Guest Post: Got a Degree, Now What?

Jamie and I have been friends for nearly eight years. We first met when I compete in the Miss California Sweetheart Pageant, which she directed. I am proud to see how she has grown over the years and look forward to sharing in her future successes. 

Hi everyone! I’m Jamie, guest blogger for today. I recently graduated from Moorpark College with a degree in Photojournalism and also Liberal Arts. So…. now that I’m done with school, what’s next? Good question.

Ultimately, I would love to be a freelance photographer specializing in NASCAR.  But there seems to be a catch 22 when it comes to NASCAR. Most NASCAR photographers are freelance, however, you need to work for a publication in order to be granted photo credentials. So how do the freelance photographers do it? I have yet to figure that out.

Photography is a difficult genre to make a constant living at. I could open my own studio, but I hate shooting portraits. I just don’t like posing people. It seems so fake and unnatural to me. Plus, I’ve never been really comfortable using equipment that can potentially kill me (aka lighting). Weddings are also out of the question. The pressure of the “big day” would make me crack. They are easy money though… from what I’ve heard. The only other option for a steady living would be to work in one of those chain photo studios. It might be a steady income, but it is also a way to quickly start hating photography. Everything is all preset and there is a total void of creativity or vision.

One of my biggest fears is that whatever I do wind up doing will kill my love of the art. Being around the photo lab at school had that effect on me. Too many people always looking down on you because they think they are hot shit. I found though, that the bigger their ego, the more mediocre there work was. Maybe that’s why the “top dog” of the photo department has been a community college student for 8 years now. You know the saying “those who can’t, teach”? Yeah, that’s going to be that guy.

So I’m not sure what is in store for me now. I’ll probably just get regular job to pay the bills and continue to do photography on the side. Just shoot whatever interests me at the time. Maybe I can figure out how to get listed on Getty Images. I think I could do some nice stock photography. Who knows, maybe there’s a living to be made there and I don’t even know it. Only time will tell.