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<blockquote data-quote="Browncoat" data-source="post: 112379" data-attributes="member: 1061">A few years ago, I dropped out of a &quot;conventional&quot; 4-year college program (Information Technology) to pursue photography. Already in my 30's, I at least had the real world experience to see that IT jobs were being trimmed, the economy was tanking, and that if I really wanted to earn a living, the best way was to go into business for myself. I transferred to the Art Institute, and enrolled in their Photography program. I can tell you first hand, the experience was not worth it. They prepare you to be more of an art critic than a practitioner. While that can be good to a certain degree, it has little application in owning your own studio. What they need to teach are of course photography skills, but more importantly, business skills: accounting, advertising, record keeping, taxes, insurance, etc. All the &quot;behind the scenes&quot; aspects of owning and operating a small business.The harsh reality is, most small businesses fail, and because of the reasons listed above. You could be the best photographer in the world and it wouldn't even matter if you had crappy business skills.Secondly, and most importantly...Many art and tech related fields have apprenticeship programs. Good luck finding a local pro willing to train his future competition. I tried that route too, and was either laughed at or flat out ignored. I can tell you one thing, though. They're not laughing or ignoring me anymore.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Browncoat, post: 112379, member: 1061"] A few years ago, I dropped out of a "conventional" 4-year college program (Information Technology) to pursue photography. Already in my 30's, I at least had the real world experience to see that IT jobs were being trimmed, the economy was tanking, and that if I really wanted to earn a living, the best way was to go into business for myself. I transferred to the Art Institute, and enrolled in their Photography program. I can tell you first hand, the experience was not worth it. They prepare you to be more of an art critic than a practitioner. While that can be good to a certain degree, it has little application in owning your own studio. What they [B]need[/B] to teach are of course photography skills, but more importantly, business skills: accounting, advertising, record keeping, taxes, insurance, etc. All the "behind the scenes" aspects of owning and operating a small business. The harsh reality is, most small businesses fail, and because of the reasons listed above. You could be the best photographer in the world and it wouldn't even matter if you had crappy business skills. Secondly, and most importantly... Many art and tech related fields have apprenticeship programs. Good luck finding a local pro willing to train his future competition. I tried that route too, and was either laughed at or flat out ignored. I can tell you one thing, though. They're not laughing or ignoring me anymore. [/QUOTE]

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