New Photographer Looking for Advice

<p>I have recently graduated from college with an Associate’s degree in digital photography. I’m looking for advice into what my next step(s) should be.</p>

<p>I have spent the last year (from graduation in the Fall of 2012 until now) building my portfolio & looking for a way to start a career in photography. I’m most interested in landscape & travel photography. Aside from one freelance job last year (which taught me how little money was available in freelance work), I have been unemployed. On the bright side, I do have my own website to show my work, as well as a blog. I have some images available on Dreamstime as royalty free microstock. I’ve also recently started using Twitter to try & build my audience.</p>

<p>Even though I am lucky enough to have parents that will let me live at home, with no rent, until I can finically support myself, I’m beginning to doubt if I have a future in the career I have spent so much time preparing for. Their advice is to get a part time job, even something not directly related to photography, to start getting a steady pay check & to build job experience.</p>

<p>Because, despite my best efforts, I have no job experience on my résumé.</p>

<p>I feel like I have to decide, soon, how to live my life. It seems like these are my only options:<br />-I can keep attempting to make it on my own, submitting to stock agencies (especially rights managed ones) & finding a rep to help me get assignment work.<br />-I can try to make a living through a part time job & stock sales.<br />-I give up completely & seek a full time job.</p>

<p>I have been driving myself crazy trying to figure this out, so I’m turning to the anonymity of the Internet for help. What should I do? I certainly don’t want to give up, but I’m starting to feel like the career I’m looking for doesn’t exist. I don’t want to divide my time between photography & a part time job, especially after only trying this for a year, but I have to admit that the finical stability is a major attraction, as well as the possibility of increasing my social life (I’m still in contact with friends from high school & college, but they’re chasing their own dreams as well). I love what I do, but I never pictured myself running my own business…& I’m not sure if I want to do that…</p>

<p>I was never the best of the best or the top of the class. In fact, I felt lucky if I wasn’t the worst in the class. I feel like whatever I decide to do at this point in my life will determine what I can do later in life. I feel so much pressure to make the right choice, that I’ve been driving myself insane.</p>

<p>Any & all advice is welcome & appreciated!</p>

<p>Stock photography isn't a very good way to make much money these days, especially nature and landscape, unless you have some sort of access that others don't have. There's a glut of stock photography and the prices are terrible. The one thing I've found (and seen with others) that makes stock photography even a modest source of income is being able to provide photos that most people can't. For example, I did very well for a number of years selling photos of professional muay thai fights, for which there was demand and very few people that had access to shoot at ringside.</p>

<p>It's better to look at taking photos where there are clients who want to hire a photographer. Although no sector of the photography market is booming, if someone pays you for portraits, weddings, product shots, real estate, etc., you at least know that you will have income. There are also jobs for photographers working for companies, but you will need a portfolio that matches reasonably well to what the company is looking for.</p>

<p>Go back to school and earn your Bachelors degree. Business would be ideal. I always want to be be supportive of young people entering into photo careers. But, these days an AA degree in photo doesn't take you very far in skills or experience. Starting a career in photography is difficult now. Relax. I know society is pushing on you for fast results. Chill. You are young enough that it will all still be open to you in a couple of years. You'll, hopefully, have more knowledge and experience then. That will help give you direction. Keep shooting and improving your portfolio in the meantime.<br>

The big question is what kind of photography do you want to spend your life doing? Portraits/weddings? Commercial table top, travel/editorial, fashion. Research those areas with intensity over the next several years while you finish your business education. Keep taking creative classes and workshops for learning and inspiration. Keep shooting! Your portfolio in two years will look, should look, so much better than the one you have now. Get out there and meet people in your field of interest, ask to visit pro shops, ask for tips and advice, offer to trade labor for an opportunity to learn. Most pros have been where you are now and haven't forgotten their hard beginnings. Networking and people skills are not just important, they are essential!</p>

<p>Do you have the intestinal fortitude, the emotional resilience, the business savvy and the sheer determination to be successful? Good. You'll need that. There is always room at the top for a photographer that can bring fresh ideas and mental focus to the table. Each segment of photography has different entry points. Some start as assistants or gofers learning what you can and moving on. Some get lucky and get a foot in door via an internship or other in-house type job. There are less of those jobs now, especially in journalism, but there are still some around. In any event, it's nothing that happens quickly. There is no real shortcuts. The path is long, sometimes rocky and often lonely without much support. Keep shooting, keep improving to keep the flame alive.</p>

<p>There in no dishonor or defeat in taking a non-photo job to make ends meet. It can be a stepping stone, a staging area while you meet life's daily obligations. You are only defeated when you believe you are defeated. Persistence, patience and perseverance will win if you keep your eye on your goal. What are you willing to give? to sacrifice?</p>

<p>It's hard to see, from your viewpoint, but your potential is limitless. Everything, anything is within your reach if you look inside yourself for the strength to stay on the path toward your dreams.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>I have recently graduated from college with an Associate’s degree in digital photography.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I have no idea what that actually means but have a terrible suspicion that it is equivalent to a large round zero.</p>

<p>Photography as a business; the key word here is <em>business</em>. Anyone can take a sharp picture these days. Anyone can build a website in a few minutes. None of that is business.</p>

