Photography as a future. Good or Bad?

Hey guys, I am a rising senior in high school and I was considering to major in photography hopefully at the NYU Tisch program but as I expected, my parents objected. I understand their viewpoint; they are paying a lot of money for their children to take classes about taking pictures and it's not guaranteed that I will come out of college with a nice job to live off of, which is true (I think). They say I should consider photography as a 'hobby' instead of something I will do for the rest of my life and even have a family that can support on this specific profession. I am writing this to you guys because I need some advice and info. Sure they know a lot more than I do on what lies after college but most of the things they say to me about school and life after college are from what their friends say or what they hear from others. This might be a bit personal but for the people who pursued photography as a job, a profession that will support themselves and their family is: Is it THAT hard as people and my parents say? I'm sure some of you might say yes and some of you might say no, but I would like some insight and opinion on this.

Business Major
Fine Arts Minor .. Emphasis In Photography

Being a successful <insert one-off "artsy" job description here> means being a good, smart, educated business person first and an artist second.

IMO, the demand for photographers will be around for a long time to come but it can be a difficult field to pursue a good living. There is tons of competition and simply being a good photographer just doesn't cut it. Once you have the technical details down, becoming successful as a business photographer really comes down to being a "people person" as well as a smart business man. You must be able to relate to all kinds of individuals and be outgoing.....the kind of person just about anyone likes to have around. You must be able to put people at ease and make them feel comfortable in your presence in a very short period of time. Photographs are usually a very personal thing so you must be able to work with and read people on a personal level to deliver a product that they will absolutely love.
After the photography, are you a people person? Are you outgoing? Can you sell yourself and are you able to deliver a personally tailored product? Are you able to deal with difficult situations and difficult people in a manner where everyone comes out on top?
If you truely enjoy working with all kinds of people (and you're good at it) and if your photography skills are up to par, you can be successful but it's not easy.

I am not a professional photographer, so take my advise for what it's worth. I'm just a 27 year old college drop out who believes that kids are forced (I use the term loosely) to go to school for something, even though they might have no idea if it is really something they want to do as a career. It's like buying a $40,000 car based on magazine reviews and not having test driven it first hand.

If you have the drive and ambition to dedicate yourself then yes you can make it work (assuming you have some talent as well).

College/university is alot of money, perhaps you should try some work in the field (assist a wedding photographer or something) before jumping in with both feet. If your parents object and you believe in your heart that it is something you really want to do, then work and save up the money and do it on your own. There are no rules that say you can't go to college if you are over the age of 18.

Jason's post above is very good advice. I like wedding photography and if you go on my zenfolio you can see I have a little bit of experience with it. But I find it is alot of work, and I don't have all the people skills to do it full time or even as a side business really, just something to do once in a while. If I could be a paid second shooter that would be my cup of tea. I like to shoot, PP a bit and toss it on a DVD, no time or patience for printing or any of that stuff.

I second Jay's thoughts....get a business degree first, minor in photography. So many things in life can change....nice to have something more on your resume than a degree in photography.

It can be lucrative as a business if it takes off. I haven't got to that point yet so I still have my day job. A good benchmark to go by, according to PPA, is for every $100k your business brings in, you pocket $35k for your income. Thats like booking 50 weddings a year at $2k a piece. Its not a cakewalk, thats for sure.

As far as the future of photography, I think its all heading towards video. You will have to be fluent in Video production to make it in the future.

Wondertwins wrote in post #10782086
Hey guys, I am a rising senior in high school and I was considering to major in photography hopefully at the NYU Tisch program but as I expected, my parents objected. I understand their viewpoint; they are paying a lot of money for their children to take classes about taking pictures and it's not guaranteed that I will come out of college with a nice job to live off of, which is true (I think). They say I should consider photography as a 'hobby' instead of something I will do for the rest of my life and even have a family that can support on this specific profession. I am writing this to you guys because I need some advice and info. Sure they know a lot more than I do on what lies after college but most of the things they say to me about school and life after college are from what their friends say or what they hear from others. This might be a bit personal but for the people who pursued photography as a job, a profession that will support themselves and their family is: Is it THAT hard as people and my parents say? I'm sure some of you might say yes and some of you might say no, but I would like some insight and opinion on this.

