Financial Security vs. Fun Work

TruthSeeker

TruthSeeker

Fancy Virtual Reality Monkey
Valued Senior Member
How many people enjoy your job?
How many are just in the job to get money to live?
How many receive a miserable amount of money, but is happy because you enjoy your work?

I've been wondering wheter I'm really going in the right direction. I'm studying Business because I find it easy, I have lots of the required skills and it gives me financial security. But it is not that fun.

One thing that I've been considering doing is Fashion Photography. I love taking pictures, this job might give me some financial security and I have all the skills necessary. For example, I speak the language that the best models in the world speak - Portuguese! :D That would make me highly qualified, I guess... :)

I just think it is too bad that lots of people don't enjoy their jobs their entire lifes, just because they want financial security. I guess it is not worth to sacrifice fun for money...
 
Many people change carrers...that maybe an option for you if you're torn between the decision of an emotionally fulfilling carrer or financial security.

A lot of students in my school are 30+ crowd who are taking courses to expand their carrer options or completely changing their carrers into something less secure but more lucrative and fullfiling.

You, however, sound weary of the idea of doing something "fun" because the financial aspect of the future worry you so I suggest you give business a go, save up money and then if your love for photography is still there then by all means change carrers if you still feel the need to do so.

Also you must realize the ups and downs of fashion photography...it is a highly competitive business that offers many oppertunities for serious cash (and the constant flow of eye candy) but many people also get disillusioned by what they thought to be was fun. A lot of times the dreams get killed by the reality of it all. Consider the pros and cons of both carrer paths.

Also those who become quite successful in their chosen "fun" carrers are generally people who had nothing else in mind from the get go besides their love so they put in their heart and soul into it. Are you willing to do that?
 
Oh, majority changes their majors in college, and many have more than one masters degree. Depending on preferences and economic circumstances of the country, it may be possible to have a fun job and get well paid for it. Many I know decide to take a better paying job in order to afford their hobbies.

Fashion photography is a great field; however, since almost anyone can go and be a photographer, the competition is very large. Then again, Sarge and I are future illustrators, one step away from insanity.
 
whitewolf said:
Fashion photography is a great field; however, since almost anyone can go and be a photographer, the competition is very large. Then again, Sarge and I are future illustrators, one step away from insanity.
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True but then again this is why he has to be able to stand out from the rest. The big money comes to those who bring results...Playboy, Victoria secrets, Sports illustrated, Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar etc etc have incredible photographer's working for them. Anne Libowitz doesn't charge $75,000 and hour for no reason.

Truthseeker

Besides fashion photography there is money in other fields of photography too. Wildlife, journalism etc etc. Also after reading some testomonials from famous fashion photographers the luster of the fashion world seem to wear off rather quickly. Either you become another cliche bastard fashion photographer or you remain decent and become spiteful of your decision.
 
No matter what you do for a living, there are times when it feels great and there are other times when it feels terrible. It doesn't matter whether it was the career of your dreams or just something you fell into because you were good at it and somebody offered you a job. Life is just like that.

The best thing you can do is keep yourself versatile, so if some day you feel a deep and genuine need to change careers, you can do it. Take a variety of classes in college, don't just stick to the ones that are most relevant to your major. Keep reading, travel, talk to folks. Stay up with what's going on in the world and in technology and business.

Sometimes the choice will not be what to do, but where to do it. You seem to have a good handle on mobility, don't lose it.

As for money -- well, we live in a world where economics is the guiding philosophy. You can't ignore the importance of money. But what you can do is learn to manage it well and with discipline, so you can at least minimize the amount you require to have a lifestyle you consider satisfactory, and still have enough left to live on when you're too old to work. Many things that people take to be absolute necessities without a second thought are absolutely unnecessary and cost a bloody fortune. Fast food, designer sneakers, bottled water, buying beer and liquor at bar prices instead of shop prices, having a newer car just to drive to work, the list is endless. That's how people end up not having enough money.

So:

Keep your options open.

Learn to manage whatever money you have wisely.

Don't blame every run of bad luck or depression on your career choice.

Boa sorte, meu amigo!
 
whitewolf said:
Fashion photography is a great field; however, since almost anyone can go and be a photographer, the competition is very large. Then again, Sarge and I are future illustrators, one step away from insanity.
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Well... photography is not really something that anyone can do very well. Some people have an eye for it and others don't. I do have an eye for it and I believe that's because I'm a very observing and curious person. I'm always trying to see things in different ways that nobody ever thought of.

But unfortunately, people that just want money and think that photography is easy may try to go into photography. And the most horrible thing is that some people actually like their pictures althought they are actually horrible... :bugeye:

I've had some situations where I would show lots of pictures to someone and let them choose one. The picture that they would choose would always or almost always be the worse one. Arrrghh!

