digital photography career - worth the money?

[Deja Q]

I just saw an advert on tv.

But one would have to be REALLY good and have lots of money to keep finding scenes to exploit.

And the pay isn't that good, the last I checked...

What am I missing?

[Oeditpus Rex]

1. What sort of photography?

"Scenes to exploit"?

:shrug:

[Deja Q]

2. Scenes that people want to see.

Which means it's more than pretty sunrises.

(the advert was hawking images of 9/11 too...)

[Oeditpus Rex]

3. Was this just a teevee ad

or is there a web site?

Sounds fishy to me, like shooting for a fly-by-night stock photo agency or somethin'. They'd pay you like $10 per shot, then sell it dozens of times.

[Deja Q]

4. tv ad from a college that has been around for a long time.

Brown Institute.

They say one can have a big career in it.

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. A few have

But that was mostly in the days when photographers processed their own stuff. Now, with everybody and his brother running around with digital cameras, photography has become even more cheapened.

Stock photo agencies — if my guess is correct that that's what this is — pay a miniscule amount for photos they accept, then make a bundle by selling them over and over. To make any money at it, you've got to work your ass off. Everybody thinks they're gonna get "the" photo, but that rarely happens.