This is always a difficult choice. I went through it myself back in the late 80's. Instead of photography, it was music for me. I wanted to go to a music college but my parents were against it. I knew why. I wasn't a stupid kid. I always kept my grades up in H.S. while my friends were flunking out. I was that guy with the long hair and motorcycle jacket who drank and smoked and hung out with all the wrong people, except I had good grades.

I have an Economics degree from NYU. I held a job in Financial Risk Management at a financial institution making decent usage of that degree. Then suddenly I decided it just wasn't for me. I took up computer programming because I felt it was more "creative". That was back in 1997 or so. I've been doing it ever since. My love for music eventually died out and I began photography.

Some say the fact that I don't play music anymore is a shame and a wasted "talent". I absolutely don't feel that way. I lost passion for it. Believe me I had immense passion for it. So much so that it was a source of big amounts of stress from always trying to get better and always trying to chase something that can't be chased. Yada, yada, yada... I believe I approached it the wrong way and it cost me my love for it. I vowed not to do the same thing with Photography and I am enjoying the heck out of it.

I have a great paying corporate job in I.T. It's a job, but I enjoy it. And I've got my photography. I don't need the money from photography, but it sure is nice having supplemental income, even if it's just enough to reinvest in gear or take a nice vacation.

So there's different ways of doing things.

I can tell you I regret choosing Economics as a major and had I picked anything purely art related, it might have limited me. I wish I had chosen Math, Statistics, or anything with a strong mathematics discipline because that can be morphed into any profession. Maybe not so much in photography, but it will give you more options. Maybe even take a few business classes as it related to photography as electives?

I have friends who went to music college for Jazz. Most if not all of them never finished school because there's really only so much you can learn and they didn't want to end up teaching. They quickly realized that they needed to get out there in the field to get REAL experience. Touring with established Jazz musicians or even more popular groups.

Actually a couple of those guys are now IT guys just like me making a great living. They went back to school for IT, got their degrees, and entered corporate America. Most of those guys still play Jazz, very passionately I might add. They do it for the love of it now. Doesn't make it any less important.

Parents will always be parents. Just know that they want what's best for you.

But I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I chased it for real. Because to be honest with you, if everybody did what I did, we wouldn't have musicians, artists, etc.

There's really only one person who can decide. You. Just make sure you think about everything and explore all options.

Are you interested in any particular type of photography?
General Info

I think Photography as a career sits alongside a few other "artistic" pursuits like music, film, art and writing. I'm both a photographer and musician (as hobbies that occasionally earn me some pocket money) and I have quite a few friends who have decided to make a career out of both.

The common element I can see for both musicians and photographers is that you need to be firstly very business-minded about it, and you need to ensure you are capable of taking on any potential work that might come your way - which may be outside your usual comfort zone.

I have a friend who is a "professional" drummer by both training and education. He runs a rehearsal and recording studio which provides regular income and does session work as a drummer / percussionist as well as teaching. Even with all these income streams, he only just makes enough money out of them to survive, and often has to forego things he may want to do in place of things that pay better or that will expand on his network and lead to other paid work, to the point that his only real creative and artistic pursuit - writing and performing with bands that he wants to play with (his favoured style being heavy rock etc) always comes second to a paid gig which may be with a classical orchestra or 'adult contemporary' session work. It can be a difficult predicament and be quite creativity-destroying at times.

I can imagine it will be very similar as a photographer. You may enjoy doing sports or live music photography as a 'hobby' but if you choose to make photography your career you almost need to also do weddings, baby portraits, club /events, landscapes / fine art etc (for microstock income) to make sure you're spread out in enough 'markets' to ensure a constant steady income.

Even though I'm a trained musician, I chose to leave music as a hobby and enter the workforce on a different path altogether - the main reason being that the amount of work you need to do to maintain an income as a musician will no doubt ruin the passion for me. It would have become a chore and I would not enjoy it anymore. Fortunately I am in a position that I can afford to buy the gear I want and have enough connections with musicians and bands (through my hobby as a bass player) that I can also make some pocket money shooting band promo photos and live gigs. I also have the luxury of declining 'work' that I don't want to do because I don't rely on it.

