Worth it?

[ker2015]

Is it worth it to become a photographer? To get this out of the way, I am 13 and don't have any experience. But becoming a photographer seems interesting and a fun way to make money. Of course I would do this part time because of school but it would be a way to get money for college in the future and buy whatever random gadgets I want. Please give me some advice and don't get off topic.

Thank you in advance,

Chickenpuffball

(P.S I haven't been on LTT in forever)

[Statik]

Not trying to be rude, but being a 13 year old photographer is probably going to net you 0 money. You'll need some serious experience, money, and education before you can consider making money off of it.

[ker2015]

Not trying to be rude, but being a 13 year old photographer is probably going to net you 0 money. You'll need some serious experience, money, and education before you can consider making money off of it.

Alright, thanks for the advice. But it's possible that if I try, I could make a name for myself. People like innovative things and a 13 year old photographer is very marketable.

[Klerk]

Alright, thanks for the advice. But it's possible that if I try, I could make a name for myself. People like innovative things and a 13 year old photographer is very marketable.

It would actually be the opposite of that. Would you yourself hire a 13 year old photographer with no education or experience? It take years even for people who have experience to earn money in photography.

[ker2015]

It would actually be the opposite of that. Would you yourself hire a 13 year old photographer with no education or experience? It take years even for people who have experience to earn money in photography.

I'm not saying that I would just jump out into the blue with no experience. I'll have to work hard for it. This is a potential job possibility that I could do part time. Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.

[Klerk]

Well you can always try and see if it is the career path you want. Do you have any photography gear that you own? You can start it off by doing it first as a hobby and learn the basics first.

[ker2015]

Well you can always try and see if it is the career path you want. Do you have any photography gear that you own? You can start it off by doing it first as a hobby and learn the basics first.

It sounds like a good hobby. I already have an okay $500 1080p camera. I already know the very basics (shutter speed etc.) so I kinda lied about having no experience. But there is a lot to learn in the topic.

[Statik]

It sounds like a good hobby. I already have an okay $500 1080p camera. I already know the very basics (shutter speed etc.) so I kinda lied about having no experience. But there is a lot to learn in the topic.

Let me be blunt. I work with a guy who's going into first year photo journalism, and for his photography courses he was required to supply his own camera, which was about $7000, along with an array of lenses, and that was literally for first year courses, and he has to take years of schooling in order to possibly get a job to make ends meat.

 

I hate to tell you but nobody is going to take some 13 year old kid with a $500 camera and think he's innovative and original. What kind of things do you even think you'll be able to do as a 13 year old photographer to make money? It's just not realistic bud.

[ker2015]

Let me be blunt. I work with a guy who's going into first year photo journalism, and for his photography courses he was required to supply his own camera, which was about $7000, along with an array of lenses, and that was literally for first year courses, and he has to take years of schooling in order to possibly get a job to make ends meat.

I hate to tell you but nobody is going to take some 13 year old kid with a $500 camera and think he's innovative and original. What kind of things do you even think you'll be able to do as a 13 year old photographer to make money? It's just not realistic bud.

Fair enough. But it's always worth a try. Screw realism!

[Statik]

Fair enough. But it's always worth a try. Screw realism!

Okay bud. Be my guest. We've just answered your question for you. Kinda weird if you come here for advice but ignore it all.

[ker2015]

Okay bud. Be my guest. We've just answered your question for you. Kinda weird if you come here for advice but ignore it all.

I don't know what I was expecting. Sorry for my response because TBH you're right. I'll just start with photography as a hobby and see where it takes me. Thank you!

[Swndlr]

Photography should come to you first as a hobby and a form of art.

If your first and main intention of engulfing yourself in photography is to try and make money, youre not fit for the task anyway. It requires lots of time, lots of creativity, lots of travel, and lots of money to get into.

[d3sl91]

Is it worth it to become a photographer? To get this out of the way, I am 13 and don't have any experience. But becoming a photographer seems interesting and a fun way to make money. Of course I would do this part time because of school but it would be a way to get money for college in the future and buy whatever random gadgets I want. Please give me some advice and don't get off topic.

 

This has basically already been said above but, just another voice: If you love photography, yes it's 100% worth it. If you don't love photography, its 100% NOT worth it. 

 

With anything, you do not "get into" something because you think it would make you money in a decent way. Sometimes that works, but usually it doesn't or you hate yourself after you do it. Make money from doing things you enjoy. And until you get to that point, don't be afraid to do things to make money that you HATE, so that you'll work harder to be able to do what you enjoy

 

As far as starting from 0 to making money on the side. I'm sure you could make some money doing it... not enough to justify the cost of equipment and time. Because once you make over a few hundred dollars, you start to become legally required to pay business taxes, get business licenses, Insurance, etc etc. 

