I have loved taking photos since my father bought me my first camera at the age of ten. Being a professional photographer has become my dream since then. Last summer, I heard about the ‘Summer Work Experience’ scheme, in which I could work as a photographer for three weeks. I told myself that this is a chance to learn and gain experience, and also a kind of fulfilling my dream. I signed up without hesitation.
Taking photos is easy, but taking a good one is hard. In this summer programme, I became a photographer and I needed to shoot for a newspaper. The first time I went with the reporters to a traffic accident scene, I couldn’t take any good or clear image at all. All the people, the policemen, the firemen and the paramedics were moving around so quickly that my vision was nearly blocked at any time. Also, using my good old camera was a bad idea as the image quality itself was far from satisfactory, and the slow focusing system didn’t allow me to take any fast picture. Out of the hundreds of photos I took that day, none of them was good. Fortunately, there was another photographer, John, in the team whose picture could be published on the newspaper.
Out of frustration, I decided to ask John how to be a good photographer. John is very kind. He told me that the summer scheme actually arranged him to be my mentor. He lent me his old camera, a digital SLR which I’ve always wished to own. During the first week, I followed John to different sites, such as crime and accident scenes. I learnt to use the camera and took a lot of photos, more than the number of photos I’d have taken in a year. On the last day of the first week, the newspaper finally bought and published my first photo. I received my pay. It was not much in terms of amount, but it was a lot when I considered the effort I had made in order to get this salary.
In the second week, I went to some functions with John and took photos of celebrities. It was fun to do so as I could take close up shots of my idols, which was something I had always wanted to do. I sold a number of my photos and kept some of them in my own gallery. In the third week I went to some concerts, from concerts of underground local bands to foreign singers. I went to pubs and old buildings to take shots of the band shows. It was the first time I went to that kind of places and it was so exciting. You never know what kind of people you’re going to meet there. I also enjoyed plenty of free concerts as I went under the name of a photographer of the newspaper. Being a photographer is cool. People like to stare at the way you take photos and I felt as if I were a professional photographer. The three week summer scheme ended with good memories and pictures, and also a salary.
Working as a photographer is fun, but it could be frustrating. John told me that the payment I received was the same as that for all part-time photographers. The wage is not high and photographers cannot earn much. Moreover, it takes at least three years to be promoted from a part-time photographer to a full time one. The life of photographers is hard.
However, I’d still be a photographer if I could. Taking photos is like water to me; it’s an essential part of my life. I enjoyed being a photographer back in the ‘Summer Work Experience’ very much. I believe it is because I could earn money with my hobby. Working on what you want is the best thing, but earning money, supporting your life at the same time makes it even better. If I can, I will take my hobby as my career.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I believe my first step is already taken in the ‘Summer Work Experience’, and I’d work hard to strive for improvements in taking photos and fulfilling my dream. The three weeks were surely worth it