How Taking a Professional Photography Course Online may Help You Become Successful

Did you know that your chances of being a photographer have increased more than ever in recent years? A professional photography course can help you to achieve career goals.

How so?

According to one recent report by the Business Insider, people will take around 1.2 trillion digital photos in the year 2018. Though a lot of these photographers are hobbyists, many may wind up in modern day photography related professions. A few quick examples would be:

• Photojournalism for social media,
• Content creation for a brand’s social media presence
• Influencers (bloggers and vloggers) that are often hired on paid partnerships to promote brands

The numbers of hobbyist photographers are startling. According to one Statista report of the US, 39.6% of respondents, aged between 18 & 29, said that they practiced photography (see graph). While this means that there is a greater competition among people to end up as professionals, there also remains a good chance for higher skill development as more and more people strive to produce high quality imagery.

The Future Of Photography

It’s rather interesting how despite the rapid increase in the number of photographers due to the ever-evolving technological advancement, the future of photography still seems bright.

So how can you tell if the future is bright?

The US Bureau of Labour Statistics stated that photography is maintaining its pace with growth in other simultaneous industries: at around 8 to 10% over a period of two years (read on: business.com).

Moreover, the meaning of photography as art has also become quite relevant lately. According to one source, photography has established as the hottest new art investment trend for the very well-to-do. On example would be of the photo by Thomas Struth taken at The Art Institute of Chicago (see below), one of the most famous galleries in the world, which was sold at a whopping $777,088. Ironically, it is not even the only copy that exists.

You might also be curious about how the field of photography might change in the coming days. While we won’t know for sure unless we see it for ourselves, there are predictions that may be of help and a lot of interest.

Here are some noteworthy predictions about the future of photography.

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The Photography Business

You will find countless debates among artists of all kinds regarding photography being a form of art. While some say paintings stem from photography, others believe paintings inspire photographic works. We won’t go too much in depth over this debate, but we’ll help you understand your craft so you make a well-informed decision.

Surely, everyone wants to know this part. Being a hobbyist is easier than being a well-paid professional. But what if we told you if you’re a hobbyist, you can even end up being a well-paid professional?

Need inspiration?

Consider the example of Brandon Stanton, the creator of ‘Humans of New York’ (HONY), a compilation aimed to have the photos and stories of 10,000 people across New York, wholly and solely clicked and narrated by Brandon himself. He started off from a common social media platform, and only later did he publish his own photo book with 400 faces that ended up being Amazon’s “best book of the month” for October 2013 (source: The New York Times). He was also published among Time’s “30 under 30 People Changing The World”.

The perks of being a photographer are worth mentioning!

Here’s a list of things that you can enjoy should you choose to be a photographer

1. Be self-employed!

In the age of e-commerce and digital media, being a self-employed photographer is a viable option. If you have an up and running Instagram and/or Flickr, for instance, you can end up with freelance projects.

2. Get opportunities to travel.

A lot of photography jobs require frequent travels that are all paid for! Even for fashion photography, you might sometimes be shooting at various locations abroad!

3. Enjoy diversity.

Just like many other creative fields, photography offers diverse job roles. You could pick a career in photojournalism, fashion photography, stock imagery, advertisement photography, social media content, to name a few.

4. Experience personal growth and exposure.

A photographer might end up gaining global exposure depending on the kind of work. Photo works could be a part of international publications, both in print and digital, depending on the field.

Look at more advantages here.

All in all, the photography business continues to bring benefits to practitioners, with fluctuations in the overall business, depending on geographical regions. According to one statistic, the number of photographer job ads has increased by 3.5% as compared to the year 2017, with 4587 current vacancies. Click here to find out more about photographer jobs in the UK.

New Media & Photography

A lot of people collect landscape as well as portrait photos just as a hobby on their smartphones. Luckily for smartphone users, stock images are quite a profound way of making good money, as a lot of stock images are purchased for digital platforms. Some smartphones may even produce images good for print on magazines and calendars.

Photography has evolved in the past few years like never before. But is it a good or a bad thing? Let’s try finding out.

Smartphones are all over the place!

It is no secret that with each year’s cell phone model, creators try to improve the camera for more and more professional-looking results.

So how are smart phones a good option?

Precisely, the following is a list of features that make phone photography a cheap and comparatively lower quality source of imagery, which could work perfectly fine for social media marketing or digital photojournalism.

• With newer technology, it is easier to have higher megapixels in a more and more compact size, which makes photography more convenient.
• You can now find a number of companies that produce phones with more than one camera, hence providing lenses for a wider range of photographs. Consider the iPhone X, which even has a specifically designed lens for close-ups and studio-like portrait photography.
• Nowadays, there are companies producing smartphones with photography as their primary selling point. This means that there are bound to be some camera quality features that make the product standout. Functions such as live images, HDR, lighting options, etc. make capturing good quality pictures a lot easier.

Curious to know what phone could be the best? Know more about smartphones here.

Professional Photography Courses Online

When you’ve made a decision about your career, the next big step is choosing the method of study wisely.

A lot of institutions offer a full Bachelor’s degree in photography and related fields while you will also come across yearlong Master’s programmes in photography. Though it is true that those formally trained in the profession may earn as high as £48,000, it is not impossible to earn as much without a long-pursued degree. Rather, with the field evolving at a quick pace, it may be helpful to take shorter courses instead of longer ones, which cost lesser and are still great learning opportunities.

How much will you earn?

The salaries of photographers in the UK lie between £14,212 and £48,832 (Payscale), which means there really isn’t a way to quote a closest amount as it is all subject to one’s field (fashion, product, etc.) and skill level. There is however, one way to make sure that you’re appropriately skilled even if you haven’t had any professional training.

We have you sorted!

You must have heard about online learning, especially for photography. While it may help you to take free tutorials available on the Internet, at some point nonetheless, you may need to take a course that gives you professional recognition.  The good news is you can have that without spending huge sums of money.

Our Recommendation

If you are looking for courses that are created and taught by expert photographers, with accredited, globally recognised certifications at commendable prices, have a look at the course list below.

Digital Photography Training Landscape Photography Training Photography with DSLR Camera Travel Photography Training Commercial Photography Training Mobile Photography Training

The best part about learning with Global Edulink is that you get to choose from a diverse range with varying photo gear, from cell phones to digital camera to all lighting equipment. The training is self-paced so you are never bound by time or place, and you get to ask any queries or technical questions you may have from your tutor.

Liked the blog? Leave us feedback or email us at [email protected]. Happy Photographing!