Want to become a photographer. Please advise.

[JennyC80]

Hello, I'm 32 and have a full time job which I like. However, since I was a teenager I always dreamed of being a photographer. Sounds odd I guess but where go I begin? People say find an experienced professional and ask to be trained on a job as I'm too old for college... Im stuck on finding professionals ( let along willing to train ones)... Any suggestions? Thank u in advance! Xx

Off the top of my head....

• evening classes?
• email some local photographers and offer your help in their studio for free on Saturdays to get some inside knowledge?
• email some wedding photographers and offer to carry their stuff around during a wedding....

To get any experience, training or work you will need to start with a portfolio.

Work on an amateur portfolio to present to evening/weekend college. Very few professional photographers have the time or resources to take on an apprentice nowadays. But you should still research local ones and if you can demonstrate your strong interest and passion they may be willing to let you shadow them on a few jobs, which again the portfolio will very helpful for presenting yourself to them.

You need to practice and study to learn the craft, you can then develop your portfolio into a professional version as you move on to pitch on your own for paid work.

Stock photography is plentiful online and there are huge agencies who dominate this area of the market, so find an area that you are interested in that could make money and start building a portfolio to communicate your ability - wedding, tourism, baby photos, fashion etc. Different areas of the industry are seen as very separate in terms of style, ability and clients. So bear in mind that many photographers will not put their wedding photography work on the same website as their fashion work to maintain a focused pitch to prospective clients on each end.

It is like any other creative industry today, high pressured and with very strong competition from a global talent pool. You must put in a lot of time and training in to have a shot at a career.

Good luck! x

My step fathers been trying to get into this for years. It's really tough without the right connections. He perseveres though as he loves it, but he has to subsidise it by working part time in another job.

If you're looking to specialise in an area where there is a real commercial opportunity and less competition then product photography could be good. When I was looking for someone to take shots for my website (white background plus "lifestyle" shots or products in a setting) it was difficult as most photographers seem to specialize in portraits/weddings etc. I did eventually find someone brilliant and it is a real skill being able to set up products correctly and make them look good on a website. A real growth area too as more and more business is done online plus good product images are the main thing magazines look for when doing PR pieces.

Thank u! I'll work on portfolio and Will try make some contacts. Hope it'll work out :) xx

Try asking on a forum for photographers like talkphotography

Oh thank u msrisotto! Great idea :) will try.

I have done this and started my business almost a year ago. I did an online diploma in professional photography and also bought a couple of training sessions with a local photographer. More recently I did another workshop in a more specialist area and have my eye on a couple more workshops. If you want more info then let me know.