| first step is to look into a class at your community college or some comparable thing, and take it. go from analog to digital and everything in between and ask yourself if there is something else you'd rather be doing. consider that you will not always be taking pictures of what you want to, because you need to do this to make money. there are areas you can make a lot of money, and there are areas that you better be damned sure you love what you do, because you aren't paying that water bill this month. if you are looking to have a steady income with this, i'd look into weddings at first because people are always getting hitched and rehitched, or while you are learning, take a job in a portrait studio ie picture people or something, because they don't require you have a degree and you can get used to shooting and posing. there's fashion/editorial, which is harder to get into but once you get your foot in the door you can network like crazy. in order to get your foot in the door though, you generally need to find someone whose career and work you respect and assist them. you will have to work for basically free but if you really want this you need to just grin and bear it and earn respect.
these are all pretty much related to taking pictures of people because i personally hate pictures without people in them for the most part, but there's also landscape/travel, etc.
but seriously i say this every time, GO TO SCHOOL. if this is worth spending the rest of your life doing, it's worth putting in the time and effort to go to school. because school REALLY prepares you for all the crap that will come your way in this business.  |