warning: tl;dr with a photo to conclude the essay... lol
I have a journalism/broadcasting degree, but I'm not going to be pursuing any journalism or broadcasting jobs.
The only form of journalism I'm going to be doing is really on my own accord, so freelancing my own work out to places. I don't want to be tied down in a job like that, and I'm kind of affected by all the shit things that happen in the world. I can't see myself handling all that stuff everyday, let alone being good enough. When I graduated uni, I was average, I didn't try hard and I certainly didn't have the social skills I have now. If I'd have had a job during uni that would've helped me immensely... but it doesn't matter now. After finishing uni there was no real jobs around here, and I didn't want to have to go out to the country to do jobs, because at that point I didn't have my license, had barely spent a night away from home... I couldn't do any of that.
I decided to go back to uni and do photography, which is something I'd always loved. This was about the time I was getting into Smogon, I was naive and much like all new people to Smogon, wanting to do everything possible and be the best and be a Treecko. Treecko was getting into Smogon at that time too, he succeeded at that and I didn't. It doesn't really bother me now because what I'm doing I love. That doesn't matter now, because I pulled out towards the end of the semester because I couldn't handle the old cameras. My mind can't just connect what I can't see immediately, I wasn't at the stage where I'd know what I'm seeing is what the final product will be. I hated going to uni and that it'd take time away from being here, and having to spend a fuckload of money on equipment and materials to put together one photo irritated me. Having to cut straight, see in a barely lit room, change a roll in the dark (note I can't even change the till roll at work currently in the LIGHT - tbf it's kind of not an easy task)... basically all coordination things and I'm not the most coordinated person. The old cameras worked for people years ago, but that process took up so much time and I don't have patience waiting like three hours to finally get a shot. I want to see my images immediately. I know that's bad but... I just can't do that shit lol.
Flash forward to now. I'm moving to Queensland in 13 days, and quitting my two retail jobs. My long term goal is to do retail part time, and work on putting together a photography portfolio in the mean time. I want to create my own photography business ultimately, and I know it's a long and hard task etc, but I did learn a lot from that one semester I was in uni. In the studio photography class I learnt a lot about lighting, outdoor lighting and so on, and one of my photos (for a specific criteria) was the best in the class. I'd never had that during all the time I was at uni for my communications degree. I've been taking photos ever since I was about 14 (turning 23 this month) and I've always been obsessed with the final result (more so now that I'm older). I photographed my aunty's wedding, and without any of the professional equipment or skills (a DSLR, and two lens) I did a pretty good job. Photography has always been end-game for me, I always assumed after I was a famous journalist, when I retire I'd sell my photographs at 60 or something. But really, journalism isn't for me. My degree taught me a lot and I'm thankful for that (and it's also given me a big HECS fee) but it's not what I'm supposed to be doing.
It only really hit me a few days ago, when I was reading one of the magazines from work (we get 'em for free if we rip the front covers and return them when they're due) on the sky at night. The photographs in there really impressed me and reminded me that I want to do that. In an ideal world I'd be a TV news reporter, but I'm honestly not equipped for that, and that's fine, because photography is better for me. There's so many different things that need photography. The world is going online, and the demand for photography increases. I'm going to start looking into photography guides (and my stuff from my brief stint studying photography at uni) and getting the equipment I need. A DSLR is great but I need more than that if I want to be a professional. After I've paid off my HECS fees (I'm going to put money towards it each month) I'm going to go back to some sort of education institution and this time only tackle digital photography. I appreciate those who can use the black and white stuff, but digital is for me.
The thought of working full time as a photographer doesn't even seem scary to me. Doing something I love every single day where I can show my creativity, and do something truly unique... just makes me want it even more. So effectively my goal now is to do everything I can to work towards having a career in photography. As for what kind of area... I really don't know. Like I don't want to be boxed into one area. There's so many amazing things in this world I want to photograph (and not-so-amazing things) and dipping into everything is cool by me. Getting my photography up in galleries, photographing weddings, capturing nature, travelling all over(which I want to do, and photography allows me to do that safely whereas journalism is a lot riskier lol) - I want to do it all. That's what I want to do with my life, there's gotta be a reason why 14 year old me was so obsessed with taking photographs (I wasn't amazing but I tried!!).
Now I like to think I've at least improved (the following w/ light and phone) to be able to do ok stuff without needing my DSLR (although samsung is amazing)
(sharper/better version below)
With that said I'm going to keep practicing and trying new things so that I'm ready to enter the world of professional photography (roughly in about about a two year frame to build portfolio, volunteer etc). OK that is about all of my life story I will shush and let you all continue. :)