Decisions decisions

rusty999

Hi Guys, Its my first time on here so heres hoping I am on the correct forum first of all.
My problem is that I will soon need to decide on what Fas course to take as i am one of the unfortunates who has suffered by way of the downturn in Ireland.
I was kinda thinking about doing a photography course as i have always had a keen interest and dabbled a little when i was much younger in Black n white and developing etc . Obviously times have changed with digital but even though I have a nice Nikon D 80 I still find that I know very little about it and mostly find myself sticking on auto and clicking away and I know thats probably cheating in a strange sort of way so that would be one of my reasons for trying to improve. I know --read the manual and all that- but theres a lot more to it as you all know.

Secondly I need to think about the future .kids /family etc and was wondering if theres a market out there these days and then what would that market be for a guy like me if I did manage to get good at taking pics.
I often see the wedding guys spending a full day at their job, and boy do they earn their dosh but I believe its quite lucrative as well. However i'm not too sure i would be cut out for that side of it.
what about sports photography? Or is there a niche market I dont know about?.
Its just that I have to approach this from the angle that it would be a career move for me but I would also like to be doing something i love.

Any advice from this forum would be most appreciated
Thanks
Rusty

Borderfox

Ì shoot full time and at the moment Weddings for me are were my business is going, I also shoot and print on-site at events (Horse shows/Karate comps) but that seems to be dropping. I shoot sports and unless you have good connections with an agency/newspaper it wouldnt make a lot of money, maybe magazines would be a better angle for sports.

For starting out I would reccomend having a part-time job to back you up as the start-up time on building yourself up can vary but takes a bit of time.

rusty999

Borderfox wrote: »

Ì shoot full time and at the moment Weddings for me are were my business is going, I also shoot and print on-site at events (Horse shows/Karate comps) but that seems to be dropping. I shoot sports and unless you have good connections with an agency/newspaper it wouldnt make a lot of money, maybe magazines would be a better angle for sports.

For starting out I would reccomend having a part-time job to back you up as the start-up time on building yourself up can vary but takes a bit of time.

Many Thanks for that borderfox and for taking the time to answer.
I also have a lot of interest in music and bands and was just thinking that there might be an avenue there as well
Thanks again
Rusty

Borderfox

Music would be great but as above without connections to magazines it would be quite hard to make a living out of it, quite possible to make money but you would have to have the work integrated in with paying work such as Weddings/portraits/product shots/commercial/property.

You really have to be able to turn your hand at any type of shooting to stay ahead, I specialise in Equestrian work and from this I am excellent at shooting in available light so this translates well to Weddings and other work. Maybe try a business course and do a couple of smaller courses in Photography and see how you get on.

rusty999

Thats excellent advice borderfox

I feel a bit more confident about making a decision regarding taking the course now
I am presuming my d80 nikon will be suitable or do they supply a camera while training on these courses--i really know very little about how they run these course but I would presume they start from the ground up-hopefully
Thanks again
Rusty

Borderfox

The D80 will be grand for any course

smelltheglove

I second what border says here, a part time job at least, making your way is not only a huge effort but a huge cost. Ive earned a fair amount this year, just completed my first year in business properly and it has been great, a good income for occasional work however the costs have almost outweighed that income, you need to be building kit, extra lenses, flashes, cameras etc etc etc and as much as you are happy with what you have now you will come across times when you think, 'I really could have done with that 2.8 right there' and so on.

I am currently editing music photos, I have covered many many gigs but I tell you now, even with connections in music I am yet to earn money from it really. I love gigs, and I have a lot of friends in bands so when I go to see them I like to take their pics too, one of these bands I shot an album sleeve for and will receive money from it soon, but after visiting the house of the head honcho he showed me a box full of discs of images people send to him after being at gigs, never once had to pay for any, so in other words, do it if you love it but dont expect to make money from it unless you have some very good connections in papers, promotions etc.

rusty999

Thanks for that and i can see your point surer enough regarding the music scene. I guess the love of what you do is a huge part of it and anything else is a bonus

Thanks again
Rusty

smelltheglove wrote: »

I second what border says here, a part time job at least, making your way is not only a huge effort but a huge cost. Ive earned a fair amount this year, just completed my first year in business properly and it has been great, a good income for occasional work however the costs have almost outweighed that income, you need to be building kit, extra lenses, flashes, cameras etc etc etc and as much as you are happy with what you have now you will come across times when you think, 'I really could have done with that 2.8 right there' and so on.

I am currently editing music photos, I have covered many many gigs but I tell you now, even with connections in music I am yet to earn money from it really. I love gigs, and I have a lot of friends in bands so when I go to see them I like to take their pics too, one of these bands I shot an album sleeve for and will receive money from it soon, but after visiting the house of the head honcho he showed me a box full of discs of images people send to him after being at gigs, never once had to pay for any, so in other words, do it if you love it but dont expect to make money from it unless you have some very good connections in papers, promotions etc.

DotOrg

rusty999 wrote: »

mostly find myself sticking on auto and clicking away.....


I often see the wedding guys spending a full day at their job, and boy do they earn their dosh but I believe its quite lucrative as well. However i'm not too sure i would be cut out for that side of it......

first you'd need to spend a couple of years learning and shooting a lot before you can go charging people for a professional service. There's lots of other posts on here about how much work and how hard wedding photography is. yes you could get a few bookings, do an average job, make a decent lump of money but that's not a career in wedding photography or anything like it

As regards music photography, there is so little money in it unless you're based in LA or London. I've been shooting bands for years, currently working with a band who've had a UK number one album and will be in the top 5 uk albums again next week but even so, not making very much money out of it.

Photography is the best hobby in my opinion, turning it from a hobby into a profitable full time business is very hard and depends on who you know, your networking skills, your business skills and obviously, how much talent you have

learning any other trade or skill would be an easier way of starting a new money making career

Thoie

Just a thought, but have you looked at any of Fás' "Start your own business" or "Business appraisal and startup" courses?

There are quite a lot of places to learn about photography if you look around, and there's only so much a photography class can "teach" you at the end of the day. A photography course will teach you about settings, and lighting, and things to consider, but can only offer improvement suggestions on your "eye" - in my experience they can't teach you to be more "artistic".

Some of those Starting a business courses have good information that would apply to any business. Taking one at random you could cover modules such as:

• Starting a business
• Self appraisal
• Appraising market feasibility
• Appraising financial feasibility
• Deciding on the business legal structure
• Preparing a business plan
• Legal compliance and insurance requirements
• Business Administration
• Marketing the business
• Taxation in business
• Induction to enterprise

All useful things to know/learn no matter what business you decide upon.

rusty999

Thanks Guys for some very helpful advice

Regards
Rusty