are careers available as photographers

[firsttime]

I am a newbie on this forum

First I would like to thank Gibbon for answering my question about taking photos using eye glasses.

I am think of taking a photography course (1 year in length) but before I invest a lot of money I would like to know if careers are available as photographers. If you have experience as a Porfessional photographer please let me know the types of work available and kind of pay I can expect. I am not interested in part time work as I hope to pay of my student loan and survive on an income as a photographer. Do I have high hopes or can a lining be made as a photographer? I like all sorts of photos so any field (commercial, etc) would be do able.

Thanks for your time in responding. Cheers FT.

[Marko]

Welcome to the forum!

Straight up, a full time career as a photographer is difficult. Most full time photographers are entreprenneurs, and they may or may not have gone to school. They have set up their own businesses in photography (wedding, commercial etc.) and it takes a while to make money for the VAST majority of people that attempt careers in photography.

It can be done. But it's hard. I actually went to school for 2.5 years to study photography. One of the courses I took was a business photography course. In that course our prof. said that only 20% of the people in that class (which was at the end of the 2,5 years) would be working as photographers. He was right. The majority of my former classmates are now not working as photographers.

So you CAN do it. But the odds are stacked against you at the beginning. And that's the straight dope. I hoped it helped, even though the truth is sometimes harsh.

BEST of luck whatever you decide!

Marko
ADMIN

[tegan]

A different approach is to get into several areas. Consider journalistic photography, television production, multimedia production, media presentations, public relations and political photography, small business advertising, script writing and editing etc.

Tegan