Hi. I am a junior in High School, and very unsure of my career goals. I love art, and I have always been interested in photography. This year in school, i am taking a creative photography class so I can get some hands on expeirence. I was wondering if this would be a good job to support financial needs? what are the requirments that I would have to have(such as college classes) in order to fullfill this career? Any information you can send me would be GREATLY apprieciated. I hope to hear from you soon! Thanks Brandy Slaughter

-- Brandy Lynne Slaughter (SuperWMN8@yahoo.com), September 13, 2000

Answers

Since this posting in Sept, 2000, NO ONE has answered this question! Hm.... I suppose that could be regarded as a good thing.

As a pro photographer, I get asked this a lot. So, I'll point you to a couple URLs that I wrote specifically to answer this. The first is: http://www.danheller.c om/faq.html#advice. I won't quote the whole thing -- I'll just give you the bottom line:

Cliché as it may sound, the best advice is this: Do it for the passion. If you do, you'll be driven in the direction that's right for you. I strongly recommend keeping photography as a hobby, not as a profession, unless and until your hobby gets to the point where opoportunities are undeniable, and you're making money despite your efforts not to. No matter what, keep an open mind, and be willing (and eager) to try anything at least once. If, after all this, you really are thinking about photography seriously as a career, I strongly suggest reading these two essays:

The Five Truisms About the Photography Business
My Photo business on the Web.

-- Dan Heller (argv@danheller.com), January 21, 2001.