AboutDon Wood Expertise I have been a professional photographer for 26 years. Wedding, portraits, passports, copies, groups pix, reunions, etc. Specialty in photography of large groups. I also have worked in newspaper photography for most of my photographic years. I have built and maintained a b/w darkroom, and a color darkroom.
Experience I have been a professional photographer for 35 years. I am transitioning to digital photography so I might be able to help in that field. I'm retired now but am still able to be helpful in the field. I have built a b/w, color darkroom, worked in a color lab, worked in the newspaper field both in darkroom and as a shooter.
Question QUESTION: i am a 12 year old girl and wants to get into photography. i have 2 questions to ask: 1. how old should you be to start photography? 2. how many years of college do i need to take to become a photographer?
ANSWER: I am assuming that you mean by starting photography, you mean a professional career. Because if you have a camera in your hands and take pictures, you already are a photographer. Now what you need to do is to think about what you are taking, thinking about the position you need to be to take the best picture, thinking about whether to use a slow shutter or a fast shutter. Chances are you're doing this with a point-and-shoot digital camera. Cameras are so easy to use now that anyone can come up with a usable picture. Go to the museums, both Art and Photographic and study the pictures, what makes them special? You should be doing this the rest of your life. It's what going to develop your photographic sense (eyes).
Actually in college you should take some business courses in addition to photography courses so that you will know what price to put upon your efforts. These courses could be taken in a 2 or 4 year college or even in a short course of less than a year. The more training you get the better you will succeed. Of 10 photographers that start a year on their own, by the 6 month mark 6-7 will be in another job, 1 may last more than a year. Odds are that you will find that you will need another job. This career is very much concerned with the historic moment of when you took the picture. But bear in mind that if there is a choice between buying a photo or paying the rent, groceries, heat, gasoline bills it's a luxury item.
Dream big, study, use the library to find books showing art, photography examples, develop your photo eyes. Set a goal and work toward it.
When I started there were very few schools for photography, photo courses in college were a part of the Journalism department. Many editors would hand a camera to a reporter and tell them to bring back a picture they could use to illustrate their story. Now we are in an era where the news media is undergoing great changes, newspapers are having difficulty finding workers. Their revenues are scaling back, papers are shrinking, both physically, staff-wise, and content-wise.
It remains to be seen how the media will evolve into another form.
Good luck to you, dream big, work hard and you will succeed.
Thanks,
Don
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: will go to library and see what can find, what would be the best thing to go under? is there a number i can call to get hold of you? would like to learn more about it from a famous photographer. what is the best college to go to? do u know any in Texas????
Answer That's good. Ask the librarian as to where the books on art and photography are. Tell her you want to see pictures in both fields. I'd prefer to answer questions through this website.
I would suggest that you Google for art and photographers. You will be overwhelmed with sites.
Again go to Google and put in Photography schools. There are many out there, some are by correspondence such as New York Institute of Photography. There are others such as Brooks Institute in California that are residential courses. Some of the technical schools offer basic courses in photography. When I started there were very few schools other than Journalism schools that offered photography, now there are many.
Good luck to you, dream big, work hard and you will succeed.
Thanks, Don
