Position:Home>Visual Arts> Please PLease give me some advice. Really need your help. THANKS A LOT!?
Question: Please PLease give me some advice!. Really need your help!. THANKS A LOT!!?
I’m a recent high school grad and I really need your advice!. I kind of know what I want my career goal to be and I kind of don’t, just really confused!. Lately, my interest in photography has been growing and I am becoming pretty attached to it!. I’ve always wanted an adventurous job that will allow me to travel the world!. !.!. a fun, unique, adventurous, travel-filled and exciting job!. Something that really entices me is to become a national geographic photographer!. The only problem is I don’t want to major in photography, biology, zoology, or anything of that case!. I don’t mind to minor in photography, but I don’t think I really want to major in it!. The only other problem is that I also really want to major in international business and I’ve never heard of a business major working for national geographic!. No matter what I want to major in international business!. Please give me some advice!. also, out of curiosity, if you know can please tell me how much a national geographic photographer gets paid!? Thanks a bunch!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Lets see if I understand you!.
You want to be a member of one of the most elite groups of photographers in the world (National Geographic) and do not want to study photography, or physical science or natural science or any of the secondary knowledge branches that would make National Geographic want to recruit you, yet at the same time you want to become a National Geographic photographer!.
Is that about it!?
I don't know how you plan on doing that!. There are a certain number of skills one must have just to be an ordinary photographer !.!.!. it usually takes at least a couple of years to learn those skills when you attend school and put a lot of effort into keeping a GPA of at least 3!.5 in your major!. Then there are the few years when you work as an assistant or junior staff photographer and hone your skills to the point that you can with assurance, shoot any camera using either film or digital medium, anywhere in the world, on demand!.
Then to hope to work for National Geographic, you should at least belong to either NPPA or ASMP and have excellent networking among your peers and after you have hundreds of quality tear sheets of your published work, maybe, just maybe some one will mention your name as the perfect photographer for a certain assignment and perhaps one of those times it is for National Geographic Magazine !.!.!. maybe!.
Of the shooters who have done work for National Geographic Magazine I either know or have met at various conferences or workshops, most have had over 15 or 20 years experience before they shot their first assignment with National Geographic!. Most of them have either a minor in an unrelated field to photography (sociology, field science, communications !.!.!. sort of close to photo I guess !.!.!.) and mostly have all their own tools (cameras, lenses and lighting) and have shown themselves to be thoroughly competent when creating photos or image files for clients at a level above and beyond expectations!.
Maybe you can tell us how you think you can do all that without some intense study on your part in photography!.
While it is wonderful to dream, you also need a cohesive, logical plan of how you expect to achieve the goal!.
You may want to sit down and write a business plan called "How I will become a National Geographic photographer" and then chart your course!.
And yes shooting around the world can be unique, adventurous and exciting !.!.!. especially when you are sailing through the Caribbean in a 45 foot yacht in hurricane season and saving your digital image files to a notebook computer at 0230 in 20 foot seas and have to stand watch from 0400 to 0800 before you can do any editing (sorting) and burning backups before your next day of shooting starts!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
mate, i think you are just really not sure wat you want to do at the moment, and bein a high school grad that is ok, i had no idea wat i wanted to do atthat age, and it has taken me 7 years to realise wat i want to do, and i am now getting into it!.
good luck mateWww@QuestionHome@Com
Fhotoace will be able to give you correct answer about being a photographer for NG!.
On the other hand, I am curious--although I have never worked for NG (nor do I have any desire to), I hardly think it is a "fun" job!. To me, it looks almost dangerous!.
Are you looking at this through rose-colored belief or assumption!?
And I do believe (as little as I know about it), that if you decline to major in any of those subjects you mentioned, the chance will be rather slim!. You simply can't just snap away random photos and expect them to be published given an assignment!.!.
I hope I am not being too negative about this!.
Www@QuestionHome@Com
A short observation: You don't have a career goal, you have a desired lifestyle!. They are not the same thing!.
As far as being an NG photographer, it's work!. A lot of work, a huge amount of work and you have to be very serious about photography!. You can't decide to be a NG photographer and then, almost off hand, devote some time to learning a little about photography!. You do not get to be a member of the photography elite, whether it is NG, or anywhere else because you want a job!. Getting to be an elite photographer isn't a job, it's a concrete recognition of a personal achievement in photography!.
If NG wanted me as a staff photographer, I would drop everything and anything to take that position!. I wouldn't ask how much it paid, it would be enough
Forget photography, except as an enjoyable hobby, and go to college in either international business, or international law!. You'll make plenty of money and you'll probably get to travel!.
I don't think professional photography is for you in any way except as a pleasurable hobby and I don't advise you consider it!.
VanceWww@QuestionHome@Com
http://www!.pbs!.org/atcloserange/
This is a PBS show that aired chronicalling some of the stuff just one NG photographer goes through!. I watched the show!. It's very!.!.!. heavy!. Sounds so 80's but it is!. The guy gets dirty, real dirty!. He has no family life (I know that a high schooler doesn't care too much about that stuff), but one time when his wife picked him up from the airport he asked what they should do for dinner!. She said "oh I have it covered at my place"!. He was just a visitor it seems!.
He's been to Alaska, shooting elk and caribou!. And it wasn't the nice season!. He's been to Bolivia, where he contracted a disease and had to be treated for months once back home!. He's been almost trampled by full grown bulls, and attacked by snakes!. Gotten way too close to alligators, and stared down bears!. And he's also waited in the same spot for 3 weeks for a shot to present itself to him!.
Yes there's adventure, but there's other things that go with that!. And you have to be a top notch photographer on top of other things, not the other way around!. He was also the last National Geographic photographer to use slide film instead of digital!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Sorry I don't know for sure how nat geo pays their photographers but for many publications you start small, get clips of stuff you sold to maybe some lesser known publications, start a portfolio in other words, and submit your best on a per piece basis until you build a reputation as talented and reliable!. Then you get the big bucks and contracts!. It takes time, so start developing (no pun intended) your reputation now!. It sounds like you already made your choices!. There's no reason you can't do international business and do photography too! It sounds like a good fit!. Just have fun, but produce and submit those wonderful photos--maybe start with your local newspaper or a student newsletter or some journal your parents get!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Well, you're being torn between what you like to do as an interest (photography/NG) and what you want to do for success (International Business Major)!. It really depends on which side you prefer most, that's what you should do!.
People who work for National Geographic do include scientists, journalists and photographers -- the people who travel, anyway!. You said you don't want to do the science side, so 2 main choices are left!.
For photography, yes, you can minor, or even double major if you want!.
But for journalism, the non-scientific aspect, you might consider a Creative Writing, or a humanities major, like anthropology, archeology -- these are somewhat "less scientific" majors than biology or zoology and they tend to concentrate on world cultures and societies by taking an interactive approach!. This means a lot of travel!.
Or, you can major in international business, make a lot of money, and then travel the globe on your own time and money!.
I guess the question you have to ask yourself is why do you want to travel!? Is it for fun, or too see other cultures!? Or what!? That will also lead you to a specific major!.
also, majoring in a language might not be a bad idea if you're going to travel somewhere specific!.Www@QuestionHome@Com