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Getting
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Photographic
careers may differ, but success isn’t gender or color related. Almost every amateur image-maker, at one time or another, thinks about becoming a professional photographer. This transition can be a daunting task, as the field of professional photography is vast. You might envision yourself as a sports photographer when you first start out and then some years later you’ll find yourself doing commercial assignments. BUT each of us has a starting point and that’s what this first lesson is all about.
Choosing Your Direction
The
Photographic Market is huge so you’ll need to come to an understanding
of how and why the market works. Then you will have to tailor your skills
and desires to this market place. If you enjoy people and have the skills
for making top notch people images then you might want to consider a
career as a portrait photographer, travel photographer, public relations
photographer and/or photojournalist. On the other hand if crafting images
in the studio has an appeal, then you might want to consider being a food
photographer, catalog photographer or commercial photographer. As you can
see the starting point can become clouded because of all these choices. Personally
I believe that there really are just four general categories to
professional photography, these are:
To succeed within any of these four general categories will require different skills, different temperaments and different education or experience. Let’s look at each of these categories and explore some key points of each discipline.
This category takes in a wide range of sub disciplines like: Commercial Photography, Catalog Photography, Product Photography, Food Photography, Fashion Photography, Architectural Photography, etc. While many assignments for this category will require location work the vast majority of assignments will be preformed in a studio environment. These types of photographers have mastered large format cameras and are skilled lighting technicians. But working in a studio doesn’t mean working in a vacuum, they also work with art directors, ad agency clients and other creative types. Therefore, they also must be ‘team players’ when creating the final illustrations. These photographers are problem solvers, set builders, darkroom and/or digital darkroom technicians, etc But there is one common thread that runs though all successful advertising photographers, they are good business people as well and know how to profit from their labors.
The portrait category is changing all the
time. It use to be that neighborhoods were full of small ‘mom &
pop’ type portrait studios. Then some big companies started pushing out
these small studios in favor of the ‘quick and cheap’ type of
portraits. Now we are beginning to see a recurrence of the small type
studios that market and sell specialty type portraits.
Many large corporations have their own photo and communications departments. The type of photography done within this category could include: Industrial Photography, Public Relations Photography, Medical/Scientific Photography, Aerial Photography, etc. The skill and educational levels for these types of photographers can vary as to their assignments. If you do medical type assignments, you probably will have a medical interest, with or without medical training. If you do aerial type work you should love to fly and probably be a pilot in your own right. Working for large corporations has some big advantages: You know where your next paycheck is coming from, the equipment you need is bought by the company, not yourself. You can focus your skills on your image making and not worry about the sales and marketing aspect of the business. On the other hand, many corporate photo jobs come with ridged rules and regulations. There is little room in the corporate world for artsy individualism!
This category includes disciplines such as: Nature/Landscape Photography, Campus/School Photography, Sports Photography, Travel Photography and true Photojournalism. This is a fascinating category because all of these types of photographers are working with a printed type message. A nature photographer may be photographing wild animals for a magazine layout or a photojournalist may be photographing a news event for a local newspaper, they both have the same problem: Deadlines. Newspapers and magazines are published by dates and time, not to the quality and content of your images for this expected. If you work in the journalism category you have to work under pressure and secure quality images needed by the publishers for each and every assignment. This makes your reputation and as with any field of professional photography reputation is everything! Finally, there is one more important trait that most of these types of photographers have, they are also gifted and well read writers as well. So if you like travel, if you like action, if you have the skills to work under pressure and you can write as well as you photograph then this a great category to consider. Conclusion We have just scratched the surface of the different types of photographic disciplines available. Don’t let the vast size of our industry obscure your focus in trying to understand how this business works. In later lessons we will show you how to get your foot in the door of the discipline that most suits your skills, temperament and personality. |
