As noted by Nixon Waterman, “It is in our leisure hours that we are permitted to follow our “hobbies,” and it’s in them that truer selves of us find expression. Many of the best men within the world’s history have achieved their fame outside their regular occupations within the spare moments of their time which most of the people think it is of no serious use.” So it is quite important to develop a hobby as soon as you realize and develop your skills. It is not something which is birth born, but you develop as you grow up. It not only gives you pleasure but also allows you to connect with oneself, to understand one better.
In this fast-moving competitive world, where we end up finding a good job for ourselves, that becomes the only goal of your life, it gets quite difficult to know about yourself and look into something apart from your essential needs. In earlier times, less importance was given to hobbies and extra-curricular activities, most important was education. So there was a constant pressure on children to focus more and more on studies, and after completing education, getting a decent job was the primary objective.
But as we are aiming towards modernization, we have brought significant changes in our education system and our thinking as well. Good education and a decent job can make a better living but what about a better person.? So it is very imperative to develop such skills in ourselves that are worth time giving and gives satisfaction to an individual whether be it sports, reading, singing, dancing, photography, painting, etc. In the majority of Western countries as well as in other Asian countries also, equal importance is given to developing vocational activities. They have even set up regular colleges and universities for pursuing it professionally.
One such hobby can be photography. Most of the person like to click well in photos. But few have interest in clicking good photos, whether it be of person or object or surroundings, anything whatever catches the eye of the photographer. It’s the spontaneity of the person that credits him with good photos. There are some innate traits and skills which make you a good photographer, like you have to be original, artistic, creative, good communication skills, etc. It is rightly said that a picture can sometimes be much more eloquent than a thousand words. There are various genres of photography such as-
- Wedding Photography
- Event Photography
- Portrait Photography
- Product Photography
- Fine Art Photography
- Fashion Photography
- Architectural Photography
- Travel Photography
- Advertising or Lifestyle Photography
- Photojournalism Photography
- Pet Photography
- Sports Photography
- Wildlife Photography
The interest varies on the person which he wants to pursue and one can build a profitable career in this field. There are various opportunities but the main thing is interest and passion. To pursue it as a profession, one can directly start after completing Intermediate and thereby enrolling in college to get a bachelor’s level education which will give you time to develop a portfolio which is a critical part of being competitive in the job market. The bachelor’s degree will enable you to develop skills such as combining conceptual elements with technical elements, understanding composition, use of lights and technology, and many more things. Few works offer a wide variety of prospects than does photography.
If you consider it just as a hobby then there is not much technical knowledge required but if you want to make it as your dream career then apart from just passion, skills and knowledge are also required. For this, it is essential to get a degree from a recognized Institute. A good institute gives you
proper exposure and enables you to learn with the practical application of acquired knowledge. This is not the field that is merely dependent on theoretical knowledge, it comes best when you combine theory with practice. Some of the recognized Colleges are-
- Pearl Academy, Mumbai
- Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai
- International Institute of Mass Media, New Delhi
- National Institute of Photography, Mumbai
After completing four years of a bachelor’s degree, you can also opt for a master’s of photography, either a Master of Arts or Master of Fine Arts. You can either work with some agency or firm or you start your venture, work as a freelancer. But during the college phase, you have to work with a firm to complete the internship. You can expect to learn a lot during your internship period. Once you start working as a freelancer then you are your own master and with experience, you can start earning well. And if you love traveling also, then this is the right career for you where you can make money with your hobby. Photographer travel for various photoshoots, indoor as well as outdoor.
Some of the famous photographers are- Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier Bresson, Robert Frank, Rathika Ramasamy, Prabuddha Dasgupta., etc. You can also refer to books such as – “On Photography” by Susan Sontag, “Light Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting” by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver and Paul Fuqua, etc.
So in this way, you can make your hobby as your career if you are passionate about it and make a wise and fair decision in pursuing it further. If you work hard, nothing can stop you from being successful, it only depends on how dedicated you are.
