I assume the reason you’re reading this post is because you like taking pictures (mostly of yourself. its ok, I do it too) or mostly because you aspire to become a photographer one day.

Well I’ve got good news for you.You can absolutely become a photographer.if you’ve google’d the term ‘photography’ or ‘how to become a photographer’, like I did some months ago. you would have seen a million articles telling just how easy it is.they are right, its easy when you know what you’re doing.

So how do you know what to do, well first, get a book or a web tutorial (you can find some here and here) and  read on the basics of photography, exposure,composition, rule of thirds,types of lens, ambient light,depth of field you get the point.You need to understanding the details of how the camera works. This can get boring but that’s one reason I said its hard.you need a god dose of discipline to learn how photography works.

The next thing you want to do is start taking photographs, go out and Shoot! Shoot what? you ask. ANYTHING that interest you. the point is to start doing what you want to do.don’t fuss about how the photos look.remember you’re learning.it takes about 15 shots to get one good one.so be encouraged.

Forget about making money out of it for now.one thing you might learn from doing this step is that you might stumble on the type of photographs you want to be doing later on. whether its model, landscape, aerial, macro, wedding,child or product photography.

WAIT, notice I have said nothing about the camera/ gear you use.it really those not matter at this stage.in fact don’t BUY any expensive camera at this stage.one of the best advice I have gotten from experienced photographers is that “the best camera is the one you have”.I use a GE A735 that’s short for a point and shoot camera aka a compact camera and worse, I borrowed it.

Wow! you’re still reading, Congratulations you’ve passed stage one.the next stage is to find photographers in your area. you could find this on Google by searching for “Photographers in‘Country name’” or ask friends for a recommendation. the point here talk to a successful photographer and learn what they did to become successful.this is called an informational Interview ,don’t worry, this is not that of a big deal.you can find a tutorial and actual scripts  on how to do this here.

If you still convinced you want to do this, then its time to invest in training.As usual you can find this online or by recommendation.For more inspiration. read this article by elophotos interviewing aisha kuta (an award winning Nigerian photographer).

I hope you found this information useful, but its more than finding it useful, you have to do IT. That’s the HARD part.While I don’t do photography professionally, I still take pictures in my spare time.They are not perfect but I am getting better at it (it takes a while to be really good at this),so just get out there and take pictures.

“ if you are sure that this is what you want to do, do not sleep – shoot!” Kelechi Amadi-Obi (Award Winning Photographer)

 

P.S. I Recommend you read this article Starting out in Photography written  by Seun Akinsanmi.it goes into details about some of the things I talked about.

images from naixn Flickr Stream and warribros Flickr Stream