Expert: Don Wood - 11/16/2007

Question
QUESTION: Hello, I am doing a research paper and i have to interview a photographer. If you could answer these as soon as possible that would be great.




ANSWER: I will be glad to help. What are your questions?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: What field of photography are you involved with?

How did you decide that was the field you wanted to be apart of?

What are some important factors that I should know about this field?

Is there any particular type of equipment that a person would need to succeed in your field of study? If so what might that be?

What other fields, besides your own would you recommend? Why?

What fields would you discourage? Why?

How much time weekly do you spend working with photography?

Are there any resources that you could recommend that would help me learn more about photography?

Are there any specific schools you would recommend?

If you don’t mind me asking, how much is your income monthly?


Answer
In a small town, it is hard to specialize and make a living. I've done groups, weddings, portraits, commercial, accident scenes, etc. I do seem to specialize more in portrait, weddings, groups than in the other. If I wanted to be a photographer, I had to be able to do everything. Photography is a field in which you are taking a slice of history and recording it. Because it is mostly concerned with emotional responses, it is very much tied to the economy, when it is in a period of change as we are now, customers have a choice between buying the pretty pictures or buying food, gas, rent, etc. Which would you prefer, the pics or the food.
We are getting into the digital age so definitely you need a computer, digital camera, the lighting, the software and printer to produce the pictures. In addition, I advise that you take some business courses so that you can make a fair living for yourself and know what you're doing. There are many expenses to acount for in selling photos, equipment costs, your time and expense in getting to the shoot, your clothing, your training, setting aside money for your eventual retirement. Any training you get will benefit you since it will teach you how to learn. There are many more photo schools out there than when I was starting out. They will range from the traditional 4 year college, to the concentrated 4-6 week intensive course to even the seminars and 1-2 day training sessions.
Photography is actually a small part of the work week, selling is a larger portion of the load. If no one wants to buy your services no matter how good you are, than you will starve.
I am retired so I don't have an income. However, I had other jobs to supplement the photography and a wife that was an RN who provided the meat and potatoes.
Feast or famine, during the winter after Christmas, you will not have many clients to feed you from the profits. Feast or Famine, Either you will be so busy that you can't do it within a normal period and have to work extra hours or you will be sitting and waiting for the wherewithal to supply funds for rent, etc.
Photography is a good field to get into as a second income source. Weekends, evenings, are the general days that you will work. So you can have a day job. You will need to get the best equipment you can afford, many times clients may be more impressed with the equipment, they equate the professional with the impressive, expensive equipment.
I don't know which part of the country you're in, whether a small town or a large city so I can't advise you as to where to study. There are trade schools out there that you could go to as well as the pricier longer schools.
Good luck to you. If you want to have more expansion to these questions, please ask.
Thanks.