Student photography, easy to make money but “easy to eat”?

Photography has always been an art filled with non-verbal values. Taking a photo is not difficult at all, but to have a beautiful work and be able to make money from this art, just passion is not enough. Today, there are many young people who are still students with their own talents, sensitivity to colors and different perspectives, have chosen photography to be able to make a living and earn extra income for themselves. Dear.

Here are some young people who have chosen to work in photography since they were students. Let’s listen to their sharing to better understand the process of conquering this art!

Live with passion, but money is also one of the indispensable factors

Coming to photography by many different paths, but each of you has the purpose of wanting to explore and learn to create a professional foundation for yourself. For students, when they do not have a lot of experience, it is extremely necessary to receive external shooting jobs to have a set of photos for a lifetime.

“I came to photography first because of passion. Right from the first time I clicked the camera, my creativity was stimulated a lot. DLittle by little, I started to get more known and started accepting services, but only selectively. I find that the biggest benefit of doing service is solving economic problems. But it is clear that if we do not cultivate and create continuously, it is easy to lose our own essence when doing professions – especially in art work.” Dinh Hieu’s friend (3rd year student, majoring in Photojournalism, Academy of Journalism and Propaganda) shared.

Dinh Hieu believes that the way to photography is his passion and creativity

As for Chau Vo Tu Nhu (a first-year student at the CLC School of Journalism, University of Social Sciences and Humanities – Vietnam National University, Hanoi), Photography career came to her by accident, but it is associated with interesting experiences in life.

“I did not study photography formally through any school. The knowledge about photography that I have come from my own research and parallels with the experiences gained in the process of pursuing children. Above all, I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to interact and work with experienced photographers.

Photography is a passion for me, I also consider photography a ‘strength’ and sometimes ‘strength’ is also a way for us to develop ourselves more.”

Tu Nhu is currently a freshman at University of Social Sciences and Humanities – VNU

Meanwhile, when asked about the income received through photography, Le Cong Duc (born Member of Cinematography – Television class K39 Faculty of Radio and Television, Academy of Journalism and Communication) confided: “I don’t know about other friends, but for me at the moment, the number is about 6-7 million/month. Although it is not too high, it is a suitable income for me when living in the inner city. the city of Hanoi”.

According to Cong Duc, the income level for photography is not too high at the moment, depending on the level of dedication to the job.

Cong Duc added that because he chose to combine both study and work, he did not put too much emphasis on earning too much. Sharing the same opinion, Dinh Hieu also revealed:

“There are months when I do 10-12 sets of photos, but there are months when I only do 2-3 sets, I’m really interested. The income is probably the highest month at about 15-16 million/month for me. taking pictures, on the contrary, there are months when I can only afford to pay for food and travel.”

Learning is never a mistake, only a high ego makes me die

For those of you who have a passion for photography, learning is never enough, and must always study non-stop, the purpose is to improve yourself. Because no matter how much you shoot in any field (anniversary, events, portraits, commercials,…) but if you don’t update your knowledge every day, there will come a time when you will be outdated and not who spends money to enjoy a work of such low value.

For Thu Thuy (First-year student majoring in Journalism, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU), right from the moment she entered the profession, she identified photography as her “side job”, so it was important to cultivate knowledge. It is essential and must be done every day.

“Photography can be said to be my ‘side job’. My dream in the future is to become a journalist, so I think an increasingly developed society, synonymous with the aesthetic needs of the masses today. The higher the number, the higher it is. It is obvious to bring photos with high artistic value, but photos with bad aesthetics will be excluded, that is competition. So learn to know what is beautiful. , is bad, like the current trend, I think it’s never enough”.

Thu Thuy’s future dream will be to become a journalist in the future

For his part, with the accumulated experience, Dinh Hieu had to undergo training in many different environments and encountered many difficulties during his career. The friend confided: “In order to pursue photography, I have to study and practice in many different places fromstudio, from outdoor, indoor to event…. I work as a photographer for school projects, short-term events, and even at first, I accept to follow my big brothers and sisters in the profession to I work for free, since then I have learned a lot from my brothers and sisters, so it costs me almost nothing to register for a photography course at all.”

Dinh Hieu used to face many difficulties when he first started his career

To produce a beautiful set of photos, it means that you have to spend money to invest in a quality camera. It’s up to you What skills or purpose do you have so that you can consider choosing a camera that is right for you and still ensure your job.

“Currently all demand is increasing, so each of you will have to consider and choose each camera appropriately. I’m quite invested in my photo and camera set, so it will fall to about 30 million. As for For those of you who are inclined to capture everything, a multi-use camera will cost slightly more than 30-50 million, which is the most normal and basic need for anyone who is a photographer. I see there are easy-to-use camera sets for beginners, only 10-20 million”, Cong Duc said.

Besides, in addition to skills, the acumen, creativity and observation in art are also important factors for the success of the photographer, making each picture become real, close, and still have the same quality. “charisma”.

“In order to follow the photography industry and live with photography, we need to keep our own quality, we should not be too saturated about how to take pictures. A set of photos and photo styles that only we can take will definitely be worth it. More expensive than the shots that everyone can take.Also, when taking photos besides the setup and investment, it is also important to capture the moments quickly because there are images that appear only once and not there are more”, Dinh Hieu shared.

One of the photos that Dinh Hieu enjoyed the most when making

Balancing study and fulfilling your passion, what’s the secret?

The large workload and having to move many locations during the day between shooting locations not only require you to have good health but also have to know a balance between studying and pursuing your passion. It can be said that it is an arduous process.

For Tu Nhu to be able to balance study, photography and wall activities is quite a difficult journey, but she still has a way to overcome.

Tu Nhu confided: “I usually assigned by teachers in the school to take photos of school events. Sometimes I feel pressured, but being able to live with my passions and hobbies, I’m still very happy and satisfied.”.

Tu Nhu always knows how to balance studying with fulfilling her passions

For his part, Cong Duc has been in photography for 5 years and is primarily interested in the yearbook, so it is very difficult to shoot. Having to take pictures from early morning to late evening, sometimes until 1-2 am to come home, the next day still have to go to work as usual is a regular occurrence in the guy’s schedule. However, Cong Duc does not consider it a difficulty, it is something associated with his life.

“Because my specialty is filming, for me it’s a common passion, so I feel that learning is quite light, compared to the first years, most of me had to study theoretical subjects, so it was very difficult. But by the middle of the 2nd year, I had a balance and knew how to study, so I found it easier to study.

Recently, I also had a break from the epidemic to study online at home, so I don’t have to go to school much, so I am more self-disciplined in studying. Therefore, my work as a photographer and my studies don’t affect me too much, I know how to coordinate well with each other, so that my study results are still stable.”

Cong Duc does not let his work affect his studies and participation in extracurricular activities at school

It can be said that photography is a creative, serious and quite popular profession today, especially for students. Many people mistakenly believe that with just one click, you have an instant photo and you can become a photographer. But behind that is a long journey of learning, extremely hard and difficult. For students, it is not easy to pursue their passion and balance their studies at school, but if you know how to spend enough time, invest and dedicate yourself, this is really a job. has great potential in the future.

Photo: NVCC