Hopefully this gives you a bit of an insight into your options - whichever way you choose to go, all the best with it!

I'll 3rd Jay's recommendation; in order to sell photographs, you'll need to understand business. And a business degree will allow you other opportunities coming out of college. I would love to sell some of my stuff, but I don't really have the knowledge for marketing the shots (nor, unfortunately, the patience).

nicksan wrote in post #10782518
This is always a difficult choice. I went through it myself back in the late 80's. Instead of photography, it was music for me. I wanted to go to a music college but my parents were against it. I knew why. I wasn't a stupid kid. I always kept my grades up in H.S. while my friends were flunking out. I was that guy with the long hair and motorcycle jacket who drank and smoked and hung out with all the wrong people, except I had good grades.

I have an Economics degree from NYU. I held a job in Financial Risk Management at a financial institution making decent usage of that degree. Then suddenly I decided it just wasn't for me. I took up computer programming because I felt it was more "creative". That was back in 1997 or so. I've been doing it ever since. My love for music eventually died out and I began photography.

Some say the fact that I don't play music anymore is a shame and a wasted "talent". I absolutely don't feel that way. I lost passion for it. Believe me I had immense passion for it. So much so that it was a source of big amounts of stress from always trying to get better and always trying to chase something that can't be chased. Yada, yada, yada... I believe I approached it the wrong way and it cost me my love for it. I vowed not to do the same thing with Photography and I am enjoying the heck out of it.

I have a great paying corporate job in I.T. It's a job, but I enjoy it. And I've got my photography. I don't need the money from photography, but it sure is nice having supplemental income, even if it's just enough to reinvest in gear or take a nice vacation.

So there's different ways of doing things.

I can tell you I regret choosing Economics as a major and had I picked anything purely art related, it might have limited me. I wish I had chosen Math, Statistics, or anything with a strong mathematics discipline because that can be morphed into any profession. Maybe not so much in photography, but it will give you more options. Maybe even take a few business classes as it related to photography as electives?

I have friends who went to music college for Jazz. Most if not all of them never finished school because there's really only so much you can learn and they didn't want to end up teaching. They quickly realized that they needed to get out there in the field to get REAL experience. Touring with established Jazz musicians or even more popular groups.

Actually a couple of those guys are now IT guys just like me making a great living. They went back to school for IT, got their degrees, and entered corporate America. Most of those guys still play Jazz, very passionately I might add. They do it for the love of it now. Doesn't make it any less important.

Parents will always be parents. Just know that they want what's best for you.

But I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I chased it for real. Because to be honest with you, if everybody did what I did, we wouldn't have musicians, artists, etc.

There's really only one person who can decide. You. Just make sure you think about everything and explore all options.

When did you decide that business was not your forte and picked up programming? Did you get a nice (paying) job with your business degree? So photography is more of a side job/photography that you do every so often?

There's more to it though than just "selling photos."

Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Billing
Invoices
Terms
Legalities
Tax Obligations
Capital Expenditures, Deductions and Depreciation
Real Property
Contracts

And a whole lot more that transfer into nearly every area of business and are not specific just to photography...

Just the legalities and tax section is enough to make you want to pull your hair out....and getting educated on that in a classroom instead of a courtroom is a very good thing.

Most well paid professional photographers didn't just wake up in the morning and say "I'm gonna be a professional photographer".. Most started off as a hobby, honing their skills.. Once they had the skills they would shoot the odd paid gig, building up a client base.. When the work started to roll in, and they were confident they could support themselves they left their "day job"..

Also,, you need more than just photography skills and equipment.. Business, marketing yourself and people skills are just as important to be successful..

I'd say,, listen to your parents for now..

College is extremely expensive, and I would not invest in it unless you are getting a degree in a field that requires a degree. I'd also only do this in a field where you can get an actual job with such a degree.

Examples would be engineering, finance, accounting, medicine etc.

You don't need a degree to become a photographer, and I'll point out that I can't actually imagine there being 4-years of study worth of information to be picked up.

My suggestion? Get a B.S. in business and minor in photography. The business degree will ultimately be of more use to a professional photographer as 90% of the job is figuring out how to make money taking pictures.