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School and Career Surprises: Tips From People on the Job

Career: "The lack of work I am finding slightly dissapointing. The lack of clients has made development of my company slow, but worthwhile none the less."

Best & Worst Things About This Career

"Working with the babies can be great and it also can be exhausting. Babies don't listen so you must be patient. Every baby is different and some have medical conditions. It changes from day to day and from room to room. I also can meet and work with parents that make my job pleasurable. Sometimes you can connect on level that leaves you feeling absolutely great. One of the downfalls is the language barrier. You will encounter some patients that do not speak English and it is very difficult to communicate with them."

"The best part of this job is when I take some photos that are beautiful. I get a high from looking at beautiful photos, especially when I'm the one who produced them. When I can stare at a photo and not get tired of it, I feel satisfied. I also enjoy working with people. I get to meet a lot of people at events. I love to make people look good. When I pull that off, and people are surprised that they look so good, I feel good. I get to see a lot of events (like lectures or plays) that I might not otherwise get myself out of the house to see. On the down side, there is a lot of pressure in this job. You have to get a good photo no matter what. Even if the light in a room is bad, and the people are moving fast, and the speaker doesn't look up, and people in the group aren't happy, I have to figure out how to get what I'm supposed to get, and make it good enough for what is needed. Things happen so fast in weddings, and people have very high expectations for their photos, sometimes the pressure and the fear of failure makes me want to do something else that is safer, like be an accountant. At least in that field, you have a definite right and wrong and your success isn't so subjective. Also, the hours can be bad. I used to think my job had a lot of flexibility, and I still think it sort of does. I can do my computer work at any hour of the day or night. But events happen at specific times, often on week-ends and evenings. If I've got a bad cold, or it's snowing out, or my kids are feeling really needy, I still need to go out and shoot the event. If I don't, I'll lose the client and damage my reputation, as well as disappoint whoever was counting on me. I now have several photographer friends as back-up, but during our busy seasons, it is scary to think of what would happen if I broke a leg."

Tips for Succeeding in This Career

"I honestly must say that you don't need a photographer background. You must be creative in a lot of ways. The company has a set of rules and positions that you must follow so it can take the guess work out of a lot of things. The camera is a very sophisticated device but lucky the company has certain settings that we must follow so you never need to change anything. In the end, you should be up beat creative and love to work with babies."

"Most people that who photography start out doing mostly nature or close-ups. Even people who have taken a lot of photography classes are usually not ready for the demands of a real photography job. If you want to get paid to do this, you need to work on lighting. Take courses on flash photography and lighting. Learn how to be able to deal with any situation you are given, not just take pretty photos when the mood or scene hits you. Also, assist for someone. Get practical experience. And if this is what you really want to do and your parents and friends think it isn't practical, don't give up. If you become good enough, and are willing to do what it takes to succeed, there is work out there."