Hello all,
I'm moving to the West Coast, specifically the North Bay Area within the next few months. The main question I have is:
Where is a good site/place/etc. to find a photography job? I have a degree (which I know doesn't count for a lot) but I want something in photography and not the McD's down the street.
Any ideas of a photography job locater for that area???
~Crawn
First I'm real curious about your move for other reasons. Are you just up and moving from Ohio for the heck of it?
Anyway, I would presume moving somewhere hoping to land a job in photography is similar to someone saying they're moving to LA to become an actor. Fact is the Cheesecake Factory is hiring. A quick
google search shows a few possible jobs and not knowing how qualified you are it's hard to nail down what you could do. If you're creative with your job hunt you can find that police departments seek photographers sometimes as well as other industries that would be less obvious. Clearly as a photographer for the police you're not doing fashion or anything, but it's a job where you can use a camera and it'll pay the bills I bet. Use something like that as your stepping stone until you establish yourself in SF and then move on. SF is notorious for elegant weddings so I'm certain if you can somehow undercut the competition and get your stuff out there enough you can do that. Of course there are other routes to go, but weddings were the first thing that popped into my head.
As someone with a degree in Photography I would presume you could at least find some entry-level job but that will not pay the bills in SF, trust me on that one. The cost of living in SF is in no way comparable to the minimum wage in CA. Likewise, the same holds true for my county, Orange. I would say that degree or no degree your biggest asset is your portfolio. What have you done before, during, and after college? I'm not sure that having a degree in say Photographic Arts would even land you a job without a strong portfolio.
I'm in no way qualified to speak on how easy/hard it is to earn a degree in school for an art like that, but I'd say the portfolio is what will speak for you and not the degree. Regardless, I think earning any type of degree is indeed a huge accomplishment but I am rather bias. A degree in general (imo) simply supports your ability to finish something, your textbook understanding of the art/subject, and your overall ability to learn the craft. I've seen a few people come out of places like RIT with a vast understanding of photography and illustration but their photos lack the same artistic creativity that mine do (I'm without a degree in Photography). Their portfolio did not land them that stellar job as a photographer but they said in the end it did not matter because they held a degree. All three of these people work in finance/car sales/teaching and they're all itching to get out and do something with their craft.
My point is really that moving to SF and hoping to land a photography job may not be easy. I'm not certain of how strong your portfolio is or what you aspire to do, but just because it is not easy doesn't make it impossible. SF is a good place to go if you want to try to land such a job...at least I believe it is. Another thing to note is if you're into doing weddings a huge craze right now is to get married at a Vineyard (if I do that I'd like to get married attached to a barrel of wine if it matters). You're close to some amazing vineyards and could definitely swing getting some jobs there if you're into that. For something like that you could advertise well down south because next year alone I know two people planning their weddings in a Vineyard up around there so the business could potentially come from all over.
Good luck to you, that's a huge move and I'd be interested to see how it pans out for you.
