Almost everyone learns to use a camera, but most people remain amateurs. Those who take their work to an increasingly higher level form the pool from which professional photographers are drawn.
So how do you know if you have the potential for professional photography? First, will come a compelling desire to produce images that attract the attention of others. The intensity of your desire to improve will determine how many rolls of film you expose and whether you choose to do your own darkroom work or send your film to a photo finisher.
In getting started, consider visiting camera shops and attending amateur photography club meetings in your high school or community. This will broaden your knowledge of the fundamentals of picture making. If you have managed to invest in a camera of your own, with interchangeable lenses and a light meter (if there is none in the camera), you now are on your way to making better photographs. The next step would be to look for an enlarger, three or four small trays, and a room you can close off to have complete darkness then you are in business. You also will need processing chemicals.
After you have made exposures in your camera (taken pictures), processed your films, and made some prints from your negatives, you should be eager to print larger and better pictures. This is the point at which you should be reading more photography magazines and books and arranging to visit some advanced amateur's setup or a professional photographer's studio. Observing the type and amount of equipment used by them will show you what you are getting into. Only by asking questions will you learn what expenses you will have if you decide to expand your own darkroom facilities and camera equipment.
After your visits to camera stores, an amateur's darkroom, or to a professional photographer's studio, as well as talking to your counselor in school provided you are still a student you should know how strong your desire is to advance in the photography field.
Let us assume you now own a good camera (35mm or 120 size) have read some books, have a darkroom setup of your own, have exposed some films and made prints, and have visited camera stores and a professional photography studio. The next step would be to think of finding part time work helping a professional photographer in any capacity available.
Experience In School
Most high schools have a darkroom with some equipment, a student newspaper, a camera club, or a yearbook. Let it be known that you would like to be a staff member of one of the student publications and join the camera club. Architects and school boards across the country have incorporated darkrooms and facilities in school buildings because photography has become so important to communication programs. Also, high school camera clubs have proven to be valuable to the schools in gaining additional publicity and recognition in local newspapers, besides providing greater pictorial coverage for yearbooks and student newspapers.
A fine organization with an impressive photography program, active in many rural high schools, is the 4 H Clubs of America. Information on this organization's photography program may be obtained by contacting your local high school principal, the office of your county Cooperative Extension Service, your state department of agriculture, or by writing directly to the 4 H Program Extension service.
If you are going to be active in your camera club, 4 H project, or the yearbook or student newspaper staff, don't overlook the chance of making some outside money to pay the costs of your equipment and materials. This can be done by making the acquaintance of your neighborhood newspaper editor to see if you can furnish occasional photographs of school activities for use in the newspaper. Selling extra prints from your negatives to students and their parents is another income producing idea that will help you increase and improve your photographic equipment and knowledge.
When you start showing some monetary return on your photography investment, you will have a new and different outlook on photography as a valuable lifetime hobby or profession. This also could be the beginning of your career in the business world. Thousands of high school graduates have gone into trade schools and colleges with high school photography experience and earned their tuition, cost of books and room and board by selling photographs on campus or working as a technician or photographer with student publications. In addition, remember that you could still represent your college, neighborhood, or weekly or daily newspaper as a campus photographer. Remember, too, that the hometown newspaper editor could use that occasional photograph of the community's students receiving recognition while away at college.
An example of being successful in working one's way through college by selling photographs is Victor Keppler. By taking pictures and selling them wherever he could, Mr. Keppler was able to work his way through high school, college, and law school. He did so well financially and enjoyed photography so much that he continued to become one of America's most successful professional photographers. The history of photography lists many other big names who worked their way to the top with photography while learning all they possibly could about the profession.
You would not need to wait until you have gone to college or received a degree in photography to start making a name for yourself. High school is a good time to start, even though many have started gaining recognition after graduating from college and even after retirement from other professions.
Even though photography as a hobby or as a profession can be rewarding from a monetary standpoint, we would not recommend going into the profession purely for the sake of making money. Be sure that photography is the one occupation that will give you the most pleasure and personal satisfaction. If there is another profession that comes to mind that would give you more enjoyment, then pursue it, and use photography as a hobby or sideline.
