Careers in photography

[Matt Green]

Just wondering if anyone here has ever tried to find employment in photography?

And if you were successful, how did you go about ..and did you need any particular qualifications or other skills etc?

Matt

[andy153]

Hi Matt, I've never tried to find a Photography job but did dabble in Weddings for several years to supplement income - quite successful. But as I mentioned on a previous thread - the jobs are more varied than people think. Apart from Paparazzi and photo journalism I can think of Police Scenes of Crime Photographers, Medical and Dental Photographers, Portrait, Wedding, Event, Architectural, Engineering, Photographers Assistant, Fashion, Sport - the list goes on and on. If you are going to be employed by someone else then I would suggest a recognizable, and practical qualification is essential. If you are going to be self-employed then perhaps all you need to do is build a reputation and/or get yourself employed by a well recognized photographer as an assistant and learn from him or her. I know a few people who were very good amateurs at my old Photographic club who had this dream of a photography job - only a very special few made it.

[Adey Baker]

There must be untold numbers of photographers out there doing very 'anonymous' types of work - every product catalogue has to have the entire range photographed at some stage! Not very glamorous work but it would certainly teach you a lot about, lighting, etc.

One of my workmates has done some of this type of work, previously, and it's interesting to see that, when looking through photo magazines and catalogues, I drool over the latest cameras and lenses and his eyes mist over at the sight of tripods, lighting-stands, etc!