[Summerleft]

I'm looking at courses at the moment which is fine but I've been told that the money is in photographing people and not much else

However pictures in mag / online etc have to come from somewhere?!, Id like to make a bit of pocket money while studying so .....?

Is it just a case of approaching magazines etc who you think might have use of your image?

I also looked at doing pics at riding club/country shows i know a few people who do this and dont do to badly, I worry that the corner of that market is getting a bit flooded


Any way in the hope of not being accused of rambling what would be the best way to start ? lol

[Dabhand16]

Gary Bagshawe has written five articles on going pro in our Tutorials and Guides forum. When I last looked, they were spread out on page two of this forum - second from bottom to about ten from the top of the page.

As far as courses go, you don't say where you are based, but if you are in the UK, and want to do this seriously, City & Guilds are probably one way to start and can be done at evening classes. Full time courses are available from most polytechnics and universities and will carry more weight (I think). Maybe the Open University run courses too.

[Summerleft]

Ive just found his stuff! very informative i thought i bet when i go back someones said read Gary's stuff :P

Yes in the UK ill fill my profile out a bit more, There seems to be quite a lot of choice on courses, also a fair amount of online stuff but it looks to me like you have to sort the wheat from the chaff as some look a bit well like a lot of waffle


Do you basically just print off some stuff and send it to places or can it be done by CD or email?
One major problem i have is not having a photo printer and they look expensive, are there any entry level ones that still give good prints?

[Dabhand16]

I've got a Canon i560 printer that is now obsolete, but it still gives results that are good enough for me. However, it will only go up to A4 size, and larger format printers are not only very expensive, but also very large.

Our printing service will print 24 x 16 for £7.99 and 20 x 30 for £9.99 - good value.

You need to be careful about distributing images, whether electronically or in print format. Copyright theft is something to be aware of.

Some people do use on-line galleries to show their work and then get any orders printed as they are needed.

I have never tried to sell images, so can't advise on this. If you send images to the press it is much the same as aspiring musicians sending tapes to music publishers. You will not make a lot from this in my view, and you will spend a lot of time doing it too.

Courses have to have a recognised qualification at the end. You could see if any local photographers need assistants, but again, there will be little (or no) pay, but you will learn a lot.

[Hacker]

Originally Posted by Summerleft

I also looked at doing pics at riding club/country shows i know a few people who do this and dont do to badly, I worry that the corner of that market is getting a bit flooded

I do quite a few shows but not enough to give up the day job unfortunately! There are more and more doing it, either by selling prints on the day or web based sales (which I do) but what I have noticed recently is that the customers are becoming much more discerning. I was at a show a few weeks ago as a spectator and wandered in to the tent/marquee where the official 'tog was selling photos, no editing, just posting up thumbnails and customers buying then and there. Anyway, in the few minutes I was there I saw four customers asking for their money back as the images were not of a sufficiently high enough standard or quality. If you do go down this route enforce a strict QC on your images and more work will come of it.

Have a read of this guide I wrote, it might help.

[Summerleft]

Fantastic thanks that was a big help, your quite right i know a lot of teenager's and adults offering photo services but as you say people will start to look at the quality if the market gets saturated.

[Tatiana]

Hi,
i want to start my profession with photo...I am from Russia? and i live now in Ohio Cincinnati...
I would like to now what must i do!?????

[stepheno]

Hi Tatiana and welcome to Pixalo. I would suggest you have a look in our Tutorials-guides forum. There are a lot of good articles in there which will help you.