nice osh-kosh

mr. hilter likes uniforms...

a hungry bear could eat that entire family...all by himself...and probably in one sitting

front, I'm doing the opposite. transitioning from fashion/portrait to architecture. (I don't see this as abandoning photography, as I plan to do it in some capacity always. Just learning something else on top of it all.)

My personal opinion is: Don't study it. I didn't. My career is fine. So is that of most people. Most people I know who are successful photographers didn't go to school for photography. Spend your money on equipment, not courework, except maybe the odd technical class here and there. If possible, apply for an internship/assistantship with a photographer to learn the ropes. Just start doing it.

catch-22. it's pretty tough to find a photographer to take u on if u don't know much, though, right?

wild pack of family dogs

i second surfaces comment. try to get a job as a photags assistant. learn the nuts and bolts and try to carve out your own work.

i have a friend that studied philosophy in school then became a policeman and is now a photographer. he told me it is either something you have or you don't. i joke with him that him next job will be as a pornstar or pimp. he seems to be making his way though all professions that start with the letter P.

young lee

oops

young lee

sanofiSYN - no, not really. If you are free/intern, SOMEONE will take you. Might take a while to work up to getting paid, but it'll happen. Unless you are creepy or unreliable.

But honestly, I got my first job (actually paid, too!) assisting photographers (including one VERY well known one) because I was there. I was working at a magazine and knew jack about photography, but sometimes photographers who shot for the mag would call up frantically asking to "borrow" an intern for a day because someone else had flaked out. I was a comparatively useless assistant because I can't lift and carry much, but I learned to load cameras and take stuff to the lab. I suppose that had I wanted to pursue the assistant route, I could have worked for these people again. [This sort of serendipity is probably impossible if you are not in a major urban area, but I live in NYC. So someone is always doing something, and someone always flakes.]

Then I didn't do photography related things at all for 2-3 years.

Then a graphic design client hired me to shoot photos for the piece I was designing for them. And the clients rolled in. I just didn't think of letting my ignorance stop me because I still don't really know anything about it. Most of the equipment is really ergonomic/intuitive in design so I would just sort of look at the structure or icons on the knobs, and figure it out.

If you want to learn some of the more technical stuff like developing processes, then maybe find a local art school that has night classes where you can learn that sort of thing? Oops, I see you're in Los Angeles- look at Otis and Art Center, which both have 'continuing education' programs. I've been told by students that tried both that Art Center's better, but Otis is like 1/2 the cost. Though I expect the decision for this one will be made on which offers what specific courses.

ps - yes I was already in a "contact" position by being at the mag, but honestly I got the feeling that if someone had randomly called these people up to say "hey, can I volunteer to help...?" they would've said yes.

my friend silent bob the art director was a photog's assistant for a while. sounded incredibly boring except for getting to ashley judd topless and having liz phair say she loved the music(highway 61) that he had put on when she came for a photo shoot.