Expert: Don Wood - 10/10/2002

Question
2 q's

I simply love photography! I'm 23, married, no kids. I would like to start taking photography courses but I have no idea where. My local colleges have already started and i'm looking for any corespondence courses. Do you know of any or do you think New York Ins of Photography is any good?

2- Now i dont have any experience but simply just a excited heart about the field. I've heard that this field is very competitive so is there any room someone like me to make money from this?

thanx
Ty";  

Answer
Ty
There are many "weekend warriors" out there. They have no overhead to speak of since they operate out of their homes and other than upgrading or adding to their equipment, film, processing. So they think that they can severely undercut the professional studios. The problem is that they could have a low percentage of successful pictures (saleable) than the studios due to their lack of training.
NYI is an extablished home-study being in business for more than 50 years or more. I have taken the course, it's good to give you a look at all the phases of the field. It does give you an understanding (rudimentary) of the basics. As in all education, what you put into it is what you'll get out of it.
Search the internet for photo schools, they are out there. A good resident's school may be the Brooks Institute of Photography in California. They would be for the serious photographer. I sense that you'd prefer to be a :weekend warrior" so I'd suggest that you spend as much time as you can on the net looking at photographers' web sites. As you look at the pix, think about how you could duplicate that shot, the equipment you'd use, the time of day, the angles of the light, all the variables etc that make up the picture. Use the library and check out some beginning photography books, sometimes, in the larger towns, the professional photo stores employ knowledgeable help and have books on how-to. You may also find help at a camera store, but be careful of the clerk that only knows prices and how to run the cash register. They can steer you wrong unknowingly because their primary job is selling equipment.
Another source of help may be at the professional labs that cater to the serious amateur and the professional photographer. You can also get information from examining the fine art galleries, even if the pics are paintings they will stilll have to conform to the general rules of composition. You might be interested in having a b/w darkroom so that you can experience the magic of having the image come up on a piece of paper and doing the manipulation to achieve the perfect print. This is how I started back in 1958, then when I started my studio in 1963 I was primarily b/w now it is evolved into maybe using the b/w darkroom 3-4 times in the past 5 years. Primarily the customers want color now, negative color not transparency.
Best of luck to you, it is a fascinating field, whether you are into scenics, people, or animals. You will spend 90% of your time going out for business, 5% shooting the business, and the remainder chewing on your nails waiting for the pictures to come back from the printer.
Keep me posted as to your progress.
You may wish to go to my pages at http://pixdw.bravepages.com which contains pages on photography, lighting, retailers, weddings, etc. Click on the various topics you find and examine them.
Thanks for asking.
Don