<p>If the name of your game is to make a living from photography, you need marketing ability, lots of the right sort of contacts on both the taking and the using sides. You need to understand how to get yourself into places that other people will pay to see pictures of. You must understand how to manage money and legal requirements.</p>

<p>Do a small business management course at a community college, or whatever it's called in your area. Do market research into who buys the sort of photographs you want to sell. When you discover that the market for your product is too small and poorly paid, change your product.</p>

<p>Harsh? Believe me, nothing I've written here is as nasty as the real world.</p>

<p>I agree with Louis. Photography completely aside, go back to college and don't stop until you have at least a bachelor's degree. If you want to know why, go to any jobs web site and look at just about any job that pays a decent salary. you will find these words in the job description: "bachelor's degree or higher required." Also look at Labor Department unemployment numbers from any given month and look at the difference for those with a bachelor's or higher and those without. <br /><br />I'm not trying to be a snob about education and I'm not saying that a degree is required to be a photographer. But as someone in my 50s who's been in the job market over 30 years, I can tell you that a bachelor's degree today is the equivalent of a high school diploma a generation ago. The New York Times had a story a few months ago about how many companies today are requiring a bachelor's degree for secretaries, even messengers. <br /><br />If you want to pursue photography, go for it. But get a degree in a business major, maybe marketing. The classic story here on Photo.net and elsewhere is that an OK photographer who is good at business will be more succesful financially than a great photographer who's not. At your age, who knows where you'll end up. With a bachelor's degree you have options. Without it, you don't.<br /><br />I also agree with H.P. -- nothing any of us can say here is as harsh as the real world.</p>

I tell this to every photographer that asks me this question:

 

Would you be okay doing something else completely? If the answer is yes (or even maybe), then do something else. You

are entering a field where you will be competing with people who want nothing other than to work in photography. They're

willing to struggle financially and psychologically; they're willing to persist for years on ramen noodles if that's what it

takes; they eat, breath, and sleep photography. Are you one of these people?

 

If not, there are much better careers out there that will be more rewarding financially and emotionally.

 

If you can't begin to imagine doing anything else—if you must be a photographer, then roll up you sleeves and jump in

with both feet. Getting a business degree is not a bad idea. But, if I could go back to the beginning, I would find a way to

move to a large market and find the absolute best, most successful photographer who would take me on as an assistant

or even an intern and start learning the business from the inside. This will allow you to develop both business and

technical skills as well as to begin making important connections in the industry.

<p>Roxie, my advice would be to earn a Bachelor's degree first. While you are doing that, in parallel, research and test your abilities, stamina and desire to do photographic work for a living.</p>

<p>I agree with all the other posts recommending a business degree. And I'll add that most of the successful landscape and nature photographers I can think of don't make it just on selling photos. Most teach workshops. While a student or if you're working a 9-5 weekday job, you could teach newbies on weekends. Teaching a subject is also a good way to truly learn it yourself. There are very likely people in your area who have a new camera and want to know more about using it. Or about software. Trying to make it as a photographer by only selling photos is likely not going to support you financially. </p>

<p>If you want to do travel/leisure photography you need to be a strong writer. An you need to market yourself as a writer. Magazines and travel sites are much more likely to hire a writer who can photograph than a photographer who can write.</p>

<p>I went to college for two years and have spent too many decades working for people with a piece of paper that says they graduated after four years who didn't know the difference between a Leica and a rubber duck. You need that piece of paper to wave around. That's just how it is. At LEAST get in another year so you will be within striking distance of that 4-year degree.<br>

I agree you need to concentrate on something else when you go back to college. I can't think of a thing college can teach you now in the photography line. You need to get the degree, take zillions of photos when you can and look for a crack in the iceberg to squeeze through to find the kind of job you love, making photographs. Good luck.</p>

<p>A degree might impress some employers who are looking for someone to work for them. A strong portfolio should be more valuable. If you are happy working for someone else, these help. A job on the periphery of photography such as a camera shop or frame shop might help develop useful skills and some good contacts. If you do opt for college, strive to be the best in your class not as much for the education as for developing the determination and work ethic that success in business often demands.<br>

There are many venues for selling photographs. I sell at an annual art fair and a few other occasions. Without really working at it, these generate a small fraction of my total income. Galleries are a traditional outlet. Some restaurants and other businesses also welcome artwork to hang and perhaps sell. These require an outlay that may justified only after careful research. Always look for local contests and other ways of displaying your work and developing a reputation. Edward Weston went door to door soliciting business early in his career.<br>

To most individuals buying photographs, it's the photo they are buying more than the cachet of a degree. While you are building a portfolio that sells well, work on the other necessary skills such as finances and presenting photographs. If you hire someone else to mount, mat, and frame photos, you are giving away much of your profit until you become successful. If you find a market for letter-size or smaller photos, some desktop printers become practical.<br>

A sunny personality in the salesperson is important. Phony salesmanship turns people off. If you must have a second job, one where you have to deal with people can be good training for selling photos. Almost every women I've really liked has at some time been waitresses. To excel at that, they had to be likable. </p>