How would I become a freelance photographer?

'Doing a course' is not synonymous to becoming a good photographer. The first thing to do is to take photographs. Dress like a guest and go to weddings and take photographs. No one will know whether you are with the bride or the groom. You could do this for a season. Not only would you gain confidence, you would develop a technique and style and finish up with a portfolio. You would also make the early mistakes when it does not matter. If you are serious you may find a Business Studies course more valuable than a photography course. I recently retired after 40 years of photography. During that time I attended a 1 day course. Was I successful? I have had 4 houses but never a mortgage. Believe in yourself and work hard.

Since you are thinking ahead and trying to prepare, that gives you an advantage...sure I agree that qualifications aren't the be all and end all, if you get decent grades though, it makes yourself easier to sell...you'll have decent qualifications like History and English to support your interest.

Freelancing is highly competitive and you'd either need to be able to support yourself or look for sponsorship from publications...Journalism is a cut throat business...any advantage you can gain will make you more attractive to publishers.

Even the army can afford to be fussy these days...depending on how well you score in your evaluation test affects what careers you could be trained in...the army has use for photographers as does the Navy and Air Force...so it's worth sticking in at school, to get the best grades you can.

I wouldn't imaging being a war correspondent as glamorous...I reckon it must be difficult to hold a camera, compose and expose a decent shot when bullets are flying all over the place...it's chaotic and dangerous...I'd give it a lot of thought before making a final decision.

Just one final tip....learn to type properly...it's an essential skill for a journalist...It isn't something that should worry you...keyboard skills are pretty standard nowadays most jobs involve using computers and try to get involved with local rags like the Church newsletter, school magazine etc...try and join local camera clubs and photography groups.

You don't need any kind of schooling (though it helps). All you need is to take great photos and then sell them to someone willing to pay. Technique is part of it, but simply being in the right place at the right time is most of it.

My take on photography is that 90% of it is just being in the right place at the right time, 9% of it is the ability to compose the photo (even bad composition can be cropped later) and 1% of it is technical stuff (equipment and how to use it properly). However, because there are so many people taking photos these days, you really have to get to the 99.9% level to stand out enough to be a pro.

P.S. - Anybody can take a few nice photos but to do it consistently and as a profession takes a lot of effort, patience, a good eye, a sense of timing, and a lot of travel. It's not necessarily about what training you have.

I'm a freelancer , and have had zero schooling / classes in photography. I'm self taught. Much more easy to do than I shot 35mm back in 1986. You have many more books available , as well as videos. Youtube can be a godsend.

Get out and practice.

Join the army and tell them you want to be a photographer in war zones. They will be more than glad to train you and send you over to the middle east.

Do a YouTube search for James Nachtwey - You should already know who he is if you want to be a war photographer.

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If you are interested in photography and want to know the tricks about photography then you can go through the given link and trainned yourself.