 

If you do love photography and want to make a business of it: for sure pursue the hobby, start a portfolio website, and get your work out there. take up lots of free, very low cost "buy me dinner in exchange" work (Take pictures of family, friends, pets, etc). And after awhile a business will become more of a reality as your experience and portfolio get better. But... as a "on the side" making money when you are not already an established photographer... that's gonna be tough to do. 

 

Age and gear have little to do with it. If you take good pictures...you take good pictures. You don't need to be 35 and have $15k in gear to take good pictures. I know several guys in the 16-20 range that make money on photography. Secondary wedding photographers, portfolios, senior pictures, etc etc. But that's after pursuing as a hobby for years.. and then they just started making money from it.

 

 

Photography should come to you first as a hobby and a form of art.

If your first and main intention of engulfing yourself in photography is to try and make money, youre not fit for the task anyway. It requires lots of time, lots of creativity, lots of travel, and lots of money to get into.

 

Agreed. 

[ALwin]

I don't have any experience. 

 

I'm not going into a discussion about costs and benefits.  I'll get straight to the main points.

 

I don't see age as a problem, unless you want to become a professional that takes on clients for weddings, fashion*, war photographer, etc.

 

The biggest problem will not be gear either, though having some gear helps.

 

Your biggest problem is lack of experience, or lack of knowledge and skill.  Which you will need to develop.  It can take several months to years of practice and study.  You need to know not just how to use a camera, but also how to judge light.  How to use available light, how to modify it, how to manipulate light.  You need to learn various techniques.  You also need to work on observational skills, skills in writing, developing a story (you can't take just a singular photo and expect it to sell).

 

After knowledge and skill, you need vision and to develop the "eye".  Then you need to work hard, be willing to take risks, make sacrifices.  You'll sleep odd hours, skip meals, explore odd places (even if it's just within your neighborhood).

 

*You can try to work as a teen fashion photographer.  Or a photographer that works for the school newspaper, or a street photographer.

[ALwin]

Alright, thanks for the advice. But it's possible that if I try, I could make a name for myself. People like innovative things and a 13 year old photographer is very marketable.

 

Yeah don't develop delusions like this.

 

If you do love photography and want to make a business of it: for sure pursue the hobby, start a portfolio website, and get your work out there. take up lots of free, very low cost "buy me dinner in exchange" work (Take pictures of family, friends, pets, etc). And after awhile a business will become more of a reality as your experience and portfolio get better. But... as a "on the side" making money when you are not already an established photographer... that's gonna be tough to do. 

 

Try to avoid doing any freebies for anyone.  Taking free photos for family is one thing, working as a photographer for free for someone who can afford to pay you is another.  The more freebies you do, the more they will expect you to keep on doing it.  And with your age, people will take advantage of you.

 

But for now, instead of looking to get paid as a photographer it is better you work hard to become a good photographer.  You cannot just show up somewhere lacking any knowledge about photography and expect people to hire you.

 

So if you really want to set your goal to become a professional photographer, I wish you good luck and all the best.  Whether it is "Worth it?" is up to you to decide, but you can always work towards become a better photographer, regardless of whether you get paid for it or not.

 

 

Addendum:

Here are some more tips and advice.

• When you study photography, do not focus just on the technical aspects of a camera.
• Study the various masters, observe their work, read the comments they provide about their famous works**.
• Do not get bogged down by stuff like megapixels, or the size of pixels, etc.
• Photography is more art than science.
• Enter photography contests.
• Do not be afraid to submit your work.
• Post your work, show your work to others so that they can comment and judge.
• And when you do share your work, don't just share one photo and ask them to rate it.  Share a set of photos taken of the same subject or object, taken from different angles and different plays with light.
• And don't be afraid of criticism.  If you post your photos here, I will be very blunt and harsh with my comments.

 

**When I say "the masters", I'm not talking about the guys that runs FroKnowsPhoto or DigitalRev.  I mean photographers like Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams, Scott Kelby, Joe McNally, etc.  Joe McNally and Scott Kelby both host wonderful seminars and webinars.  If you want to learn from someone younger, more modern and pretty much cool, look at Chase Jarvis.

 

 

Additionally, look at this website.  National Geographic runs a "Your Shot" with regular themes selected by them.  Submit your photos and if they pick your photo to be featured on their website, magazine, etc. they will pay you for it. (I still hope they do now that Fox owns the magazine.)

http://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com

[ker2015]

Photography should come to you first as a hobby and a form of art.

If your first and main intention of engulfing yourself in photography is to try and make money, youre not fit for the task anyway. It requires lots of time, lots of creativity, lots of travel, and lots of money to get into.

I love photography, I think it's a great way to display creativity and is an amazing art form. My problem is that I don't know where to begin.

