Fairy Tale Job?

[Goomba]

After being through a few jobs and observing other people's lives and jobs, I've come to the conclusion there is no perfect job. Further more, I think the whole, 'Do what you love, and the money will follow' saying is a flat out lie. Thats why I settled for a career at Walgreens. I make decent money for my age, I do a very good job there and I'm recognized for it, and I don't (or didn't) hate it.

Then I went to Moab, Utah with a good friend of mine. I don't know exactly what happened there, or if it was all Moab's fault, but my perception on careers changed.

I came back and I hated work. I dreaded the though of heading into work. I realized that slowly, over time, I had become a huge tool. I was my bosses little prospect, and I didn't mind because all I could think about was making even more money than I was now. None of this affected my work ethic, I still worked very hard because I felt that I was getting paid to do it. But now, my heart wasn't there. I used to be thrilled that I was being looked over, to see how well I was doing. When I heard it this time, it was just sort of like, 'Okay, thats cool.'. But enough drama, you can see how I feel about my job now.

Now, even though I'm set to become one of the companies youngest store managers, I'm not sure if I want it, or if I want to do it for very long.

As some of you have noticed, I've started posting in the Photography section more and more. And I've started to think about going to college and earning a BA (Bachelor of the Arts) in Photography. I realize I still have a lot to learn and a lot more to experience, but I think it could be something that I could truly enjoy doing for a job, or even as a career.

My biggest delima is wondering if I'm chasing after a dream. The college course costs roughly $70k, and would take me at least 4 or 5 years, depending on how I combine school and work into the same schedule. Also, I'd be taking quite a paycut going from either Store Manager or even Executive Assistant Manager to photographer. My only other feat is to end up being the guy that goes to high schools and takes pictures for their yearbooks.

However, if I did land a job as a photographer and I could travel where ever I wanted to take pictures of mother nature or even for commercial use, it would be well worth any amount of money.

So am I nuts to go after something like this? The responsible, logical part of me is saying I'm nuts, and this could be a lot of money and time down the drain. However, the dreamer part of me keeps trying to convince the rest of myself, so far, it seems like its winning.

Any and all feedback would is welcomed and very appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

 

[Nick_Johnston28]

Hey mike, i say go for it! Learn all you can, then maybe in a year or so, try going out to the local races and shoot some photos, maybe even try to sell them. Get you're name out there. The local photographer out here gives us stickers to put on our karts, if we come into the scales with his sticker on, we get a dollar. The kids love it, and he gets his sticker printed in mags., and also gets his name out there. Its about being known, not being there.

Good luck!

Nick

 

[TB]

Take the position. If nothing else, it'll look good in a resume. And a few extra buck in the pocket to get through school quicker ain't a bad think either.

As far as the making less comment, I would rather earn less but be happy than the other way around. Provided that you make enough to support yourself/family. If you are going to go for photography, keep in mind that there are a ton of professional photographers and getting your foot in the door might be difficult (this is just a guess, as I have never looked into the market).

And don't resort to being paparazzi.

 

[emad]

y'know what? Go for it. Life is short and the job market is tight (at least for what I want to do). Do some photojournalism stuff, go out there and enter all the photography contests that are out there (Unept-Photo being one of the biggest of them all) and get yourself recognized. Depending on the university you go to, you could probably see if you can get a job shooting for the school's magazine/newspaper. Once your foot is in the door, you should be set.

Another suggestion is to go to print shops. The places are sometimes looking for photographers whenever clients come in and say they need professional looking photos taken for their flyers and such. I do that for my bro's shop on occasion. At $500+ per photoshoot, it's good scratch 👍

 

[PS]

Are you any good at painting? No? Paint abstract then. Can't paint abstract? Pretend to paint abstract and it will end up just plain funky.

Rule of thumb: people who buy paintings don't actually know what art is. It could have been painted by a 5 year old and they wouldn't know the difference. My school councillor says if you can get into an artsy-fartsy city, they'll buy anything. And it's true. He's sold multiple paintings well in excess of $50,000.00. I think he's selling one to the Hockey Hall of Fame for $140,000.00. His isn't abstract though, but the guy knows what he's talking about, and most of his stuff sucked. But because the town was full of suckers, he could charge obscene prices and all of a sudden it made the work good. Unfortunately the same can not be said for photography, as much of it goes unrecognised. If you really persue it, however, anyone can turn a hobby into a job, it's just a matter of getting out there and making sure people know who you are and that you exist.

 

[emad]

On the topic of studying at university, have you considered studying abroad? I know for a fact that if you study in Canada, you'll be paying less than half of what you would otherwise be paying per year in the US and the schools are just as good if not better. Ryerson for example is an arts and engineering school. Their aerospace program is world renowned but the tuition fee is a mere $12k Canadian for someone on a student visa and about 5-6k for dorms.

Take a look at Sheridan College as well. It's one of the best art schools around, tuition isn't bad, but it's damn hard to get into.

