.as...
look for images you can shoot like the ones you see maybe you are local to a work wide event or tourist attraction and can shoot it in all weathers and seasons, you have access to a fresh food market, is some on you know a cook, hairdresser, policeman plumber or stay at home mum? ask friends or relatives that will model for you
make a list of projects
Food
local sunset/ sunrise
news stories
anything collectable or old
anything you have an interest in (look in books and magazines to see what and how they shoot) contact the magazines and ask if they need images
I have talked to photographers that don't want to sell through stock image agencies because they don't want to give away half of the profit taken to the agency
The agency is just another tool. If you are marketing your images and selling threw an agency as well it is adding to your selling power. Stock images gives any image you take a secondary market. you could have a week with out work but still get a check from an agency from a photo you took 5 years ago on a cold rainy day in your kitchen on a day you did not have any work. so it is important to shoot, shoot, shoot.
make a list of your strengths in photography
strengths in photography
good knowledge of sports photography
good contacts with football club
love photography
got the basic equipment to do the job
good knowledge of PCs
large amount of stock images
weaknesses in photography
need experience in other areas
lack of contacts in sports and news media
funding for equipment
do not have web site or bank account
do not have business cards
list of equipment you feel you need
higher spec DSLR body
better tripod
new laptop
business cards ASAP**
list of equipment you don't need and sell it to raise funds
old slr system
dark room equipment
1 year plan
better contacts with football association
contact equipment sponsors
make contact with council and tourist information
look into shooting wedding photography
market images to magazines and spots suppliers
sell images through stock image agencies
3 year plan
new camera body
set up own company in sports and wedding photography
This is not set in stone but you will have an idea of you direction.
Good luck |
