Expert: Wedding Photographics - 7/11/2008

Question
hi!
my name is melissa and I'm 14.
I know that I want to be professional photographer
when I get older.im going into high school and as one of my
electives I chose to do photography,but what is there?
I wanna know how to get to my goal,or actually in better words,
how did you get where you are today?


Answer
Hi Melissa,

Thank you for your photography career questions.  As you may have noticed in my profile, I specialize as a portrait/wedding photographer.  I do not do any other kind of photography.  I'm also a full-time self employed photographer working out of my home.  So my answers to your questions will be from that perspective.

Do you already have a digital camera? That is probably the best place to start into photography. Read the owner's manual of your digital camera and get to know it completely. Check out photography books from the school library and study them.  Try the various techniques described in the books.  Join a photography club if available.  Then the really fun part .  .  . shoot, shoot, shoot.  Study your photographs. Share them with others for objective and constructive criticism. Give yourself shooting assignments which challenge you to have to use aperature and shutter control to purposely achieve certain effects. Then learn about controlling on location lighting and flash.

Once you are technically competent and have developed or discovered your own photography style, you will intuitively begin to see the direction you need to go to reach your final goal.  What you final goal will be depends on where your interest in photography takes you.  For me it was portrait/wedding photography.

As a portrait/wedding photographer today, I market my services mostly through my website and bridal shows.  Word of mouth from happy past customers accounts for most my business, but when you are just starting out today, it is difficult to beat a great website and attending bridal shows.

Wish you the best pursuing your career.

Wedding Photographer John Wilson
Chattanooga, Tennessee
http://www.weddingphotographics.net