Is photography a good career to focus on?

Just curious how others think about the photography industry, where it is and where has been. Does photography still have the same career allure as it did in the film days?

I don't know if it ever did; maybe at some point in the past. It's always been a sideline for me and the people I know of locally who are photographers (except for one who's had a longtime studio and portrait business). Careers in journalism (newspaper or other media) or sports photography or working in/owning a camera shop have never exactly been high paying jobs for the most part and opportunities have become less available in recent years.

There are so many people giving away their photos, sometimes even unwittingly, that the market seems overloaded, for now anyway. Hopefully that will change at some point but I don't think it seems likely to be a lucrative job or career anytime soon.

I thought it is only what you make it to be. If it's a hobby, then it will only remain a hobby. If you try to make something of it, then your efforts will be rewarded sooner or later. So that's what I want to believe.

Mayo wrote: I thought it is only what you make it to be. If it's a hobby, then it will only remain a hobby. If you try to make something of it, then your efforts will be rewarded sooner or later. So that's what I want to believe.

Exactly

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If it is something you want to do and have a talent for it and work hard, you can be successful I think. There is a lot more competition now because instead of having to compete in your local area, you have to compete with the world. You cannot be a big fish in a little pond any more, you have to compete on a much larger scale or the big pond. There is an old saying. Those who can, do. Those who can't teach. I see a lot of "teachers" out there but I also see hobbyists images I like better than the pros and the teachers. I have heard it said. Go to work doing what you love and you will always go to a job you love. But I have found when I have made a profession out of my hobby all the love goes away and becomes a chore. So I go to work as something I don't love that makes good money so I can afford and come home to do in my free time something I do love and it never becomes a grind. What is needed locally? Wedding photographers. What is not needed? News paper photographers. Our local paper is struggling to stay alive, no one buys news papers anymore and the news paper wants you to work for practically free and use that experience to help you get a real job.  Do I want to become a wedding photographer. They are always needed and though there is competition, most photographers don't like this kind of work? Dealing with that stress which is the same as event photography but you have to deal with the stress that comes from the stress of the bride and groom on the wedding day. No thanks. When I was in a band when I was younger. I had a lot of fun, but the other guys in the band had stress to perform to do well because they had delusions of making it big. Some of them had some talented but did not know how to be successful and make it big in the music industry. In the arts, the higher the fewer. Even if you have the talent, the will, the drive, and the opportunity, you may not make it.  What if you wasted all your time on the arts and did not get an education. I guess you could make money doing youtube videos teaching others

Absolutely! 

some hobbyist photographers out there are better than professionals.  i sell prints in a local shop and make a good amount of money on the side.  but i don't think there's much of a local market for photographers.  i know a few who are doing ok at wedding photography and portraits, but most of them have non-photography jobs during the week, or are stressed out trying to get enough sessions to live off of.  kinda hard to market $200 family portrait sessions plus more for prints when aunt betty can do the same thing with her cellphone and some instagram filters.  yes, we all know that isn't true, but some people have that perception.

learn photography as a craft and work it into your career.  my job doesn't have anything to do with photography.  but, i ended up doing the headshots for my team.  i've also photographed a few structures for work and piloted a drone and taken photos.  i'm one of the few on the drone team who actually knows how to expose an image properly, which means i get to spend more time on the drone than others on the team.