Too bad people have such bad taste nowdays... :(
Yesterday, I was browsing a magazine called "Maxim" to try to see if there was any good picture there worth giving a try. Yuck. I don't find them really good. Maybe if they were black and white? But they are kinda "pornish" anyways... :/

I was also browsing another one called "B&W", I think... and that one had lots of nice pictures... :)
 
sargentlard said:
Also you must realize the ups and downs of fashion photography...it is a highly competitive business that offers many oppertunities for serious cash (and the constant flow of eye candy) but many people also get disillusioned by what they thought to be was fun. A lot of times the dreams get killed by the reality of it all. Consider the pros and cons of both carrer paths.

Also those who become quite successful in their chosen "fun" carrers are generally people who had nothing else in mind from the get go besides their love so they put in their heart and soul into it. Are you willing to do that?
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Sometimes something really wrong goes on in my life (did I say sometimes... :rolleyes: ). Then I get all mad and cruncky. For example, there was one day that the bus that would take me home passed through me instead of stopping. Something that happens very often in Victoria... :rolleyes: Anyhow. I was really mad with the bus system. I started walking home really mad. The sun was setting and suddenly I saw a little flower bathed in the sunlight. Then, I immediately stopped being mad, got my camera and started taking pictures of the flower.

Is that enough love for a carreer? :D
 
sargentlard said:
Truthseeker

Besides fashion photography there is money in other fields of photography too. Wildlife, journalism etc etc. Also after reading some testomonials from famous fashion photographers the luster of the fashion world seem to wear off rather quickly. Either you become another cliche bastard fashion photographer or you remain decent and become spiteful of your decision.
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I photographer that likes discussing politics, philosophy and astrophysics will never become another "cliche bastard fashion photographer", will he...? :D

I know there are other fields. I particularly love taking pictures of nature. But that field is extremely competitive. There's nothing in that field that really make me stand out. Not to mention that I'm not very lucky with the lightning, the time of the day, etc. But for fashion photography I have lots of skills. I have travelling skills (I know what to do and how when I'm travelling). I have languages skills with four spoken languages, one of them being probably the most important in fashion photography: Portuguese. The best models in the planet speak Portuguese, and for them, talking with someone from their own country in their own language might feel much more comfortable than talking in English. Comfort is something very important for models. Take a picture of an umcomfortable model, and it won't look as nice. I also speak French, the language spoken in the "capital of fashion" or however they call it: France.

I find it rather ironic that I'm interested in fashion. I always found it stupid and meaningless... :D I guess it is because the people in that field is usually arrogant and earn lots of money. I hope I can make a difference and change that...

Btw... I just hate those pictures of models where they are asked to be totally serious. I find them simply stupid and arrogant. Don't you think? I love a smile. I would love to take pictures of smiley models... :D
 
Btw... I just hate those pictures of models where they are asked to be totally serious. I find them simply stupid and arrogant. Don't you think? I love a smile. I would love to take pictures of smiley models...
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Creative murder

Another lesson you'll learn soon enough if you do pursue this. It is not what you want it is what the client wants. A lot of sensible and prudent ideas along with creative ones will be rejected by the client to go for a more safe and norm driven advertising. The people running the arts of any kind are the ones who have no idea what art is.
 
Fraggle Rocker said:
The best thing you can do is keep yourself versatile, so if some day you feel a deep and genuine need to change careers, you can do it. Take a variety of classes in college, don't just stick to the ones that are most relevant to your major. Keep reading, travel, talk to folks. Stay up with what's going on in the world and in technology and business.
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:p
You are asking me to be versatile!?!? Do you know how big was my list of interest for my major? Here's a little bit of it...:
Astronomy
Astrophysics
Archeology
Antropology
Sociology
Quantum Physics
Linguistics
Computer Science
Acting
Piano
Pediatry
Philosophy
Filming
Animation
Photography
.
.
.
(in italics are the things that I'm actually studing at the same time I do Business as a major)...

Yeah well... you don't know me, so you don't know that I AM quite versatile. In fact, every single day I want to do something completely different that I've never done before. If I don't do it, I get bored...
Yuck... that's why my life sometimes feel so boring.

Earth is so sloooooooooow!!!!!!!!

Sometimes the choice will not be what to do, but where to do it. You seem to have a good handle on mobility, don't lose it.
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I love travelling. If I had the money I would study every year in different universities accross the planet.

As for money -- well, we live in a world where economics is the guiding philosophy. You can't ignore the importance of money. But what you can do is learn to manage it well and with discipline, so you can at least minimize the amount you require to have a lifestyle you consider satisfactory, and still have enough left to live on when you're too old to work. Many things that people take to be absolute necessities without a second thought are absolutely unnecessary and cost a bloody fortune. Fast food, designer sneakers, bottled water, buying beer and liquor at bar prices instead of shop prices, having a newer car just to drive to work, the list is endless. That's how people end up not having enough money.
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I'm not very materialistic. I find cars to be stupid and too much expensive. Although some of them seem to have an interesting design. As for beer, cigarettes, whateverelse... I don't use any of it. I find it a waste of money and life... So I'm safe on that... Ok, besides videogames and computer games... :D

So:

Keep your options open.