 

[PS]

Guelph U is better than Harvard and it's like 15K/year.

 

[dbartucci]

Guelph U is better than Harvard and it's like 15K/year.

Everyone knows Queen's (my soon to be alma mater) is Harvard North.

Sheridan college is world reknown for their animation, especially computer animation. Many of the animators at Pixar (Finding Nemo, Toy Story, etc.) went there.

 

[emad]

Pffft, Ryerson is the best I tells ya!!

 

[Goomba]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, keep it coming.

As far as universities, it sort of scares me to move. I'm worried that I won't be able to land a job or one that will pay enough for me to get through college. I'm sure I could work this out ahead of time though. Thank eMad, I'll take a look into it. Infact, my friend and I were talking about moving to Canada when we were coming back from Moab.

 

[Danoff]

The college course costs roughly $70k, and would take me at least 4 or 5 years

I'd say you're nuts to pay that much money for that degree. I might undersand if you were going to be a lawyer or doctor and were gauranteed a big paycheck...

My advice is to find a good college that costs much less - but do pursue the career you're passionate about. You only get to live once and you spend most of your waking time at work - might as well be something you care about.

 

[Flame-returns]

Pick photography and go freelance.
Buuuuttttttt dont expect to travel much if you dont take freelance, remember that whichever franchhise chooses to employ you its generally up to them where you travel, there are a few exceptions to this but not many.

Do you pick up Practical Photography in the USA they have alot of info about taking up photography as a profession

 

[Goomba]

My advice is to find a good college that costs much less - but do pursue the career you're passionate about. You only get to live once and you spend most of your waking time at work - might as well be something you care about.

You're very right. I was in one of my, peace, loving, life is wonderful mood, hippy moods and that finally hit me. I know everyone has said it, not only in this thread but a million dozen times in life as well. I'm pretty sure I said it and thought I knew it too. However, I don't think I truly got it until last night.

Do you pick up Practical Photography in the USA they have alot of info about taking up photography as a profession

Practical Photography is a magazine I'm assuming? I just ordered a subscription to Popluar Photography, but I haven't seen or heard about Practical Photography.

Update: I've been bugging a professional photographer that lives in Colorado about anything and everything relating to digital photography. Now, we're trying to work out something were I'll be working as his photo assistant. Yehaw! This should give me a better look at the field of photography as a profession, rather than a hobby.

 

[Max_DC]

I would really think about it... Making your hobby to your job is not always a good idea... and especially arts not really well payed except of some individuals... I'd say do your job, and earn the money for your hobby... you seem to be good at what you are doing and that's why I wouldn't change your situation, who knows perhaps you are are only in a depressive phase and recover within this year or within several ... as long as you don't hate your job I would stay... think of your future life : you study ( costs a lot of money ) then you have some jobs and it is more likely that you take pictures of boring products ( advertising ) or small town events than a " Lanscape beauty Africa tour " ... and all that for a minimal income... stay where you are, book a trip to somewhere in the world ( Africa, Asia, wherever you like to take photos ) for your next vacation, look forward to that, keep on working hard in your job & and spend the waiting time until your trip with a little GT4 here and a little whatever you like there and don't risk to waste your future...

 

[Goomba]

I would really think about it... Making your hobby to your job is not always a good idea... and especially arts not really well payed except of some individuals... I'd say do your job, and earn the money for your hobby... you seem to be good at what you are doing and that's why I wouldn't change your situation, who knows perhaps you are are only in a depressive phase and recover within this year or within several ... as long as you don't hate your job I would stay... think of your future life : you study ( costs a lot of money ) then you have some jobs and it is more likely that you take pictures of boring products ( advertising ) or small town events than a " Lanscape beauty Africa tour " ... and all that for a minimal income... stay where you are, book a trip to somewhere in the world ( Africa, Asia, wherever you like to take photos ) for your next vacation, look forward to that, keep on working hard in your job & and spend the waiting time until your trip with a little GT4 here and a little whatever you like there and don't risk to waste your future...

I certainly don't plan on leaving my current job anytime soon, at least not within the next five to ten years. Right now I don't have enough experience as a photographer to make any money, my pictures are still very amature and I have a lot to learn and try. Also, I have too many expenses right now, there is no way I could leave my current job unless I knew exactly how much income the next job would have. Finally, I already tried turning a hobby into a career with my taste for autos. I worked at a car dealership for a few months, and after seeing what goes on, realizing what the atmosphere was like, etc. I left and went back to Walgreens. So, I'm going to be far more careful about it this time around.

However, I am thinking of my future. Even if I only earned half of what I could at Walgreens, that would be fine. Not earning oodles of money or even a good amount of money isn't my goal here. I'm more worried about settling for less or something I dislike. If I stayed at Walgreens but had the chance to be a good photographer, and I didn't take it, I think that would be the biggest waste of my future.