Any photography jobs I can do as a teen?

[Smilingpet134]

I am only 15 years old, almost 16 and I can take pretty good pictures. My dream is to become a professional photography and I was wondering if there was any side jobs or anything I could do involving photography. Also, I live in the South Jersey region.

Here is some of my work -- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dakota-Pho...9190537996
I've also sold some of my work in a art show already!

[514]

you still need to work on your skills before you can charge ppl for it
work on your composition,DOF ,photoshop or LR ,
here is a site for free online classes http://www.creativelive.com
you can look for videos on youtube too
wish you luck

[Curious]

Dakota,

Not sure what you mean by "So. Jersey". Is that NJ? Or, somewhere in the UK? Kind of a big difference, so not sure what to recommend.

What I was going to suggest is that you try to get an unpaid internship or part-time job (at your young age there may be some limits on the types of paying jobs you can get). But even if you have to do work for free to see what a pro photog environment is like, do it. It will help you be less idealistic about a possible photog career - so would be an excellent learning experience.

If you live in NJ you may want to look into this in NYC: http://www.icp.org/school/teen-academy

Looking at your page of photos you pointed us to, you're doing a lot of things you "shouldn't" do photographically. I put that in quotes because in photog it's sometimes ok to break what are considered rules to achieve certain effects. But you do need more training to develop your skills a lot more. I'm puzzled by the other person's comment about not being able to sell your photos. Anyone can find someone who will buy a photo because it appeals to them. That doesn't mean the photography is good by conventional standards. It just means a particular scene resonated with someone enough for them to put down some money for it. For whatever reason. Perhaps sentimental.

I think you're very wise to try to get some photog related work now. Because teen idealism - while wonderful - isn't realistic when it comes to what careers are like everyday. Test out your passion in a work environment (check with ICP for work ideas too...) and if you think a pro job will suck the life out of your passion (once you see what it's like in day to day work), then do something else as a job and keep photog as a wonderful, fun to do hobby.

Good luck. Best wishes. Happy shooting.

[Rick]

Find photographers that will let you work as an assistant. Even if you intern for free, you will learn a ton.