Advice on becoming a photographer

gollywog

As above i've decided to go back to college in september.

I'd love to do photography but i dont have any portfolio etc etc etc....

Could someone please give me a little help or point me in the right direction??

Any help will be greatly appreciated, thanks!

AnimalRights

I'd change ur name for starters.

gollywog

AnimalRights wrote: »

I'd change ur name for starters.

It was a nickname, its not a racist thing thanks.

gollywog

gollywog wrote: »

It was a nickname, its not a racist thing thanks.

My honest advice would be do an evening course or something. Find a pro in your area who'll do one-to-one lessons, even. See if there's a summer course coming up in a local education centre or such, and don't waste any actual college time studying for it.


I know people who have studied it for 3-4 years and are terrible, and get no business. Most of the photographers I know that get business just thought themselves.

If I was going to be studying something in college I'd be studying something much more worthwhile that I could use as a 'backup' incase photography turned out to be a dead end (which it is slowly becoming, in my opinion).

Corkbah

what kind of photographer do you want to be ? or do you know ?

why not do what a lot of other "photographers" do ... buy loads of gear and take photos.

Seriously though - depending on what area of photography you wish to become, learn about
VAT/Taxation,
Running a business,
marketing,
advertising, ......oh and learn about photography
- how to take a photograph,
rule of thirds,
aperture,
shutter speeds etc etc,
learn about using filters,
learn photoshop,
learn lightroom,
learn about backing up your files,
learn about cloud computing
learn about organising your files and captioning and storage.
learn about the legalities of being a photographer (what you are allowed to do and what you must not do)
learn about the responsibilities of a photographer
learn about posing and lighting.

and when you have learned all of the above ...come back and tell some of us how to do it !!

pete4130

If you don't have a portfolio then you aren't going to get in. You're best bet is to do a PLC portfolio course. It's 1 year long, introduces you to photography, darkroom, assignments and gets you on the path of learning and thinking how to articulate your ideas through image.

You'll put together a portfolio during the year to submit to IADT or DIT etc the following year and stand a better chance to be successful.

With portfolios, DIT will expect you to have about 2-3 themes consisting of about 30 images in total. IADT expects about 3-4 themes consisting of about 25 images. At least thats how it was about 10 years ago.

Colaiste Dhulaigh on the north side of the city also do media courses that you can specialise in photography in a 3 year Diploma course. It's possible to then do a final year in the UK, at Wolverhampton Uni to get your degree. Thats what a friend of mine did a few years ago.

It will be a good way to find out if you want to follow it further into 3rd level education.

Studying photography in Uni isn't a waste of time if you enjoy it and find it beneficial. If you can get experience assisting a photographer that will help a great deal. In Uni you will gain lots of contacts, structure and a mind frame that you wouldn't otherwise get.

In saying that there are a lot of photographers on here who make a living from shooting photos and haven't got any formal education. They've put in the hard work and have the experience.

humberklog

A tip? Start making a port folio.

What does "do photography" mean to you?

pixbyjohn

Consider something like this >>>>
http://www.scs.dife.ie/COURSES-photography.html

Reoil

You don't need to take a photography course. I didn't and I consider myself to be a competent photographer. Not a pro, but that's hopefully(!) by choice than by talent limitations.
By a book, buy a basic SLR. Learn technical elements and develop your own style.

Farmlife

A portfolio is simply a collection of your best shots, in order to get one you need to get out and take photos and then pick your best shots! Find an area you have an interest in and go take photo's.

If it's sport, go to your local club on match day. If you can show your shots are good there, people will know if your on the sideline of the big games the chances are you can deliver, just my 2 cents

DotOrg

humberklog wrote: »

What does "do photography" mean to you?

really good point, there is a big difference between doing photography and being a photographer

DaireQuinlan

Also... change your name. YOU may think that...

its not a racist thing thanks.

...but unfortunately (for you) everyone else thinks otherwise.

magicbastarder

gollywog wrote: »

I'd love to do photography

why? what sort of photography?

gollywog

Thanks for all the input everyone, its very helpful

Firstly i'll start by asking how to change my username without losing my posts?
I don't want to be offending anybody, even without meaning to

Secondly I mean i would like to get into taking pictures properly as I have endless folders of pictures i've taken on a hdd. I dont have an SLR camera at the moment but from all the help I guess thats at least a good place to start.

What sort of cost would I be looking at for a camera to start out with?

And I LOVE sport, I play alot of sport myself and always had an interest in hurling photos

My other big interest is cars. I love the pictures when the car is in motion like this one...




Anyway lads, thanks for all the input, sorry my username offends you, ill try get that changed

AnimalRights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsmAaI-FN-c

Do you feel victimised?

:P

Paulw

gollywog wrote: »

What sort of cost would I be looking at for a camera to start out with?

And I LOVE sport, I play alot of sport myself and always had an interest in hurling photos

Sports photography is hard enough to get in to and make money from. You need good gear and a lot of dedication. You work very hard for very little financial reward.

gollywog

AnimalRights wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsmAaI-FN-c

Do you feel victimised?

:P

Ha ha maybe just a little! :P

AnCatDubh

gollywog wrote: »

Firstly i'll start by asking how to change my username without losing my posts?

IIRC, you need to be a subscriber for such requests to be entertained.