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06/23/2008 10:13:28 AM · #1 |
Hey everyone. I have been at one of those points in my life where I feel I could do much better. Not with photography (although anyone who looks through my portfolio will see that I need help there as well), but with my life. Mainly my job is the thing that kills me because it is just a job. Not something I am passionate about. I never knew what I wanted to do and therefore never studied anything. Now I have found something I love and could see myself doing as a career. I would love to get into sports photography, probably other types of photography as well (anything to make some $$ with my camera). I can see myself doing this, but have been wondering what the best way to pursue this is. Does anyone know of a school they really like or any advice on the road to take????? Anything helps. Thanks.
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06/23/2008 01:46:10 PM · #2 |
Andrew, I don't know if this is the best path, but you might start by looking for universities or art schools in your area that offer degrees in photography. Btw, it's my impression that many schools concentrate on film rather than digital.
I know someone here in NYC who started out at a prestigious art school and then switched to a city college. Despite its good rep, he hated the art school environment. |
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06/23/2008 02:33:59 PM · #3 |
Andy, consider attending classes at a community college. Doing a quick search, I found that Maricopa Community College offers both an Associate in Applied Science (64 credits) and a Certificate of Completion (24 credits) in Digital Photography. The benefit of taking the courses at a community college is that the teachers are more likely to be active professionals who teach on the side rather than private universities where the professors are active teachers who practice on the side.
In other words, they can help you network into the commercial side so you can get your foot in the door of photo editors of newspapers and magazines. |
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06/23/2008 03:53:10 PM · #4 |
Thanks I am looking into that certificate program. Do places look down on a certificate as opposed to a degree?? Or do they weigh the same.
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06/23/2008 10:08:03 PM · #5 |
| Someone in the industry may be better suited to answer this, but if I had to guess, your portfolio should speak for itself regardless of what your paper says. That being said, you will find that the portfolio of people spending the time to complete a degree (on average) will be better than those taking only the certificate. Is in life, there are no shortcuts. The extra material covered in the degree will be useful, perhaps indispensable, as you build your career. Photography is a very competitive industry and the more you learn, the better chances you have. |
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06/23/2008 10:21:58 PM · #6 |
Honestly, in this and any other creative field, it really doesn't matter what degree is written on a piece of paper. The only thing that matters is whether you have developed an eye for your craft. I spent many years in radio, and there were people who went to "broadcasting schools" and assumed that meant an instant ticket into a big market gig. Um... no... the ONLY thing that matters is what your aircheck sounds like. Same deal here. Your skills make or break you, not a degree.
Originally posted by AndyMac24:
Thanks I am looking into that certificate program. Do places look down on a certificate as opposed to a degree?? Or do they weigh the same. |
Message edited by author 2008-06-23 22:22:19. |
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06/23/2008 11:02:25 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by alanfreed:
Honestly, in this and any other creative field, it really doesn't matter what degree is written on a piece of paper. The only thing that matters is whether you have developed an eye for your craft. I spent many years in radio, and there were people who went to "broadcasting schools" and assumed that meant an instant ticket into a big market gig. Um... no... the ONLY thing that matters is what your aircheck sounds like. Same deal here. Your skills make or break you, not a degree.
Originally posted by AndyMac24:
Thanks I am looking into that certificate program. Do places look down on a certificate as opposed to a degree?? Or do they weigh the same. |
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I'll second that. I never studied photography at a school, but I ended up TEACHING it and I had a solid career PRACTICING it. We used to hire assistants, most of whom themselves became working pros, and only rarely did we hire an assistant with a degree; for the most part, they came in with an attitude, and we didn't need that. We had zero interest in academic credentials; we were looking for people with a good eye and a good work ethic, willing to start at the bottom and work their way up.
When i started my photography career, I did it by taking my amateur photos door-to-door looking for a studio that would hire me, and i was lucky enough to impress the good folks at one of San Diego's best commercial photography studios. I started work as a gofer and a lab guy, and climbed the ladder from there.
R.
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06/24/2008 03:54:27 AM · #8 |
If you're interested in getting experience and building a portfolio for sports photography / journalism consider these avenues which shouldn't be major hurdles to accomplish but may require a bit of perserverence. First go around to a few local universities/colleges that have varsity sports you'd like to shoot and contact the sports media director and ask for a media pass which will gain you access to the field. Smaller schools will be more apt to do this, even without a job in sports journalism. Secondly, and maybe this should be first, is get a job with a small local newspaper as a photojournalist, even if it doesn't pay well, and those jobs most certainly won't if they pay anything at all. If you were unable to get a media pass initially, you should have no problem after getting your job with a newspaper. Then go to every game and event you can and shoot to your hearts content to gain experience, knowledge, and skill. Submit your best work to the paper often and try to get published. Your editors will get to know you are serious and be able to count on you, which is important in journalism. I would not pass up on the opportunity to get an education in college, just don't major in photography. Get something more broad based such as a degree in journalism and develop good communication skills. Study sports photographs and photographers on your own and try to understand how they got the shot and what technical hurdles they had to overcome. SI is a good place to start and they have a large collection of pics from every sport they cover available to view online.
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