Learn to manage whatever money you have wisely.

Don't blame every run of bad luck or depression on your career choice.
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The last one kinda scares me... :/

Boa sorte, meu amigo!
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Obrigado :)
 
sargentlard said:
Creative murder

Another lesson you'll learn soon enough if you do pursue this. It is not what you want it is what the client wants. A lot of sensible and prudent ideas along with creative ones will be rejected by the client to go for a more safe and norm driven advertising. The people running the arts of any kind are the ones who have no idea what art is.
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Yes, it is true.

But I can always challenge and do my own thing... :D

The difference between a succesful person and a "normal" person is that the succesful person challeges what it is considered normal and finish by creating new things. All othe people prefer to be "safe" and they go through the "normal way. They get screwed... :D
 
Yesterday, I was browsing a magazine called "Maxim" to try to see if there was any good picture there worth giving a try. Yuck. I don't find them really good. Maybe if they were black and white? But they are kinda "pornish" anyways... :/
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Pornish in Maxim? Try Playboy :p Maxim is a cool magasine.
Yes, it is because of those sucky picture takers and people with sucky taste that the competition is large.
It is actually harder to get a job as a photographer now, than some time before. You can do photo journalism (which I considered with excitement and gave up), but TV substitutes for that a lot, and there are only so many photographers who can get assignments from a magazine or a newspaper. Fashion photo has larger possibilities, but again, so many people are in there! Oh, whats the name of that photographer who did the last picture taken of Charlie Chaplin in US.... He's still alive and well-functioning, with a house on Long Island! While he's around, I consider fashion photo field closed.
Now, what can really bring big money (when put together with the stable job, of course) is the sale of your pictures in galleries. BIG money.... That's what all artists do, they have their job, art assignments and whatever, and they sell their work to individual collectors. Each piece gives a few thousand, depending on size.
 
whitewolf said:
Pornish in Maxim? Try Playboy :p Maxim is a cool magasine.
Yes, it is because of those sucky picture takers and people with sucky taste that the competition is large.
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Yeah...too bad...:/

It is actually harder to get a job as a photographer now, than some time before. You can do photo journalism (which I considered with excitement and gave up), but TV substitutes for that a lot, and there are only so many photographers who can get assignments from a magazine or a newspaper. Fashion photo has larger possibilities, but again, so many people are in there! Oh, whats the name of that photographer who did the last picture taken of Charlie Chaplin in US.... He's still alive and well-functioning, with a house on Long Island! While he's around, I consider fashion photo field closed.
Now, what can really bring big money (when put together with the stable job, of course) is the sale of your pictures in galleries. BIG money.... That's what all artists do, they have their job, art assignments and whatever, and they sell their work to individual collectors. Each piece gives a few thousand, depending on size.
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I will consider that. It actually sounds even more attractive. But how would I do that? Do you know?
 
Um, I haven't tried selling any of my stuff yet. But what one does, I guess, is go to a gallery and try talking to the manager/owner. There are plenty of galleries in small towns and big cities. Also, what artists and their clients do, is they hang out in same places (helps both sides). Once you get to know other photographers and gallery owners, many publishers..... Shortly, get to know a lot of people in and around the field.
 
whitewolf said:
Um, I haven't tried selling any of my stuff yet. But what one does, I guess, is go to a gallery and try talking to the manager/owner. There are plenty of galleries in small towns and big cities. Also, what artists and their clients do, is they hang out in same places (helps both sides). Once you get to know other photographers and gallery owners, many publishers..... Shortly, get to know a lot of people in and around the field.
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Ok... that's helpful. Thanks :) ;)

What kind of photography do you do?
 
What kind of photography do you do?
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The kind that's for my pleasure. Prefer bw. Also, the kind I can use as reference. Since we often paint from photographs, I need pictures of absolutely everything (stll lifes, people, landscapes, etc), and as many as possible. I plan to keep working on my picture-taking skills. Hey, the more I can sell the better!
 
enjoy job: sometimes. It lets me surf on sciforums all day
Just to get money: my job doesn't pay much
Miserable amount: Yes, that is me. Does it make me happy? Sometimes. At least I have an enormous amount of freedom. And I have been flying my ass off.

Financial security:

List of my possessions:
1. Acer travelmate laptop
2. Canon Ixus
3. clothes
4. Mattress.
5. 1 huge Wine and 1 cocktail glass
6. One domain name and a website.

Security
1. insurance - none whatsoever. Nothing nada zero. Yes, that is right, I am totally not insured. Health wise this isn't actually a major problem since I never seem to get sick and I live in a socialist state.
2. Savings: about 8 big ones in Euro (which are not even on a savings account. It is unknown how I got them since I never saved any money. I must have spend less than I earned.
3. Pension: none.


Job perspectives: Completely unpredictable.

Age: 34



How can you live like this? Don't care about anything.
 
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