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Bean

Bean

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Hi there!

I'm thinking about starting a degree in photography...

I'm currently on a Graphic Design course, however, it's really not my thing, so I'm thinking about changing.

The only issue is (and my parents are worried, too) - what are the career prospects like for photographers?

I realise that it will be a hard business to get into, but are there opportunities and prospects for careers from a degree stage?


Thank you in advance

Jean

xXx

:)
 
You don't need a degree or anything to be a tog

You just need customers who think you're good enough to be worth them paying for work doing, and that's as much about business in general as it is about being a great/good/decent tog

Locally me are some togs who far too often output shocking work, but they make more than £40k pa as their business side is good

Not sure this has helped at all! Soz
 
:lol: @ Dave.

The long and short of it is: You don't need any qualifications to become a 'tog. What you do need is the skill and drive to succeed.

If you asked any of the pros on this forum I bet you could count on one hand how many times any of them had been asked if they've got any qualifications. The most important thing is a good/excellent portfolio and good people skills.

HTH? :shrug:
 
I'm so in love with photography! Since I got my first SLR about 5 years ago, I've been hooked!

But I've always thought that graphic design was where I wanted to be and the profession I wanted to get into. But after a year and a half on the degree course, it's become clear that its really not for me!

I'd like to do the degree because I'd like to have a greater knowledge of the subject area and the technical side. I want it to become more of a career than a hobby.


Is it worth going around local studios in the area and asking for work experience and advice about how they started and where I should start out?

It's been a tough decision for me, admitting that what I'm doing isn't what I want. That my passion lies in photography. But I'm really excited about learning more and getting into the business!

I guess I come from the mentality that if you don't have qualifications, you're going to be at a disadvantage to those who have!


But if this isn't the case and it relies on the portfolio of work and the determination of the individual then I'm over -the-moon!


Provided I have the determination (which I do!) and the skill (which I'm working on!!) am I right in thinking that photography will be able to provide me with lots of challenging and interesting career paths... Lots of prospects, hard work and ultimately a great deal of satisfaction?

I want to convince the folks back home that this is the right way to go for me and that I will be able to get a decent job from it!!


Sorry if you've all been asked this before and thank you very much for your replies!


Jean

xXx

:)
 
A very interesting read, thanks pxl8! :thumbs:

I may be naive in the way I'm looking at it, as I've got absolutely no experience (yet) ... but I don't think I could ever get bored of photography! I know it's easily said and there will probably be times that I'd get frustrated with it as a 'career' - but then i'll look at it again at the time and take my work in a different direction :D

I think what attracted me to graphic design in the first place was the use of imagery and the composition of everything.. But I think I chose the wrong side of it! I chose the side where the imagery is already done for you and you bring it together. I want to be the person who creates the pictures! I want to be the one who gets out there, on location and get the shots that make the layouts and publications stand out!


I need a big think! :thinking:


Thank you!! :D
 
If you were closer Bean I'd invite you round for a big chat too!

As a job - you need to suck up to someone, as a career you need to get your 'business' head on first

Being a pro tog is a business first and an artistic ability second

Good luck whatever
 
yep! :D

I've always wanted to have my own company! Even in school I had said that one day I will start my own business!

My dad is a company secretary and book-keeper, so he's a great help in knowing where to start and knowing all the correct methods of setting this sort of thing up!

I've got brochures and leaflets about seminars about how to go about setting up a company! I've also got a studio place sorted.... (the benefit of living on a farm! :D)

I'm SO excited, lol :lol: :woot:
 
thanks CJ! :D

Some awesome stuff on your website! :D Most impressed! :D


I will take you up on the offer if I need to know something! thank you! :D
 
DiddyDave said:
Ooh CJ - that sounds like a thread title all of its own :lol::lol::lol:

"Ask CJ - anything"
Click to expand...


LOL. Feel free, actually. I was planning to spend the day in the darkroom finishing up my clients' holiday prints, but my enlarger bulb just blew. Rotten luck, my replacement bulb is bad, too. Nowhere to get enlarger bulbs in Denver on a Sunday, so I'm SOL.

Too bad, too, as I even took my ADD drugs so as to be productive today, and those pills are expensive! :lol:

Edited to add: Bean, you might find this link helpful. http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=16557

- CJ
 
mattyh said:
If you asked any of the pros on this forum I bet you could count on one hand how many times any of them had been asked if they've got any qualifications. The most important thing is a good/excellent portfolio and good people skills.
Click to expand...

Totally agree! I am never asked (and have never been asked actually:thinking:).

I used to work in TV as a freelance cameraman and, before I moved on to stills, I used to work on very high profile stuff ~ for example I worked the F1 for nearly four years where my camerawork was watched live by 500,000,000 people (if you believe the figures) ~ but they never asked to see any bits of paper, it was all down to experience.

I leant all my skills 'on the job', and that is what I would suggest you do. Get a job as an assistant carring bags, and work your way up from there. :thumbs:

By the way: in 1999, 28,000 people completed media studies courses in The UK in one year alone hoping to work within TV ~ this figure was more than the total currently employed with the TV industry at that time.:shake:
 
Thanks CJ - That's was a great post. :)

I'm going to go to some local studios and see if I can get anywhere with work experience or as being an assistant! :)

Paid or not, I don't really mind... I just want to learn! :D


Anybody need an assistant in the west mids? :D :lol:
 
Don't get into press photography. It's a rubbish job. Photojournalism is ok if you're doing Photo Documentary type stuff, although it only really makes you some money if you're in a riot or a war zone somewhere (like Lewisham...)

I spent 6 days in Bosnia for the Daily Mirror during the conflict, managed to take 17 photos and spent most of that time with shells raining over the building and bullets coming through the glassless windows, rocking gently in the corner and crying to myself for being a nob-end, interspersed with sat-phone conversations with the UN troops whilst trying to get a lift home. Not fun.
 
Thank you everyone for such wonderful advice. I really appreciate it!

As of today, I am leaving my degree!! I have decided that this is what I want to do and will hopefully transfer across to a photography degree!

I realise that qualifications aren't necessarily needed, but it will give me a way of learning about the subject and will give me access to many different contacts and information that I can then go on to develop for myself.

Thank you all so much! :thumbs:
 
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