[EmeraldKiwi]

Photography as a profession SOUNDS like fun, but in reality you will end up doing photo shoots for clients that don't understand photography and want really cheesy, cliche pictures. It may be fun for awhile, but the hype is going to run out pretty fast. That's not to say it can't be enjoyed, but that's what to expect from alot of clients.

[ker2015]

This has basically already been said above but, just another voice: If you love photography, yes it's 100% worth it. If you don't love photography, its 100% NOT worth it.

With anything, you do not "get into" something because you think it would make you money in a decent way. Sometimes that works, but usually it doesn't or you hate yourself after you do it. Make money from doing things you enjoy. And until you get to that point, don't be afraid to do things to make money that you HATE, so that you'll work harder to be able to do what you enjoy

As far as starting from 0 to making money on the side. I'm sure you could make some money doing it... not enough to justify the cost of equipment and time. Because once you make over a few hundred dollars, you start to become legally required to pay business taxes, get business licenses, Insurance, etc etc.

If you do love photography and want to make a business of it: for sure pursue the hobby, start a portfolio website, and get your work out there. take up lots of free, very low cost "buy me dinner in exchange" work (Take pictures of family, friends, pets, etc). And after awhile a business will become more of a reality as your experience and portfolio get better. But... as a "on the side" making money when you are not already an established photographer... that's gonna be tough to do.

Age and gear have little to do with it. If you take good pictures...you take good pictures. You don't need to be 35 and have $15k in gear to take good pictures. I know several guys in the 16-20 range that make money on photography. Secondary wedding photographers, portfolios, senior pictures, etc etc. But that's after pursuing as a hobby for years.. and then they just started making money from it.

Agreed.

Thanks for the info and I don't only think of photography as a way of making money. It's a hobby which I have wished to pursue for a while and I just need somewhere to start. I think that making money off of something you like is something great and I want to know if that is a possibility at such an early stage.

[ker2015]

I'm not going into a discussion about costs and benefits. I'll get straight to the main points.

I don't see age as a problem, unless you want to become a professional that takes on clients for weddings, fashion*, war photographer, etc.

The biggest problem will not be gear either, though having some gear helps.

Your biggest problem is lack of experience, or lack of knowledge and skill. Which you will need to develop. It can take several months to years of practice and study. You need to know not just how to use a camera, but also how to judge light. How to use available light, how to modify it, how to manipulate light. You need to learn various techniques. You also need to work on observational skills, skills in writing, developing a story (you can't take just a singular photo and expect it to sell).

After knowledge and skill, you need vision and to develop the "eye". Then you need to work hard, be willing to take risks, make sacrifices. You'll sleep odd hours, skip meals, explore odd places (even if it's just within your neighborhood).

*You can try to work as a teen fashion photographer. Or a photographer that works for the school newspaper, or a street photographer.

I'll keep that in mind. I have a lot to go before I can earn money from photography.

[ALwin]

snip

 

Not all professional photographers work as ones that take photos for clients.  Some take photos for themselves and sell their works, host exhibitions.  Others work as part of an organization, get paid to travel and take photos, develop stories, show what is happening in other parts of the world.

[Swndlr]

I love photography, I think it's a great way to display creativity and is an amazing art form. My problem is that I don't know where to begin.

If you want to get into it, buy a used body, like a T3i or T5i, not new but they still are able to take great pictures. Then if you find yourself really enjoying it, invest more in things like lenses and see what you like shooting best. There are many inexpensive ways to dive into it, I didnt take any of those

[EmeraldKiwi]

Not all professional photographers work as ones that take photos for clients. Some take photos for themselves and sell their works, host exhibitions. Others work as part of an organization, get paid to travel and take photos, develop stories, show what is happening in other parts of the world.

Oh. I didn't think of that. That is a good point. I don't know how much photographers make regardless of their career path though.

[ALwin]

Oh. I didn't think of that. That is a good point. I don't know how much photographers make regardless of their career path though.

 

That will depend on how popular they become and whether they are alive or dead. The last part is a joke.

[ShadowCaptain]

Oh. I didn't think of that. That is a good point. I don't know how much photographers make regardless of their career path though.

 

Normally fuck all, or what they do spend it goes on gear haha

 

I know people who have shot for national geographic and still work in my local camera shop for a daily job haha, but hes about to take people on a photo course in Africa, and he is being paid a few thousands for it

 

But its still an incredible thing to do if you are passionate!

[ALwin]

You can even try to be a photographer that does something unique or something that not many photographers do.  For example, like this

http://petapixel.com/2015/12/14/this-photographer-does-photo-shoots-on-a-350ft-cliff/

 

 

Or underwater, when I get married I am going to hire Jerry Ghionis and he will have to do underwater photos for my bride and I, assuming I can convince her to take up diving.