how do i become a photographer? and what exactly do they do besides the obvious?

Question

where would i go to get that training? would you recommend it?
what do you actually do like take photos for a newspaper or take photos of people at there wedding? im not really sure but am curious about it
do they make any money? do you have to go to college if anyone could help me out id greatly appreciate it thank you

Answer 1

In photography you do not have to go to formal school and have a degree to be a photographer. Some will say you have to and they are the ones that went to college. And even if you go to college it does not guarantee you will get a job in this career field.

There is nothing the matter with going to college to learn if that is how you want to learn photography.

With that said you have to learn it somewhere.

A. You can go to college and learn for the next 2-4 years.

OR

1. You can start reading all kinds of books on this subject and also get information from the Internet to help you learn. This includes web based classes, manufactures web sites to personal blogs on the subject.

2. You can get yourself a job as a photographers assistant (be it payed or free) and learn from that person.

3. You can start shooting with your camera to get practice and from what you are learning from reading you will start doing and you will get better. Practice does make perfect.

My suggestion is to find a part of photography that you would have an interest in and point in that direction. Example if you like sports lets say baseball that means you already know how the game is played and where the action might happen this means you will be prepared to adjust your camera for that exact moment and get the shot.

I hope this helps but you have to take the first step in this career field which ever one you choose to do.

PS. I never went to college and I have been doing photography for a long time.

Hope that helps,
Kevin

Answer 2

Good advice from everyone so far, especially Norton. Getting started in this business isn't too hard if you do it right. You need to learn good photography skills, and this is a lot more than just holding a camera and taking pictures. The type of training you should get depends on your career plans. Many professional photography gigs require that you have formal training, so a photography course at a community college would be a good place to start. However, if you plan on being an independent photographer with your own home-based or small studio, you do not have to go to college. All you need is a good camera, a few good reference books that you can learn the basic skills, and lots of practice.

There are many different areas of photography that you can go into, and there is the potential to expand beyond still photography and go into video work as well (which is a big part of weddings nowadays). You mentioned photojournalism and wedding photography so I will assume that you are mostly interested in those areas. To become a photojournalist you will need a college degree (most news corporations require at least a bachelors degree in communications); however, the hours are weird because you can be sent on assignment anywhere at any time to cover news stories, and the pay isn't all that great in my opinion. If you have good photography skills and want to be your own boss, then wedding photography is a better way to go. People are always getting married, and if you learn how to market yourself sucessfully you can start your own wedding photography business and earn a fairly decent income from it.

Now, regarding Norton's comment about digital photography. Its true that the industry is changing over to digital, but most professional photographers will still tell you that film is their preferred medium and for certain types of photography, film is infinitely better than digital. In many cases, your clients won't really care and they won't be able to tell the difference between or the other, but you should still learn how to use both media. I also recommend that you take the video production component of the photography course because you can make a lot of money from videos (especially at weddings).

Answer 3

It's actually a very complicated business now because there has been a big transition to digital photography. You should learn how to become a digital photographer if you want to obtain work and you need to learn the computer programs that a professional would work with. After you get training (you can get it even at a community college, you'll have to look up where to attend depending on where you live etc.) you could start out doing wedding photography. that pays pretty well and you work for yourself. You could offer to do a couple weddings for free and then those become your references. You need a book as well. In the book you showcase your work. Photography is kind of hard to start out at because it costs so much money. The equiptment costs a lot. You'd really benefit if you went to a school with all the equiptment and you could rent it out. Then you could actually get started working some small jobs (wedding, etc) while borrowing the school's equiptment. You could then eventually buy your own equipment. The tops earn a lot. IN order to work at the top (fashion, news etc.) you need to be an apprentice-a photographer's assistant. In order to be a photographer's assistant you need a degree and also you need a small amount of experience.

Answer 4

Essentially the various fields of photography can be divided into four main categories: fine-art, commercial, photojournalism and scientific. Each of these primary categories can then be broken into subcategories for instance commercial photography can include food photography, product photography, fashion photography and wedding photography. It helps to define a particular area of interest in photography because each field is so unique in its various protocols that you really can't make broad generalizations. For instance just because a crime scene photographer uses a camera doesn't mean he or she has the knowledge to inform you about all the little aspects of the food photography niche. The same can be said about commercial photography and photojournalism. In regards to higher education, a college diploma is much more crucial for a photo journalist than say a product photographer.
So in terms of where to go for an education, for your undegraduate look you may want to look into going to a University instead of going to an art college. A good University will offer a wide variety of careers in the various fields of photography. There you can take classes in photo journalism, or fine art, or even commercial. As for specific universities, that depends on your budget and your willingness to relocate

Answer 5

Most community colleges and universities have classes.
Get a class brochure and look at the courses offered.